I n my February column, "Avoiding Company Decline," I described how part of a corporation's economic slide could be attributed to organizational scorecards or dashboards because they are often ineffective in promoting the most appropriate behaviors. In this column, I will show how creating and executing strategic planning statements also can contribute to a company's decline.

Organizations often create an annual strategic plan to provide direction for the year. Figure 1 shows sample wording of one company's statement, as posted on the Internet.

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