If you think about achieving something as involving ways, means and ends - policy is often engaged with the 'ways'; strategy is concerned with the 'means'; and finally planning is focused on the delivery of the 'ends'.

From the public sector perspective, I understand that policies appear as "the rules" arising from a shared consensus and social worldview, planning is structured as management action to implement programs and projects (which shall be governed by the policies ), and the strategy used to find the way, the acceptance and commitment of all stakeholders in the process of formulating and implementing the plan (and of each program and project).

I think both answers are correct. Policy is guideline to achieve objectives, Strategy is about method of understanding environment and making plan on what needs to be done to achieve the objectives, planning is about making choices about how to use the resources you have and the actions you will take to achieve the choices made in your strategy to achieve objectives.

Within the context of HR, the following should be relevant: Arthur, J.B., & Boyles, T. (2007). Validating the human resource system structure: A levels-based strategic HRM approach. Human Resource Management Review, 17, 77-92.

A useful distinction might be the one use in Evolutionary Governance Theory:

Policies are seen as temporary conceptual structures coordinating knowledge and power. They are institutions that stabilised expectations and might influence the strategizing of involved actors. Policies are in constant transmutation because of the confrontation with other power/knowledge configurations.

Planning is broadly defined as the coordination of policies and practices.

Strategy refers to the ways and actions that different actors (individuals or organisations) deploy in order to achieve certain goals. Planning might be one of the strategies, if coordination is considered an interesting option to achieve something.

Dear Abu M. Sufiyan, Laying down the paths for future objective is 'planning'. A strategy is a solution to move from current position towards the set future goal. The rubrics of paths and solutions can be defined as policy.

Recent book titled "Strategy: A History" by Lawrence Freedman has demonstrated how 'strategy' has military origins compared to planning/policy which has political origins. The book, interestingly, argues how war as a strategy is a plan and policy.

In Management Studies, strategy (by manager) is a preferred term in the context of profit maximization aims of a firm. Therefore, if one adopts policy/plan largely works within Public Management frames, there is hardly any difference between strategy and policy. But, one views policy detached from Public Management frame, there is definitely clear boundaries for both strategy and policy, and their overlapping arenas.

We must seek first to use the terms according to their original meanings and in specific disciplines.

It has rightly been drawn to the military origin of strategy (it's right, Sony!). But we must also remember the three concepts: the concept of strategy, that of tactics and the last of operational action.

According to this view make sense to talk about structural plans, sector plans and implementation plans. In this technical actions of public administrations is housed economic planning. This must support the different stages of planning.

In the territorial government bodies then we discriminate between the policy (mayor and counselors) that guides the choices (and therefore the "policies" may be sectoral strategies or a part of them) and those of the public administration that implements the policies (tactical level) and then implements, that is the third level, the operational level.

Policy is quite a flexible concept, I agree. In the English language, it is most often defined in terms of 'course of action' or similar, but with no specifc boundary between ends, means and approach. On the other hand, 'policy' usually indicates some set of coherent decisions with a common long-term purpose rather than an ad hoc pronouncement. In politcical science, public policy is often understood as the process by which governments translate their political vision into programmes and activities to deliver outcomes (defined as desired changes).

If one accepts this latter notion more generally, then strategy might be viewed as the value-based (longer term) approach to how a vision (policy goal) can be realised in broad terms e.g. specification and setting up of action directions and various programmes.

When it comes to planning there is of course also overlap and fuzziness between strategic and operational planning boundaries. Operational planning is however quite solidly embedded in ideas about specifying activites required to achieve targets in relation to strategic goals as well as the allocation of specific resources to enable those actions.

So perhaps one can see policy as the political/social vision or aspiration, strategy as what to do to get there and planning more distinctly about how to do that e.g. deployment of resources to specified activies.

Dear Dr. Abu M. Sufiyan, A strategy is a road map adapted to achieve the end vision. Policy is a definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions. Whereas, Plan is a detailed formulation of a program of actions to achieve the objective..

In time based definition : plannig tlks about short time , strategy about mid and policy long time.

In precision term: planning has the most precise and strategy is more precise than policy.

In working environment if we look onion type environments (circles one into another) : planning has the least environment and after that strategy and polict has the bigest teritory of action.

In implementation tools : policy works in directions, strategy works in a path with some tools and planning one way and one tool

policies are public rules, strategies are special ruls and plans ara one rule

policies are about all goals, strategies are about a group of goals and planns are about one goal

From a political system approach, "policy" and "strategy" can be both outputs of "Black Box" at macro level that can serve as an "input" for sub-systems to used in their "planning" that may be later end in "decisions" or "actions".

Policy is what we can say a vision statement. It lays down and coveys to others the standard response of an individual/organisation/government on standard issues. Like we keep hearing Israel saying "no negotiation with terrorists". It is their policy for all standard situations concerning all incidences that are perceived as terrorist action against the state of Israel. Can the policy change? Yes, definitely based on new perceptions and anticipated returns.

Plan is a frame work of hierarchy and procedure through which the ends of policy are attempted to be realized. Plan is a step by step program. Plan however is a limited period program. It will stay in place till certain immediate objectives are realized. once the purpose is achieved the plan is consigned to a place in history.

