In contrast to the seemingly continuous strategic planning being done at Amazon.com, most large corporations conduct the strategic planning process just once a year—often at offsite strategy workshops attended by senior executives.
Many large organizations have a strategic planning staff charged with supporting both top management and the business units in the strategic planning process. This staff may prepare the background materials used in senior management’s off-site strategy workshop. This planning staff typically consists of fewer than ten people, headed by a senior executive with the title of Director of Corporate Development or Chief Strategy Officer. The staff’s major responsibilities are to:
1. Identify and analyze companywide strategic issues, and suggest corporate strategic alter-
natives to top management.
2. Work as facilitators with business units to guide them through the strategic planning
process.