Potential–oriented strategic planning: business development and human resource development as an iterative process

Traditional patterns of planning frequently cause delays and inadequacies in corporate training provision. As long as qualified personnel are not viewed as the basis for business development strategies, the implementation of innovations will be retarded, or, worse, innovations will fail due to a shortage of qualified manpower. However, aside from market development, qualification potential is the most important strategic resource for the planning and organisation of corporate processes. Strategy formulation is based on this resource, involving an iterative process which occurs between market targets and human resource development goals. Implications of a potential–oriented approach to planning (such as self–regulation and decentralisation) are also discussed in this paper.