In class, we are discussing the strategic planning process and how it works. The format and the deliverables are important, but in reality, nothing is more important than the attendees. You need good input to get good output.
On one hand, you want as many points of view as possible, but on the other hand, a group of more than about 18 is not possible to manage and ends up being dominated by a few voices anyway. It is important to have the leaders of the company involved, but it is also important to include the thoughts of some younger folks and some less experienced folks, so you can learn more about what is "really" happening in the company. If you have some team members who are less engaged or who think that they are "too busy to waste their time" at the session, should you force them to attend, or let them pass on it? You want to be internally focused, but some outside opinions could be very helpful. Should you include a Board Member or two? Or a well-informed client?
Consider the strategic planning session and let me know who your attendees for an ideal strategic planning session are. Limit yourself to 18 attendees, but I would be open to supplementing the 18 attendees with some questionnaires sent to the attendees and others as pre-work for the session, so consider that as well. And note that I have used all of the variants discussed in this assignment in my consulting practice, and they all can work, but some work better than others, and some work in certain circumstances, but not in others.
Keep your essay to a limit of 1500 words, though fewer is fine if you feel like you have answered the question completely.