Strategic Planning

This course is designed to combine proven-by-practice methods with new insights and ideas from a wide range of current strategic thinking. Gain a wider perspective of the strategic planning process through breakout sessions, exercises and case applications. Bring your strategic dilemmas to this program and get direction on analytical and organizational approaches.

• Identify strategic planning issues in order to develop a unique competitive advantage
• Learn key analytical and conceptual approaches to expand your understanding of the marketplace
• Align your organization with your strategic planning goals by integrating strategy, objectives, metrics and performance
• Identify evolving strategic patterns and generate ideas on how they can be applied to your organization
• Incorporate customer needs into your strategic planning
• Use a case study to examine the strategic planning process
• Recognize how the actions of customers, competitors and your own company determine the outcomes in your markets
• Determine the best approach to effectively implement your strategic planning

• Identifying the questions and analyses that strategic planning must address
• Organizing a structured strategic planning process
• Developing a strategic mission, vision and unique value statement for your unit
• Assessing the external and internal environment
• Determining your organization’s performance profile and conducting a competitor assessment
• Conducting a VRIO analysis for identifying sustainable competitive advantages
• Applying an internal assessment to your organization
• Making strategic decisions and conducting a SWOT analysis
• Understanding the potential value of scenario planning
• Building your strategic plan and crafting your executive summary
• Communicating and executing your strategic plan
• Building commitment throughout the execution process
• Translating strategic imperatives into goals and actions
• Identifying ways to align the organization toward a single purpose

Learning Objectives

• Describe the Strategic Planning Process
• Use Strategic Planning Tools and Techniques to Gather and Analyze Pertinent Data
• Begin Building a Strategic Action Plan for Your Area of Responsibility

Strategic Planning Overview

• State Key Definitions of Strategic Planning Terms
• Identify the Questions That Strategic Planning Must Address
• Identify the Analyses Typically Incorporated in Strategic Planning
• Describe How These Questions and Analyses Can Be Organized into a Structured Strategic Planning Process
• Describe How Your Planning Relates to Planning at Other Levels of the Organization

The Strategic Pillars

• Differentiate Between Mission and Vision
• Examine Core Values and Their Role in Strategic Planning
• Articulate the Unique Value for Your Unit
• Describe the Value of Purpose in Ensuring a High-Performance Organization That Achieves Results
• Develop Mission and Vision Statements for Your Unit

Assessing the External Environment

• Distinguish Between Macro and Market Environments
• Identify the Macro and Market Trends That Are Shaping the Landscape
• Describe How These Trends Will Affect Your Organization and Your Customers, and What That Means for Your Specific Unit’s Strategy

Assessing the Internal Environment

• Explain the Components of an Internal Assessment
• Understand the Concept of Core Competencies
• Appreciate the Importance of Culture in an Internal Assessment
• Apply an Internal Assessment Diagnostic to Your Organization

                                                                                                                                    
Making Strategic Decisions

• Identify the Role of Data Synthesis, Insight, and Creativity in Strategic Planning
• Describe How to Conduct a SWOT Analysis for Your Unit
• Understand How to Use a SWOT Analysis to Choose Your Strategic Imperatives
• Identify Your Organization’s Integrated Components
• Determine Your Strategic Imperatives and Performance Measures

Building Your Strategic Action Plan

• Identify Key Elements of a Good Strategic Action Plan
• Begin Developing Your Own Strategic Action Plan
• Identify Key Elements of an Executive Summary

Communicating and Executing Your Strategic Action Plan

• Understand There Will Be Gaps in Executing the Strategy and a Process for Moving Forward
• Recognize How a Leader Builds Commitment Through Multiple Avenues of Communication Throughout the Execution Process
• Identify Ways to Align the Organization Toward a Single Purpose
• Establish Individual and Team Performance Goals Linked to the Strategic Action Plan
• Ensure Rewards and Recognition Are Linked to Strategic Progress