Strategy is long term; it’s about the direction of an organisation and how it will meet customer needs profitably. Like a journey, you need to know your starting point, where you want to go and how you will get there.
A key element of strategy is the identification and evaluation of alternative destinations; without this it’s not worth a row of beans.
By contrast, a plan is an intention to carry out a course of actions. And many business plans are just that – a series of actions lacking any real strategic intent.
So, does that matter? Well, if your customers’ needs don’t change, markets are stable and you are not impacted by technology or economic perturbations then the answer is “no”.
But who can really say that in this day and age?