Strategic Planning: An Executive's Aid for Strategic Thinking, Development and Deployment

Number 1 — Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning provides an ongoing opportunity for “Strategic Thinking” which is a process that enables the management team to…think through the qualitative aspects of its business and the environment it faces. The team can then decide on a common and shared vision and a strategy for the future of its company.”³

The most fundamental strategic decision is: What should the scope of our products and markets be?⁴ In its most basic form, three fundamental questions are to be answered in Strategic Planning:

1. Where are we? (Performance analysis, assessment and evaluation)

2. Where do we want to go? (Vision / mission and goal setting)

3. How are we going to get there? (Strategy development and deployment)

Planning what is our business, what will it be and what it should need to be integrated. The skill we need is not long-range planning but strategic decision-making… The work starts with the questions, “Which of our present businesses should we abandon? Which should we play down? Which should we push and supply new resources to? Strategic Planning does not deal with the future decisions. It deals with the futurity of present decisions. What do we have to do today to be ready for an uncertain tomorrow?

Strategic questions to keep asking ourselves:

1. What is our business?
2. Who is our customer?
3. What is value to our customer?
4. What are his unsatisfied wants?
5. What are our success requirements?
6. What is our match with these success needs?
7. What are our strategic dependencies?
8. What is our strategic position in the market?
9. What must it be to gain lasting uniqueness?
10. What should our business be in the future?

Areas for strategic thinking and direction:

1. Product / service concept
2. User / customer class
3. Market type / category
4. Production capacity / capability
5. Technology / knowledge
6. Sales / marketing method
7. Distribution method
8. Natural resources
9. Size / growth
10. Return / profit
11. Functional Strategies — Engineering, marketing, sales, manufacturing, distribution, financial

The strategic planning process is initiated by Top Management and represents input from key people throughout the organization. Each and every strategy is documented and is linked to and supports the strategic goals.

Strategic goals are recognized as ends to which efforts are to be directed. Strategic goals require significant changes in the way in which the business operates and may take several years to implement.¹

Some Considerations for Strategy Development

Driving Force — The one strategic area that is most important to a company and is the engine that propels, or drives, the company forward to success.

Value Disciplines - Driving Force:

• Product
• Operational Excellence
• Customer Intimacy⁵

Core Competencies? What gives the company lasting uniqueness?

Internal SWOT (Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats)

Facilitator — A facilitator has a very specific role: to keep the discussion moving forward in a constructive manner. The facilitator also keeps the process honest, balanced and objective. He or she will strive to ensure everyone has a chance to speak his or her mind on the various subjects.

The strategic planning process is initiated by Top Management and represents input from key people throughout the organization. Each and every strategy is documented and is linked to and supports the strategic goals.

Strategic goals are recognized as ends to which efforts are to be directed. Strategic goals require significant changes in the way in which the business operates and may take several years to implement.¹