Summary:
William T Hayes II, CEO of William T Hayes & Associates believes that hope is not a viable strategy for preventing a business from failing. In consulting, Hayes has found three common culpability issues for businesses in financial decline. First, most businesses in a financial decline rely almost entirely on the one thing they know how to do — cut costs.
The second issue is that strategic planning and tactical execution in a turnaround process are rarely skill sets of the company’s front-line officers, even if the executive leadership team may have a proven track record.
Lastly, the “root cause” — strategic error is the last thing when challenged with financial crisis, most organizations blame their predicament on anything and everything except the one thing most often at.
Article Quote:
“If your business is significantly underperforming, focus on the following: Other than cost-cutting, what other action items have you identified that will impact the top line? What skills and experience do you have as a management team that will allow you to effectively plan, develop and execute a recovery initiative? Other than the poor economic climate, which usually exacerbates a problem but does not create it, what is truly the root cause of the problem?”
Link:http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20091225/GPG0706/912250549/1269/GPG06/Guest-column–Hope-is-not-a-strategy
Cutting costs is usually the first area where executives look to balance their profit and loss statements when facing a financial decline. However, cutting costs is only a temporary fix to the problem – much like applying a band aid.
Strategic planning must remain flexible when positive or negative factors arise. Accessibility to the plan -for everyone in the organization- helps keep the plan active so course corrections may be made early, before the company is in great financial distress. Strategic planning software that creates visibility on objectives, tracks progress, and keeps everyone involved greatly increases the chance for successful strategic plan implementation.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Not having a strategic plan is the equivalent to setting yourself up for failure, according to Debbie Seidel-Bittke, founder of Dental Practice Solutions. The new year is almost here and if you don’t have your annual strategic planning meeting on the calendar, now is the time to schedule it for you and the entire team. Seidel-Bittke uses the analogy of taking a journey to a new destination without a road map with beginning a new year of business without a strategic plan. She writes that
Get everyone involve in the planning so you have a diverse set of ideas for recognizing opportunities and threats. Moving the plan outside of the office help in keeping the meeting fun. Addressing what has already been accomplished and what needs to be accomplished begins the path for planning objectives.
Article Quote:
“You can not start a business and proceed blindly and just expect that everything will work out and you will achieve great success. It rarely will happen that way. At the very beginning of each year you need to sit down outside the regular dental office atmosphere and make a plan.”
Link: http://www.dentalheroes.com/strategic-plan-dental-practice/
Before you develope a strategic plan, have a clear understanding of what your business’ vision and mission statements are. Keeping these directives at the forefront will keep the plan aligned with the purpose of the business. Implementing a strategic planning and execution software will keep the plan in the minds of every individual in the organization while allowing visibility on what tasks should be completed next, and by whom.
This cohesive approach keeps the plan active and lets management see if any corrective adjustments need to be made. No plan, strategic or otherwise should be set in stone. It needs to remain flexible so that changes can be made quickly.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
In the past, most companies could get by with just strategic planning. Today’s changing markets demand more. Engage in strategic planning on a regular basis AND enhance the abilities to think strategically throughout the company. By doing this, your organization will become more flexible while increasing your ability to handle any new challenges that come your way.
Green gives several principles to follow to enhance the ability to think strategically. They involve overcoming the fear of failure; taking incremental steps; making a commitment so others will follow you; don’t wait for the ideal moment to execute your plan; being responsive; demonstrating resolve; and instilling teamwork.
Article Quote:
“Strategic thinking occurs when the entire organization begins to act in concert with the strategic plan. It involves teaching people at all levels of the organization to anticipate opportunities and threats while managing the day-to-day tasks that fall within their scope of responsibilities.”
Link: http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/2009/12/getting-others-to-think-strategically.html
When employees begin to think strategically, they become more responsive to changing customer needs. They become better at identifying potential threats, obstacles, and problem areas before they reach a critical point. They also become better problem solvers as they learn how their decisions and actions impact the business in the future as well as today. Furthermore, they become more involved with and more supportive of the overall strategic plan.
