ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights special requirements of strategic decision making and considers firm’s objectives. It is concerned with the performance of the firm as a corporate whole, hence ‘corporate planning’ or ‘corporate strategy’. Modern large business firm has to respond not only to changes in the environment and to pressures generated internally, it also anticipates change, and influences its own environment and accordingly needs a decision-taking capability which can meet the wide-ranging demands. The forecasting and comparison involved in strategic problem recognition may be regarded as preliminary ‘intelligence’ activity, following which alternatives are enumerated and evaluated and a decision is made. Forecasting is facilitated if the economy as a whole is subject to a planning system. Indeed this is one of the prime aims of indicative planning which involves the setting of targets for the national economy and its constituent industrial sectors and public services.
