develop and implement strategic plans assignment

The Complete Guide to Writing a Strategic Plan

By Joe Weller | April 12, 2019 (updated March 26, 2024)

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Writing a strategic plan can be daunting, as the process includes many steps. In this article, you’ll learn the basics of writing a strategic plan, what to include, common challenges, and more.

Included on this page, you'll find details on what to include in a strategic plan , the importance of an executive summary , how to write a mission statement , how to write a vision statement , and more.

The Basics of Writing a Strategic Plan

The strategic planning process takes time, but the payoff is huge. If done correctly, your strategic plan will engage and align stakeholders around your company’s priorities.

Strategic planning, also called strategy development or analysis and assessment , requires attention to detail and should be performed by someone who can follow through on next steps and regular updates. Strategic plans are not static documents — they change as new circumstances arise, both internally and externally.

Before beginning the strategic planning process, it’s important to make sure you have buy-in from management, a board of directors, or other leaders. Without it, the process cannot succeed.

Next, gather your planning team. The group should include people from various departments at different levels, and the planning process should be an open, free discussion within the group. It’s important for leaders to get input from the group as a whole, but they don’t necessarily need approval from everyone — that will slow down the process.

The plan author is responsible for writing and putting the final plan together and should work with a smaller group of writers to establish and standardize the tone and style of the final document or presentation.

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to hire an external party to help facilitate the strategic planning process.

“It often can be helpful to have a really good facilitator to organize and pursue strategic conversations,” says Professor John M. Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement .

Byson says the facilitator can be in-house or external, but they need experience. “You need to make sure someone is good, so there needs to be a vetting process,” he says.

One way to gauge a facilitator’s experience is by asking how they conduct conversations. “It’s important for facilitators to lead by asking questions,” Bryson says.

Bryson says that strong facilitators often ask the following questions:

What is the situation we find ourselves in?

What do we do?

How do we do it?

How do we link our purposes to our capabilities?

The facilitators also need to be able to handle conflict and diffuse situations by separating idea generation from judgement. “Conflict is part of strategic planning,” Bryson admits. “[Facilitators] need to hold the conversations open long enough to get enough ideas out there to be able to make wise choices.”

These outside helpers are sometimes more effective than internal facilitators since they are not emotionally invested in the outcome of the process. Thus, they can concentrate on the process and ask difficult questions.

A strategic plan is a dynamic document or presentation that details your company’s present situation, outlines your future plans, and shows you how the company can get there. You can take many approaches to the process and consider differing ideas about what needs to go into it, but some general concepts stand.

“Strategic planning is a prompt or a facilitator for fostering strategic thinking, acting, and learning,” says Bryson. He explains that he often begins planning projects with three questions:

What do you want to do?

How are we going to do it?

What would happen if you did what you want to do?

The answers to these questions make up the meat of the planning document.

A strategic plan is only effective when the writing and thinking is clear, since the intent is to help an organization keep to its mission through programs and capacity, while also building stakeholder engagement.

Question 1: Where Are We Now?

The answer (or answers) to the first question — where are we now? — addresses the foundation of your organization, and it can serve as an outline for the following sections of your strategic plan:

Mission statement

Core values and guiding principles

Identification of competing organizations

Industry analysis (this can include a SWOT or PEST analysis)

Question 2: Where Are We Going?

The answers to this question help you identify your goals for the future of the business and assess whether your current trajectory is the future you want. These aspects of the plan outline a strategy for achieving success and can include the following:

Vision statement about what the company will look like in the future

What is happening (both internally and externally) and what needs to change

The factors necessary for success

Question 3: How Do We Get There?

The answers to this question help you outline the many routes you can take to achieve your vision and match your strengths with opportunities in the market. A Gantt chart can help you map out and keep track of these initiatives.

You should include the following sections:

Specific and measurable goals

An execution plan that identifies who manages and monitors the plan

An evaluation plan that shows how you plan to measure the successes and setbacks that come with implementation

What to Include in a Strategic Plan

Strategic planning terminology is not standardized throughout the industry, and this can lead to confusion. Instead, strategic planning experts use many names for the different sections of a strategic plan.