Getting everyone involved with the strategic plan should involve putting the plan in front of them on a daily basis. Prioritization of tasks, accountability, and follow-through increase when everyone has instant visibility on the who, what, and when in the organization.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Mr. Baldwin highlights key elements in any new product development process. These elements should include market intelligence equipped to provide well-thought-out analyses of potential new products and markets; Development capabilities sufficient to develop the new products specified by the market intelligence; production capabilities appropriate to make the products developed; marketing and sales abilities to promote and sell the products; distribution/logistics with the capacities to stock and deliver the products as needed. All of these elements must be included for a successful new product launch.
Article Quote:
“By properly analyzing your customers’ wants and requirements, what your competition is offering and what your company is capable of delivering, market intelligence should help your company focus its product development process on those projects which show the best possibilities for success in the future.”
Link: http://www.cssp.com/strategicplanning/blog/?p=528
By far the most relevant element in any new product development strategic plan is gathering market intelligence. Developing a clear understanding of what customers want, what the competitors are offering, and coupled that with an accurate financial analysis of what your company is capable of producing, marketing, and delivering is critical to a successful launch.
After launch, monitoring results of the strategic plan with performance technology that allows users immediate visibility on the various departments and their performance gives executives greater control over the entire process.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Kerry Martin asks, “What’s strategic about having a fixed plan in a year of constant change?” She points to the turbulence of economic events in 2009 and how they have rendered many strategic plans useless. Using an outdated or irrelevant strategic plan that was developed in a different economic environment is wasteful. Instead companies need to remain flexible and adjust their strategic plans accordingly.
If budgeted projections need to be pared down, preemptively adjust your tactics to find more efficient ways to accomplish your long-term objectives. By finding alternative ways to accomplish the long-term goal, companies may avoid losing entire campaigns.
Article Quote:
“For this New Year, make the resolution to be proactive with how your marketing plan or overall business model is assessed; don’t wait for 12 months to start over.”
Link:http://thestrategicfirm.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/proactive-strategic-planning/
Implementing and monitoring a strategic plan should go hand in hand. Changing business factors dictate the need for adjusting strategies. Using scenario planning while developing your strategic plan can help avoid sudden pitfalls. However, even the best strategists cannot plan for every scenario.
In order to monitor your plan, it needs to be in front of the eyes and on the minds of everyone in the organization. Getting everyone involved in executing the plan increases the chance for success. Strategic planning and execution software developed to perform these tasks allows leadership to see, in minutes, how well the strategy is performing.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Through SWOT analysis, executives can develop a greater understanding of what position the company is currently in and more importantly – how to advance to the next level. Lou Schultz defines SWOT, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in this article and gives several examples of relevant questions to ask when performing SWOT analysis.
The top questions Shultz gives for each topic area are: Strengths – what do you do best? Weaknesses – what are your organization’s most critical vulnerabilities in the eyes of your customers? Opportunities – where are the unmet needs? and Threats – in what areas of markets and products are you in the declining phase? These of course are just a few of the questions organizations need to address when assessing their companies. Follow the link below for a complete list of questions from each area.
Article Quote:
“Research and discussion of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will reveal areas to be shored up or strengthened and other areas to be exploited in your planning activity.”
Link:http://www.parkrapidsenterprise.com/event/article/id/21307/group/News/
Strategic planning should include swot analysis to gain a better understanding of the company’s position within the market. However, it is not the only tool available when developing a strategic plan. By starting with the mission and vision of the company and moving on to a planned outcome of events, organizations can begin to develop a strategy for planned objectives. Tactical plans can then be developed and should be viewed as small steps along the path of the strategic plan.
For more information on strategic planning, seehttp://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
SWOT analysis, Business Logic, and Cultural Screen are three indispensable tools for businesses to use when developing their strategic plan. This author believes that SWOT analysis is the most valuable of these three because it can enable one to assess performance of certain functions from the macro level of the organization down to its micro level. However, resistance to change is inherent in any organization and management must understand and deal with it before monitoring can begin.
SWOT analysis, (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats), can be applied to any organizational unit, team, or individual. Performance audits often use SWOT analysis to establish how well the organization is performing in response to external and internal demands and influences.
Article Quote:
“For successful implementation of change to happen, there must be a progress monitoring to find out if the change implemented goes on according to plan, so that if there be deviations they can be corrected at the earliest possible time.”
