After a company sets its goals and objectives, the next step in strategic planning is to ________.

• A. analyze the internal and external environment
• B. prepare the financial statements
• C. declare dividends to shareholders
• D. issue new shares of stock

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the context of strategic planning: Strategic planning involves setting goals and objectives to guide a company's direction and decision-making.
2. Recognize the importance of analyzing the internal and external environment: This step helps the company assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). It provides critical insights into market conditions, competition, and internal capabilities.
3. Clarify why preparing financial statements is not the next step: Financial statements are typically prepared to report financial performance and position, but they are not directly part of the strategic planning process at this stage.
4. Explain why declaring dividends to shareholders is not relevant: Dividends are a financial decision made after profits are determined, and they do not contribute to the strategic planning process.
5. Discuss why issuing new shares of stock is unrelated: Issuing shares is a financing activity and does not align with the immediate step of analyzing the environment in strategic planning.