“The terms are all over the map. It’s really the concept of what the intention of the terms are [that is important],” says Denise McNerney, President and CEO of iBossWell, Inc. , and incoming president of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). She recommends coming up with a kind of glossary that defines the terms for your team. “One of the most important elements when you’re starting the strategic planning process is to get some clarity on the nomenclature. It’s just what works for your organization. Every organization is slightly different.”

No matter what terms you use, the general idea of a strategic plan is the same. “It’s like drawing a map for your company. One of the first steps is committing to a process, then determining how you’re going to do it,” McNerney explains.

She uses a basic diagram that she calls the strategic plan architecture . The areas above the red dotted line are the strategic parts of the plan. Below the red dotted line are the implementation pieces.

While the specific terminology varies, basic sections of a strategic plan include the following in roughly this order:

Executive summary

Elevator pitch or company description

Vision statement

Industry analysis

Marketing plan

Operations plan

Financial projections

Evaluation methods

Signature page

Some plans will contain all the above sections, but others will not — what you include depends on your organization’s structure and culture.

“I want to keep it simple, so organizations can be successful in achieving [the strategic plan],” McNerney explains. “Your plan has to be aligned with your culture and your culture needs to be aligned with your plan if you’re going to be successful in implementing it.”

The following checklist will help you keep track of what you have done and what you still need to do.

‌ Download Strategic Plan Sections Checklist

How to Write a Strategic Plan

Once you’ve assembled your team and defined your terms, it’s time to formalize your ideas by writing the strategic plan. The plan may be in the form of a document, a presentation, or another format.

You can use many models and formats to create your strategic plan (read more about them in this article ). However, you will likely need to include some basic sections, regardless of the particular method you choose (even if the order and way you present them vary). In many cases, the sections of a strategic plan build on each other, so you may have to write them in order.

One tip: Try to avoid jargon and generic terms; for example, words like maximize and succeed lose their punch. Additionally, remember that there are many terms for the same object in strategic planning.

The following sections walk you through how to write common sections of a strategic plan.

How to Write an Executive Summary

The key to writing a strong executive summary is being clear and concise. Don’t feel pressured to put anything and everything into this section — executive summaries should only be about one to two pages long and include the main points of the strategic plan.

The idea is to pique the reader’s interest and get them to read the rest of the plan. Because it functions as a review of the entire document, write the executive summary after you complete the rest of your strategic plan.

“If you have a plan that’s really lengthy, you should have a summary,” says Jim Stockmal, President of the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP). He always writes summaries last, after he has all the data and information he needs for the plan. He says it is easier to cut than to create something.

For more information about writing an effective executive summary, a checklist, and free templates, read this article .

If you want a one-page executive summary, this template can help you decide what information to include.

Download One-Page Executive Summary Template

Excel | Word | PDF

How to Write a Company Description

Also called an elevator pitch , the company description is a brief outline of your organization and what it does. It should be short enough that it can be read or heard during the average elevator ride.

The company description should include the history of your company, the major products and services you provide, and any highlights and accomplishments, and it should accomplish the following:

Define what you are as a company.

Describe what the company does.

Identify your ideal client and customer.

Highlight what makes your company unique.

While this may seem basic, the company description changes as your company grows and changes. For example, your ideal customer five years ago might not be the same as the current standard or the one you want in five years.

Share the company description with everyone in your organization. If employees cannot accurately articulate what you do to others, you might miss out on opportunities.

How to Write a Mission Statement

The mission statement explains what your business is trying to achieve. In addition to guiding your entire company, it also helps your employees make decisions that move them toward the company’s overall mission and goals.

“Ideally, [the mission statement is] something that describes what you’re about at the highest level,” McNerney says. “It’s the reason you exist or what you do.”

Strong mission statements can help differentiate your company from your competitors and keep you on track toward your goals. It can also function as a type of tagline for your organization.

Mission statements should do the following:

Define your company’s purpose. Say what you do, who you do it for, and why it is valuable.

Use specific and easy-to-understand language.

Be inspirational while remaining realistic.

Be short and succinct.

This is your chance to define the way your company will make decisions based on goals, culture, and ethics. Mission statements should not be vague or generic, and they should set your business apart from others. If your mission statement could define many companies in your line of work, it is not a good mission statement.

