George Millward emphasized the overall approach to strategic planning as “Plan your work; work your Plan”, a saying made famous by Ed Crump, Boss of Memphis, Tennessee during the 1920s. George noted the negative connotation toward strategic planning expressed by many executives: it’s something they do when they “have to” or when the examiners “push them”.

He noted how financial managers are facing ever-increasing pressures from the uncertain economic environment that require careful planning to navigate. He noted how the industry dynamics will change resulting in lower profit levels for banks and mergers of small banks will create fewer, but larger banks.

He stressed the importance of strategic planning considering the current economic climate. He then outlined the critical steps the financial manager should consider to formulate the basic planning process, which included the following:

• Survey your environment, capabilities and risk tolerance;
• Establish an overall mission statement;
• Define the critical issues;
• Build objectives, goals and tasks;
• Develop financial projections to meet your objectives.

George discussed the key elements of each of the steps in the planning process. He touched on the current economic environment, an overview of the financial industry in the metropolitan area, the continuing adverse effects the industry faces from the economic fallout and that the long expected industry consolidation has yet to happen.