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Strategic Planning

The Planning Process

Management structure provides a way of distinguishing the levels of planning and organizational development which are typical of most businesses (profit or non-profit).

The elements of organizational planning and development are interrelated, dynamic, and interdependent as shown in the following illustration:

Strategic & Tactical Thinking

Strategic thinking gives direction and builds systems for product & service delivery. Tactical thinking links strategy (a long-term business plan) to operations (an immediate work plan), and builds systems for day-to-day work supervision, guidance, quality control, and customer relationship.

Thinking is the engine of both long-term and short-term planning. It provides the intellectual and motivational framework for creativity, vision, problem- solving and opportunistic initiative. It is therefore, possible to identify two kinds of thinking: Strategic / Systems Thinking and Tactical / Operational Thinking. In both instances the thinking is typically not a product of one individual, but reflects a group process of collaborative thinking, planning, and decision-making of an executive or operational team. Therefore, the skills of collaboration, communication, and shared vision are integral components of the creative thinking process.

The relationship of Strategic Thinking to Long-term Planning and Tactical Planning are illustrated by George Morrissey in his book, A Guide to Strategic Thinking.

Strategic Thinking begins with posing questions, gathering data, analyzing data, generating knowledge and developing strategic plan alternatives. It is about understanding the environment & context, gathering intelligence, and generating options. This thinking process leads to decisions that culminate in defining mission, vision, values, goals, objectives and action plans. Ultimately, a strategic plan must drive specific budget allocations to fund the action plans. It is only as a strategic plan is operationalized into funded implementations that it has real impact. A plan that does not lead to budget decisions is not genuinely strategic.

Strategic Thinking has been called systems thinking, solutions thinking, future and forward thinking, longer term thinking, and high level thinking. The key to strategic thinking is in asking the right questions — to drive toward a big picture view of context, relationship and connections. It sees systems within systems. It reasons holistically, rather than reductively. It uses analytical skills in the service of understanding a system as a whole, rather than analytically fragmenting the view into disconnected parts.

In another section of this web site, "Design Thinking," the role of both System/holistic thinking and Critical/analytical thinking was discussed as it applies to both Strategic and Operational issues. The importance of creativity and imagination in the development of future vision was stressed. Design as "A Distinct Thinking Skill" is introduced as well as its "Impact on Strategic and Operational Thinking."

The following table illustrates the important distinctions between Strategic and Tactical planning approaches. Communication problems, logical category errors, and creative blocks will inevitably occur when these perspectives and thinking frames are confused with one another.

Strategic Planning Framework

Strategic thinking is the skill set which drives the strategic planning process. Enterprise strategy can be formulated on three different levels:

• Corporate level
• Business Unit level
• Functional or Departmental level.

The Business Overview is a summary of what is relevant and important to an organization and its performance. It addresses: What is most important to the organization? What are the key influences on how the organization operates? Where is the organization is headed?

Sustained success in business requires a systems approach. Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award has developed criteria for each of the following essential enterprise areas:

1. Leadership
2. Strategic Planning
3. Customers & Markets
4. Information & Analysis
5. Staff Focus
6. Process Management
7. Organizational Performance Results

The strategic planning process will ask the following questions:

• Where do we want to go (immediate future / long-term future)?
• How do we get there?
• Where do we put our resources?
• What processes and policies do we need to have in place?
• What happened during the last cycle?
• Did we do what we said we would do?
• Were there unexpected results?
• What caused them?
• What could we do differently?
• How would that impact the results?

Both individuals and organizations need strategy in order to achieve consistency of focus on priorities and alignment of action over the long-term. This strategic framework is both a top-down and bottom-up process of planning and decision-making that involve the following components:

Questions addressed by Mission Statements:

• What is the purpose of the enterprise?
• What is unique about the enterprise?
• What are its principles products & markets?
• What are its values?
• Where is the enterprise hoping to be in five or ten years time?

A vision tells the organization where it is going and what success can look like. The nature and impact of this leadership relates directly to developing an individual's or an organization's capacity for intrinsic motivation. But in order for "vision" to be more than just a cliche that is hung on the wall or posted in company literature, it must be lived and promoted daily through a company's leaders. It is the difference between an intentional, proactive culture, or a reactive, aimless culture.

"A vision is a guiding theme that articulates the nature of the business and the intentions for the future. These intentions are based on how management collectively believes the environment will unfold, and what the business can and should become in the future. Visions are not vague expressions of goodwill, but explicit systems about what it takes to succeed in the future. Without a vision, and the leadership to rally others around the vision, the organization is likely to be reactive in the present arena and aimless in pursuit of new directions." (Day, p15)

Here are some value examples:

Ambition, competency, individuality, equality, integrity, service, responsibility, accuracy, respect, dedication, diversity, improvement, enjoyment/fun, loyalty, credibility, honesty, innovativeness, teamwork, excellence, accountability, empowerment, quality, efficiency, dignity, collaboration, stewardship, empathy, accomplishment, courage, wisdom, independence, security, challenge, influence, learning, compassion, friendliness, discipline/order, generosity, persistence, optimism, dependability, flexibility

These corporate values are often referred to as core values or as governing values. They are used as criteria in making key decisions and developing policy.

Value statements define how people want to behave with each other in the organization. They are statements about how the organization will value customers, suppliers, and the internal community. The values of each of individual, along with their experience and beliefs, meld together to form corporate culture. The values of senior leaders are especially important in the development and maintenance of corporate culture.

