The Lost Art Of Long-Range Planning

According to InformationWeek, a panel set up by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week recommended several steps to improve this country's competitiveness.

Some interesting findings and recommendations:

• Small firms represent 99.7% of all employer firms and have generated 60% to 80% of net jobs annually over the last decade.
• We're all used to the idea that the United States is number one. It's been that way for a long time and we don't expect it to change. The fact is, we've got competition and they are eager to eat our lunch.
• We've been served a wakeup call. Now we have to answer it, while there's still time left on the clock.
• This problem has its root in the North American way of doing business: focusing on the short term, the next quarter, to the exclusion of long-range planning.

BOTTOMLINE: While short-term results are important, we need to shift some focus from short-term results to long-term planning. Even with things changing as rapidly as they do these days, there is a place for - and a huge competitive advantage - for conducting long-range planning.