Strategy is a long-term plan with a grand vision. It enables an individual/organisation/government to address issues over their lifetime. Like for example, personal savings plan of an individual. He plans for life and may even cater for posterity. Nations lay down their strategic plans to serve their interests over indeterminable period of time. In its folds, strategy carries short-mid-long term policies and proportionately associated plans. Like in India, there is a Five Year Plan which is the vision document stitching present needs of the nation seamlessly with the anticipated needs of the future.

Hope I have been able give some answer to your question. Have a great day!!

Policy is a specific, finite set of steps and allocation of resources (often with a timeline or time limit) to accomplish a specific public objective.

Planning is the assembling of ideas about or for the accomplishment of a public goal.  The planning may include an amount of resources to allocate, a target population to receive the benefits, or target geographical sector.  The planning is the assembling of ideas that should address the problem.

Strategy is a specific set of steps and allocation of resources used to accomplish a specific policy goal- for example, one strategy to improve public education is to institute teacher evaluations.  The goal is educational improvement, the strategy (or one part of the strategy) is introducing teacher evaluations.  The strategy may have several parts but it is specifically designed to achieve a policy goal.

Hope this helps.

Carter

Dear Dr. Abu M. Sufiyan

Policy is set guidelines by an organization / institution.  Planning reflects a vision towards achievement of an objective and strategy is nothing but an action plan.

I found a useful doc http://glynfo.glyndwr.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=216 that illustrates the distinction between strategy, policy and procedure from a practical perspective, as viewed by this institution. See what you think, Simon

I stumbled upon this question, and would like to present a computer science (AI and robotics) perspective. Would love to hear if the usage in the context of agents/robots seems similar to organizational usage that you have been discussing in this thread. 

A policy addresses the question, how should an agent act right now, given current state, to maximize potential long term reward. Hence, a policy specifies what action an agent (or robot) should take given the current state. Usually this will be a mapping between many states to actions, sometimes in the form of a function. For a robot, current state defines: where the robot is, belief states of other robots, etc., and actions can be: move forward, drive left, pick up object, etc., sometimes a lot more complex.There is a reward associated with each state, and an optimal policy takes into account uncertainty in the results of actions. 

Given a current state, a plan prescribes a set of goal states (e.g. geographic locations to visit) over a "planning horizon", say next 2 mins, or 4 days, or 5 months), to acquire maximum reward. A plan doesn't concern what actions need to be taken to reach those states, although an optimal plan will take constraints of actions and the system into consideration (e.g. cannot move faster than certain speed, obstacles, etc.). 

The term strategy is used in a game-theoretic setting where an agent or system has to respond to the actions of other agents that may be adversarial. Hence, a chess playing agent will have a strategy. The definition, to me, seems similar to policy, except, a policy doesn't assume existence of an adversarial or collaborative agent affecting the distribution of rewards in the various states of the "world". 

Strategy was -first of all- a bellicose word. And Policy was coming from polis, once upon a time a city-state against others cities-state. But now, our world is a world of cities, and we hope in cooperation: that is to say not a strategy against an enemy, but a strategy to survive in a friendly biosphere.

In the field of artificial intelligence, a policy is a guide to which actions an intelligent should perform for each state he might reach in the state space.

A strategy is a sequence of actions that guides an agent from beginning to end.A strategy might be the product of a policy, but it can also exist without a policy. This behavior can be best seen in the field of game theory, where every possible strategy of each player is cross-referenced in order to study possible outcomes for games.

Planning is the general field in AI that studies the realization of sequences of actions by intelligent agents.

POLICY - a broad set of principles that guides the government in its course of action regarding a particular subject.

For example, India has a foreign policy which is based upon the principles of Panchsheel (peaceful coexistence and non-interference et al). It has an industrial policy that envisages a healthy competition between private players with a certain degree of state regulation.

PLAN - a long term roadmap to achieve some broad goals.

The erstwhile Planning Commission was entrusted with the task of formulating Five Year Plans that charted out the vision for the development of the country for periods of 5 years at a time.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-d...ct-Is-there-a-relation-between-them

The Crucial Difference Between Policies and Programs

"When the goal is social equity, programs are important but policies are for the long term.

BY STARSKY WILSON | NOVEMBER 2, 2015

In the ongoing struggle for social justice and equity, policies and programs can both be helpful tools. However, government officials and their constituents need to understand the distinctions between the two and the responsibility of governance for policy to institute real, progressive change.

Programs are short-term interventions that create temporary improvements in the wake of challenges. Policies, on the other hand, are covenants we collectively choose to live by, as articulated in legislation and regulation. They inform our socially accepted mores and ethics.

As a citizen of St. Louis, I've witnessed a massive outcry for policy intervention in the year since the killing of a black teenager by a white police officer in nearby Ferguson. To meet that demand, the Ferguson Commission has sought to clarify the best approach for ensuring that the momentous changes that our region and the rest of the country need can happen -- and that, more importantly, they endure..."

Please follow this link to read more:

http://www.governing.com/gov-institute/voices/col-social-equity-crucial-difference-policies-programs-ferguson.html

Good questions! 

A possible simple, but graphical answer you can find in a paper here on RG: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283285925_A_Chinese_Box_Model_of_Planning .

Conference Paper A Chinese Box Model of Planning