Page 96 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

2.10 Barriers to planning

Many strategic plans do fail, perhaps because of inappropriate strategies
or for other reasons that relate to the ‘human’ aspects within organisations.

Drummond et al (2003) identify the following barriers to successful
planning:

• Culture – if organisations are not market-oriented, employees may
receive plans with resistance and be reluctant to change their work
practices

• Power and politics – all organisations are subject to internal politics.
Many employees have their own agenda that can lead to internal
conflict

• Analysis, not action – much time can be wasted analyzing too much
information without actually taking any action.

• Resource issues – there may be insufficient resources available to
implement the plan – this is why a resource audit is of importance

• Skills – In some cases managers do not have the skills necessary to
make the best use of the planning process. Too often planning
becomes a ritualistic task that often results in the extrapolation of the

previous year’s activities

Big Data: Stand and deliver in 2013

January 2013

2013 will be year Big Data shifts from a strategic conversation about what it is to how
big data is used to improve a variety of performance metrics both in consumer facing
organizations and industrial applications. The big break through here will be the
mainstreaming of machine-to-machine smart systems. The ability of Big Data to
accelerate profitability and revenue growth will move from theoretical to proven as
companies build up a stable of success cases and best practices. The executive
focus will shift permanently away from the Three Vs (volume, velocity and variety) of
what Big Data is to acting on the opportunities provided by the new Data Trinity -
transaction, text, and video. Turning those data sources into insights and revenue will
become major engines for growth.

We’ll also see better upstream capabilities and systems in place to not only better
capture and control the ebb and flow of myriad big data streams but also segment