Strategic Planning for MBA Students

Planning to enter business school? Perhaps you're already a student in a BBA or MBA program. Regardless, you want to know more about strategic planning. What is it, and how can it help you navigate your degree program and future career?

Strategic planning involves coming up with a workable plan to help you meet short-term and long-term goals. This is a necessary skill in business, but it can also be beneficial for students who are still in school to adopt a strategic planning process to help them as they navigate challenging coursework in their MBA programs.

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the act of determining and carrying out a corporate strategy for success in business. It can also apply to Master of Business Administration students who are planning out their educational and professional goals.

Strategic planning helps students determine what their goals are and how best to achieve those goals. When planning their education, MBA students may consider the following:

• what type of MBA program to enroll in: full-time, part-time, executive MBA, etc.
• what MBA concentration or specialization to pursue: entrepreneurship, international business, etc.
• whether to pursue an on-campus or online MBA

Strategically planning your degree can help you determine the actionable steps you'll need to take to succeed, both as a student and an MBA graduate looking to advance your career.

What Are the Strategic Planning Steps for MBA students?

Both business and MBA strategic management processes follow the same basic steps:

• strategy formulation
• strategy implementation
• strategy evaluation

The formulation stage involves coming up with your plan. What degree program are you going to enroll in? What courses are you going to take this semester? How are you going to fit college around the other commitments in your life?

The implementation stage happens when you put your plan into action. Strategy implementation typically continues throughout your academic and professional careers and may need to be altered or amended from time to time.

The evaluation stage is when you analyze whether or not your plan is working for you. If you feel that you're not accomplishing your goals, it's important to examine your plan to determine what went wrong. You'll also want to consider what you have done right if your plan is going well.

What Skills Do MBA Students Need for Strategic Planning?

Successful strategic planning involves a variety of useful skills that will benefit you not only in college but after you graduate.

These skills include:

• decision-making
• problem-solving
• strategic thinking
• decisiveness
• communication

These transferable skills apply to many different industries, meaning that those who master strategic planning are setting themselves up for success regardless of their specific career goals.

What Are the Benefits of Strategic Planning for MBA Students?

Strategic planning can help MBA students both in the long-term and the short-term. Some of the short-term benefits you can expect from strategic planning include:

• meeting short-term objectives
• improving time management skills
• improving the quality of your education
• successfully planning your educational budget

Long-term benefits may include:

• learning to set clearly defined goals
• gaining project management and leadership skills
• encouraging proactive job skills that will benefit you in many different careers