A set of essential factors is necessary for any planning process to succeed. These are known as “critical success factors.” Without them, strategic planning cannot

succeed, and the desired goals cannot be achieved.

These critical factors are linked to an organization’s current and future goals. Depending on how critical each one is, they can influence

the organization’s organizational, administrative, and functional structures. In short, they have the power to affect the organization as a whole.

.

Critical Success Factors: Traits and Characteristics

Some researchers and specialists argue that 20% of critical factors influence 80% of an organization’s goals. But what are the traits of these factors

and what are their characteristics, so we can identify and understand them?

The essential traits of critical factors can be identified as follows:

1- These objectives play a pivotal role in achieving the organization’s goals.

2- They are relatively few in number; critical factors typically range from 3 to 6.

3. They describe achievable outcomes: a set of attainable goals that are neither fanciful nor idealistic, but are formulated in a way that ensures

they can actually be achieved.

4. They can be achieved and implemented, provided the right approach is used.

5. They are hierarchical factors: some relate to the organization as a whole, while others relate to specific areas within it. However, all these factors are interconnected,

and each is built on and depends on the others.

.

Competition and Critical Factors

It goes without saying that simply identifying an organization’s critical factors is not enough; those factors must also help strengthen its competitiveness in the market.

It is also essential to put these factors and the objectives they produce into practice.

This shows that applying these factors and using them effectively is the central dimension through which the desired results can be achieved.

Above all, before deciding to compete in a particular market, an organization must identify what is critical to it and

set its priorities one by one. This may be one reason why applying or using this planning method or strategy is difficult.

One point to consider is that every decision—or, more precisely, every strategic objective—must be linked to one of these factors and aligned with it; the two cannot reasonably

go in different directions. This is why planning plays such a central role.

Strategic planning, then, is what brings this entire symphony together—though at first glance it may seem scattered, and it will remain so if planning does not play its part.