Dear Member,

The Strategic Planning Society (SPS) was founded in 1967 and is the oldest such strategy organisation in the world. The SPS, an educational charity run on a not-for-profit basis, is the founder of Long Range Planning, which remains one of the most respected academic journals on the subject of strategy.

We provide a forum for propagation, advancement and education in strategy and strategic thinking.

The SPS thoroughly deserves its reputation as one of the most important strategy-focused institutions and an internationally recognized brand. Inevitably, as with most organisations that are more than 40 years old, its history has not all been plain sailing.

The SPS’s educational charity status has presented both benefits and challenges and SPS has always depended upon volunteers and trustees. As a trustee, and now as chairman, I have experienced first-hand the advantages and disadvantages. I can say with confidence that the future of the SPS looks bright.

A new vision
A new strategy for the SPS was adopted at our annual general meeting (AGM) in January. Central to the new strategy is the notion that, having played an important role in the early days of strategy as a management science, SPS is well positioned to play a leading role in the evolution of strategy into a more professional discipline. This is our vision and our mission.

Since the early days the SPS has been a bridge between strategists in academia and strategists as practitioners in the commercial world. Our vision is to develop this bridge, redoubling our efforts and forging stronger links with business schools, their faculties and their students.

Students are the strategists of the future and we hope to provide a ladder of recognition for them to demonstrate their acquired strategy-related competence and a resource to offer support throughout their careers. The first rung on the ladder will be Associate Membership for undergraduates, introduced this year. Other rungs will be Full Membership, Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship.

International perspective
This year saw the introduction of SPS initiatives to expand our international reach and perspective. This reflects the fact that SPS membership and the community we are developing online are increasingly international. Our LinkedIn group of over 6,500 strategists is growing by nearly 500 new members a month (and gaining momentum), with approximately 70% based outside of the UK.

We recently embarked on a pilot project to establish SPS branches in Ireland, Turkey and Brazil. When fully functioning they will be a proven model, providing the basis for a full roll-out strategy to a host of other countries where we already have many members.

Branches established in other countries will received the same support and encouragement as in the UK to build strong bridges between academics and practitioners. We have already had discussions with a number of university business schools in Dublin, Istanbul and Sao Paulo.

Who should join?
Only a few months since agreeing our new strategy at the AGM, several steps towards implementation have been taken, and we are confident that 2011 will be a milestone year in the history of the SPS.

If you are a strategy consultant, a strategist within a private, public or third sector organisation, a student of business, a business school dean or faculty member, or just someone for whom strategy will be an important element of your work in future, we are sure that the SPS can assist your career development and ensure that your career experience is valued and recognized. To keep up to date with all developments visit www.sps.org.uk and register for our e-newsletter.

Ian McDonald Wood
SPS Chairman