Mission statements don’t have to be only outward-facing for customers or partners. In fact, it is also possible to include what your company does for its employees in your mission statement.

Unlike other parts of your strategic plan that are designed to be reviewed and edited periodically, your company’s mission statement should live as is for a while.

That said, make the effort to edit and refine your mission statement. Take out jargon like world class, best possible, state of the art, maximize, succeed , and so on, and cut vague or unspecific phrasing. Then let your strategic planning committee review it.

How to Write a Vision Statement

Every action your company does contributes to its vision. The vision statement explains what your company wants to achieve in the long term and can help inspire and align your team.

“The vision is the highest-ordered statement of the desired future or state of what you want your business to achieve,” McNerney explains.

A clear vision statement can help all stakeholders understand the meaning and purpose of your company. It should encourage and inspire employees while setting your company’s direction. It also helps you rule out elements that might not align with your vision.

Vision statements should be short (a few sentences). They should also be memorable, specific, and ambitious. But there is a fine line between being ambitious and creating a fantasy. The vision should be clearly attainable if you follow the goals and objectives you outline later in your strategic planning plan.

Because you need to know your company’s goals and objectives to create an accurate vision statement, you might need to wait until you have more information about the company’s direction to write your vision statement.

Below are questions to ask your team as you craft your vision statement:

What impact do we want to have on our community and industry?

How will we interact with others as a company?

What is the culture of the business?

Avoid broad statements that could apply to any company or industry. For example, phrases like “delivering a wonderful experience” could apply to many industries. Write in the present tense, avoid jargon, and be clear and concise.

Vision statements should accomplish the following:

Be inspiring.

Focus on success.

Look at and project about five to 10 years ahead.

Stay in line with the goals and values of your organization.

Once you write your vision statement, communicate it to everyone in your company. Your team should be able to easily understand and repeat the company’s vision statement. Remember, the statements can change as the environment in and around your company changes.

The Difference Between Mission and Vision Statements

Mission and vision statements are both important, but they serve very different purposes.

Mission statements show why a business exists, while vision statements are meant to inspire and provide direction. Mission statements are about the present, and vision statements are about the future. The mission provides items to act upon, and the vision offers goals to aspire to.

For example, if a vision statement is “No child goes to bed hungry,” the accompanying mission would be to provide food banks within the city limits.

While many organizations have both mission and vision statements, it’s not imperative. “Not everyone has a vision statement,” McNerney says. “Some organizations just have one.”

If you choose to have only one statement, McNerney offers some advice: “Any statement you have, if you have just one, needs to include what [you do], how [you do it], why [you do it], and who you do it for.”

During the planning process, these key statements might change. “Early on in the process, you need to talk about what you are doing and why and how you are doing it. Sometimes you think you know where you want to go, but you’re not really sure,” McNerney says. “You need to have flexibility both on the plan content and in the process.”

How to Write Your Company’s Core Values

Company core values , sometimes called organizational values , help you understand what drives the company to do what it does. In this section, you’ll learn a lot about your company and the people who work with you. It should be relatively easy to write.

“The values are the core of how you operate [and] how you treat your people, both internally and externally. Values describe the behaviors you really want to advance,” McNerney says.

There are both internal and external values looking at your employees and coworkers, as well as customers and outside stakeholders. Pinpointing values will help you figure out the traits of the people you want to hire and promote, as well as the qualities you’re looking for in your customers.

Your values should align with your vision statement and highlight your strengths while mitigating weaknesses. McNerney says many organizations do not really consider or are not honest about their company’s values when working on strategic plans, which can lead to failure.

“Your strategies have to align with your values and vice versa,” she explains.

Many companies’ values sound like meaningless jargon, so take the time to figure out what matters to your company and push beyond generic language.

How to Write about Your Industry

When planning ahead for your business, it’s important to look around. How are matters inside your company? What are your competitors doing? Who are your target customers?

“[If you don’t do a thorough industry analysis], you’re doing your planning with your head in the sand. If you’re not looking at the world around you, you’re missing a whole dimension about what should inform your decision making,” McNerney advises.

