Hi,
1. Each company may have a different organizational structure, but strategic planning/business development are separate business functions (Consulting is an industry rather than a function in a company). In a more organizationally fluid company, it is possible that you will do both. So just by looking at the job title is not enough, you need to research more about the company and also its culture.
2. This again is different with each company, but I would say most likely it's the strategic planning people who decide the general direction (ie. We need to enter the consumer electronics market), and business development people who, along with the technical staff, decide on how to implement it (ie. we will do a portable music player to compete with Apple). The 3 roles in this scenario (Strat. planning, BD, technical manager) will all have influence on the direction of the product, but at different levels.
3. I guess it's my personal view that MBAs should always take a more comprehensive role in a company (if you want to specialize, you should think about other degrees, ie MS Finance), but because of opportunity/experience, not every MBA can start with such role. Generally speaking, the larger the company is, the more opportunity there is for strat. planning/BD. It's not easy for sure, but the bigger issue is 'fit': how does your MBA training + experience make you more fit than the other candidates. 我建議你要aim high. MBA就是可以給你一個機會讓你不用從基層(低薪?)做起. 如果你一開始就是持著一個low risk/low return的態度, 而沒有表現比較積極/aggressive的態度, 在跟別的MBA爭取相同的工作時就會吃虧. That being said, if there's no immediate opening for such role, I would suggest you look at
a. industry (which industry typically has such positions open)
b. company (which companies within the industry are good fits/have flexible internal transfer mechanism)
c. function (does the function interest you/give you opportunity to switch)
4. For a more detailed explanation about consulting industry, I suggest you take a look at the consulting forum here:
http://www.formosamba.com/viewforum.php?f=56. Basically there are different types of consulting.