Here are some examples of strategic goals which show the range, diversity and dimensions of enterprise strategy development:

Organizational: Establish employee empowerment and team development; Streamline the current distribution system using lean management principles;
Market:: Open a new worldwide market in Asia; Introduce three new products this year; Establish new sales information system;
Departmental: Become the training and education resource of choice by offering one-stop access to any and all existing education and training resources; Provide cost-effective IT networking services;
Financial: Expand funding base; Move courses online for added revenue stream and customer convenience;
Human resource: Eliminate poor performers through performance reviews; Hire from several venues to obtain excellent candidates; Develop succession planning; Increase training and cross-training opportunities.

There are two major consequences of strategic goal setting:

• First is budget; for a goal and strategy development to be meaningful and effective, it must be matched by a commitment of financial resources. Strategic commitments are immediately reflected in budget allocations.
• Second, is core competencies. Goal setting and strategy development must have confidence that the required core competencies (knowledge, skills, & attitudes) and accountable leaders exist within the company. If there are deficits in competency, leadership or accountability, then these facts must be addressed as integral to nature of the strategy to be developed.

In this way, the goal setting process, through strategic road mapping and planning process has an immediate practical effect by forcing reality-checks (in financial and human resource terms).

The strategic planning framework is not just a top-down process imposed from above in an authoritarian and idealized way. It is equally a bottom-up process of participation, collaboration and realism in which the daily experience of operations informs strategy, and the striving to be responsive to real customers continually influences key executive decisions.

"Some firms are consistently better at managing the process, making the right strategic choices, and ensuring superior execution. They can be contrasted with their lagging peers along two critical dimensions... Winners are guided by a shared vision, driven to be responsive to market requirements and continuously strive to satisfy their customers." (Day, p. 15)

Strategy Into Action

Here is an example of translating a strategy into an action plan. The end objective is to be stated clearly in measurable terms so the program of tasks can be implemented, measured and monitored. It is only this process that will make the abstract intention into a concrete strategic program:

Objectives	Measure	Target	Initiative
What the Strategy is trying to achieve	How success or failure against objectives is monitored	The level of performance or rate of improvement needed	Key action programs required to achieve targets
Build strong customer relationship	Customer Satisfaction	Customer Service Index improves 15%	Implement Customer Feedback Database

Leadership Vision

Leaders have vision, and they communicate a dream and direction that other people want to share and follow.

The leadership vision goes beyond written organizational mission and vision statements. It permeates the enterprise by being manifested in the actions, beliefs, values and goals of the organization’s leaders.

Leadership, corporate culture and learning go hand-in-hand.

SWOT Analysis

A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of a strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the enterprise can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the enterprise can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). such an analysis of the strategic environment is referred to as a SWOT analysis.

The SWOT analysis provides information that seeks to match the enterprise's resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates. As such, it is a tool of strategy formulation and selection. The goal is to use a framework that will help focus on your strengths, minimize weaknesses, and take advantage of available opportunities. The following diagram shows how a SWOT analysis fits into an environmental scan:

Environmental Scan           / \            Internal Analysis       External Analysis / \                  / \ Strengths   Weaknesses    Opportunities   Threats | SWOT Strategy Matrix

Strength

An enterprise's strengths are its resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for developing a competitive advantage. What advantages do you have? What do you do well? What relevant resource do you have access to? What do other people see as your strengths? Examples of strengths include:

• Patents
• Strong brand names
• Good reputation among customers
• Cost advantages from proprietary know-how
• Exclusive access to high grade manufacturing resources
• Favorable access to distribution networks

Weaknesses

The absence of needed strengths may be viewed as a weakness. What could you improve? What do you do badly? What should you avoid? For example, each of the following may be considered weaknesses:

• Lack of patent protection
• A weak brand name
• Poor reputation among customers
• High cost structure
• Lack of access to the best manufacturing resources
• Lack of access to key distribution channels

In some cases, a weakness may be the flip side of a strength. Take the case in which a firm has a large amount of manufacturing capacity. While this capacity may be considered a strength that competitors do not share, it also may be a considered a weakness if the large investment in manufacturing capacity prevents the firm from reacting quickly to changes in the strategic environment.

Opportunities

The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and growth. What good opportunities are on the horizon? What are the industry trends that can enhance the business? Some examples of such opportunities include:

• An unfulfilled customer need
• Arrival of new technologies
• Loosening of regulations
• Removal of international trade barriers

Threats

Changes in the external environmental also may present threats to the firm. What obstacles do you face? What is your competition doing? Are the required specifications for your job, products or services changing? Is emerging technology threatening your position? Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business? Some examples of such threats include:

• Shifts in consumer tastes away from the firm's products
• Emergence of substitute products
• New regulations
• Increased trade barriers

The SWOT Strategy Matrix

A firm should not necessarily pursue the more lucrative opportunities. Rather, it may have a better chance at developing a competitive advantage by identifying a fit between the firm's strengths and upcoming opportunities. In some cases, the firm can overcome a weakness in order to prepare itself to pursue a compelling opportunity.

To develop strategies that take into account the SWOT profile, a matrix of these factors can be constructed. The SWOT Strategy Matrix is shown below:

• S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the enterprise's strengths.
• W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities.
• S-T strategies identify ways that the enterprise can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats.
• W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the enterprise's weaknesses from making it highly susceptible to external threats.

Strategy & Tactics

The Planning Process

The Power of Alignment