Link:http://www.infobarrel.com/Strategic_Planning_and_the_SWOT_Analysis
Strategic planning begins with assumptions about future events. Utilizing the many tools available and dealing with resistance within the organization will greatly improve the chances of strategic execution performance. Monitoring results is the only way to see if your plan is working. Performance software enables users to drill down all the way into the individual worker’s daily prioritization of tasks and time. Without that ability, the plan stays on the shelf and becomes something only top management thinks about.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
Instead of making decisions based solely on recent market conditions, investors should be thinking about their specific risk profile, and their long term financial goals. As your risk profile and financial needs may have changed in recent years, it is a good idea to revisit those elements to be sure you are making the right strategic investment needs.
When re-balancing ones portfolio, the various asset classes need to be considered and should be driven by your investment needs as well as your investment vehicle. A well diversified portfolio should contain some exposure to alternative investments that are not correlated to our equity market as well as offshore investments.
Article Quote:
“With the strong performance from the equity market over the last few years, Now may be a good time to rebalance your portfolio, however it is important to remember that this should tie in with your long term investment strategy and not an attempt to time the market. “Investors should not extrapolate the outstanding performance of over 40% in the last year to future returns, especially with rising long term interest rates locally and internationally, the market may run into significant head wind in the short term. Even so the market does not look extremely overpriced.”
Link:http://www.magdalenaduhagon.com/strategic-investment-plan-time-to-release-your-investments.html
Investors can overreact amidst economic turmoil. That is why it is so important to develop long term investment goals and to diversify your portfolio. Thinking strategically without making emotionally driven financial decisions will see the investor through the rough economy and will keep the portfolio in better shape.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
The strategic manager must develop a plan, one that incorporated the company’s vision. Beyond that, the strategic manager must decide who or what needs resources to be allocated, how much to allocate and who and how many personnel will be needed to reach the strategic goals. Therefore, strategic management is performed at a higher level of management than that of tactical management.
Tactical managers are typically middle management, or non management. They are the ones that take the plan, as outlined by upper-management, and execute the specific steps outlined by the strategic plan. They are the people in the organization that perform the daily tasks and ultimately see the strategic plan to completion.
Article Quote:
“Strategic is focused on finding a path to reach specific goals. Once the path has been defined, steps must be decided to move along the path. Tactical management is moving the organization along the path, using the established steps.”
Link:http://www.it-rules.com/policies-procedures/what-is-the-difference-between-strategic-and-tactical-management-policies-and-procedures-in-a-high-quality
The duties of the strategic manager are to envision where the company wants and what steps are necessary to get the company there. They perform scenario analysis and develop contingency plans when a threat or opportunity presents itself. Once the plan is in place, the strategic manager needs to get everyone in the organization on board with the plan. Without company-wide support, the plan will likely fail.
For more on strategic planning and execution, seehttp://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/
Summary:
The global economic meltdown demands a rethink of how we go about securing a competitive advantage, how we measure ourselves, what it is we need to be doing and why. Suddenly the old rules of the game simply imploded and many were left clinging the ‘plan’, formulated in the context of the ‘old rules’ but now utterly useless and irrelevant.
What is needed today is the ability to think strategically, according to this author. Furthermore, it is not just a select few within the organization that get to do the ‘thinking’, but rather the challenge is to get everybody thinking strategically, contributing a diversity otherwise lacking in today’s strategic planning process.
Article Quote:
“The problem is, we have forgotten how to think. Reliance on our ability to plan, and specifically on Porter’s conventional wisdom as to how best to go about the formulation of that plan, has produced ‘lazy thinking’ habits within executive teams and amongst leaders. We have been so used to marching to a known tune, that when the tune changes, or the music stops altogether, we simply keep on marching in-step.”
Link: http://www.connectioneconomy.com/2009/12/03/back-to-the-future-rethinking-strategy/
Conventional wisdom has been shaken up by economic conditions and is forcing organizations to re-think how they develop their strategic plans. Getting everyone in the organisation- not just leadership – to actively participate in organizing and implementing the strategic plan creates an inclusive atmosphere, thereby adding to a sense of ownership in the company.
For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/