Ethics and Compliance Paper-2
Larry Oliver and Charles Barker
FIN 370
June 11, 2012
Robert Porter

In the business world planning is a key factor to the success of any endeavor. The two key ways to plan is to strategically plan and financial plan. For most companies it is understood that if a plan is not put in place at least 6 months to a year out, then it stands a chance to fail with in the first two to five years. In this paper it will be discussed about the difference between strategic and financial planning, the strategic planning initiative for the organization of Hewlett Packard’s annual report, the initiative affects for H.P.’s financial planning in terms of cost and sales. Lastly, the risks associated with the initiative and the effects they may have.
The difference between strategic planning and financial planning
Strategic planning is the reason the business runs. Once the business understands its reason, then it can figure out the how, the requirements to get there which includes the placement of the financial resources, human resource needs, and investments. Financial planning is the allocation of all the resources (money, employees and equipment). Over time this is all done to meet the goal set in strategic planning.
A strategic planning initiative for Hewlett Packard
According to the Hewlett Packard 2011 Annual Report, it was a tough year for the company in regards to strategic planning. The company seemed to lose focus and was not as transparent as it should have been to its stakeholders. Although facing a tough economy and having to transition into a new CEO, Hewlett Packard still maintained a 1 percent revenue increase. Their net revenue was $127.2 billion in 2011. One strategic imitative