QCE Business — Unit 1
Strategic Planning — QCE Business — Unit 1 Flashcards & Quiz
Strategic planning is how a business sets its direction and decides how to get there. In the QCAA Business 2025 syllabus it sits in Unit 1 Topic 1: Fundamentals of business, where you explain strategic planning — goals, mission statements, vision statements, objectives, strategies and tactics — and use the SWOT analytical tool. Later units build on it, for example human resources strategic planning in the maturity stage.
Key Points
- Strategic planning includes goals, mission statements, vision statements, objectives, strategies and tactics.
- Vision: an aspirational statement of what the business wants to become.
- Mission: the business's current purpose, customers and core activities.
- SWOT analysis: internal strengths and weaknesses; external opportunities and threats.
- Objectives are specific and measurable; strategies are the broad plans; tactics are the short-term actions.
- Business criteria — competitiveness, effectiveness, efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction — are used to evaluate decisions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing vision (aspirational, future) with mission (current purpose).
- Treating SWOT as the end of planning rather than an input to objectives and strategies.
- Writing vague objectives that can't be measured.
- Mixing up strategies (broad plans) and tactics (specific short-term actions).
- Listing generic strategies without linking them to the business context.
Exam Strategy
Units 1 and 2 are school-assessed, so expect strategic planning questions in your school’s Unit 1 assessment. A typical task gives you a business scenario and data. Method: (1) identify the goals, vision and mission, (2) complete a focused SWOT, (3) interpret a relationship or trend in the SWOT, (4) evaluate the strategic plan against the business criteria, (5) make a decision and justify your recommendation.
Sample Flashcards
Q1: What are the elements of strategic planning?
Goals (broad aims, e.g. profitability, market share, sustainability, growth), a vision statement (what the business aspires to become), a mission statement (its purpose and what it does), objectives (specific, measurable targets), strategies (the overall plans for achieving the objectives) and tactics (the short-term actions that carry out each strategy).
Q2: What is the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement?
A vision statement describes the future the business aspires to; a mission statement describes its current purpose — what it does, for whom and how. The vision sets direction; the mission guides day-to-day decisions.
Q3: How do objectives, strategies and tactics differ?
Objectives state what the business wants to achieve, in measurable terms (e.g. increase market share by 5% within two years). Strategies are the broad plans for achieving them (e.g. expand into online sales). Tactics are the specific, short-term actions that implement a strategy (e.g. a targeted social media campaign this quarter).
Q4: What is a SWOT analysis?
An analytical tool that assesses internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. In strategic planning it is used to interpret the business’s situation and draw conclusions that inform objectives and strategies.
Q5: Which business criteria are used to evaluate business decisions?
Competitiveness, effectiveness, efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction. They give a consistent basis for judging whether a strategic plan or decision is likely to succeed.
Revision Tip
The planning steps are sequential — drill a Revizi deck with each step and its purpose for recall under exam pressure.
Related Concepts
Last updated: 9 October 2026 · 6 sample flashcards