Writing about your industry helps you identify new opportunities for growth and shows you how you need to change in order to take advantage of those opportunities. Identify your key competitors, and define what you see as their strengths and weaknesses. Performing this analysis will help you figure out what you do best and how you compare to your competition. Once you know what you do well, you can exploit your strengths to your advantage.

In this section, also include your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. You can choose from many templates to help you write this section.

Next, identify your target customers. Think about what they want and need, as well as how you can provide it. Do your competitors attract your target customers, or do you have a niche that sets you apart?

The industry analysis carries a price, but also provides many benefits. “It takes some time and money to do [a thorough industry analysis], but the lack of that understanding says a lot about the future of your organization. If you don’t know what is going on around you, how can you stay competitive?” explains McNerney.

How to Write Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives

This section is the bulk of your strategic plan. Many people confuse goals and objectives, thinking the terms are interchangeable, but many argue that the two are distinct. You can think of them this way:

Goals : Goals are broad statements about what you want to achieve as a company, and they’re usually qualitative. They function as a description of where you want to go, and they can address both the short and long term.

Objectives : Objectives support goals, and they’re usually quantitative and measurable. They describe how you will measure the progress needed to arrive at the destination you outlined in the goal. More than one objective can support one goal.

For example, if your goal is to achieve success as a strategic planner, your objective would be to write all sections of the strategic plan in one month.

iBossWell, Inc.’s McNerney reiterates that there are not hard and fast definitions for the terms goals and objectives , as well as many other strategic planning concepts. “I wouldn’t attempt to put a definition to the terms. You hear the terms goals and objectives a lot, but they mean different things to different people. What some people call a goal , others call an objective . What some people call an objective , others would call a KPI. ” They key, she explains, is to decide what the terms mean in your organization, explain the definitions to key stakeholders, and stick to those definitions.

How to Write Goals

Goals form the basis of your strategic plan. They set out your priorities and initiatives, and therefore are critical elements and define what your plan will accomplish. Some planning specialists use the term strategic objectives or strategic priorities when referring to goals, but for clarity, this article will use the term goals.

“[Goals] are the higher level that contain several statements about what your priorities are,” McNerney explains. They are often near the top of your plan’s hierarchy.

Each goal should reflect something you uncovered during the analysis phase of your strategic planning process. Goals should be precise and concise statements, not long narratives. For example, your goals might be the following:

Eliminate case backlog.

Lower production costs.

Increase total revenue.

Each goal should have a stated outcome and a deadline. Think of goal writing as a formula: Action + detail of the action + a measurable metric + a deadline = goal. For example, your goal might be: Increase total revenue by 5 percent in three product areas by the third quarter of 2020.

Another way to look at it: Verb (action) + adjective (description) = noun (result). An example goal: Increase website fundraising.

Your goals should strike a balance between being aspirational and tangible. You want to stretch your limits, but not make them too difficult to reach. Your entire organization and stakeholders should be able to remember and understand your goals.

Think about goals with varying lengths. Some should go out five to 10 years, others will be shorter — some significantly so. Some goals might even be quarterly, monthly, or weekly. But be careful to not create too many goals. Focus on the ones that allow you to zero in on what is critical for your company’s success. Remember, several objectives and action steps will likely come from each goal.

How to Write Objectives

Objectives are the turn-by-turn directions of how to achieve your goals. They are set in statement and purpose with no ambiguity about whether you achieve them or not.

Your goals are where you want to go. Next, you have to determine how to get there, via a few different objectives that support each goal. Note that objectives can cover several areas.

“You need implementation elements of the plan to be successful,” McNerney says, adding that some people refer to objectives as tactics , actions , and many other terms.

Objectives often begin with the words increase or decrease because they are quantifiable and measurable. You will know when you achieve an objective. They are action items, often with start and end dates.

Use the goal example from earlier: Increase total revenue by 5 percent in three product areas by the third quarter of 2020. In this example, your objectives could be:

Approach three new possible clients each month.

Promote the three key product areas on the website and in email newsletters.

Think of the acronym SMART when writing objectives: Make them specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant, and time-bound.

Breaking down the process further, some strategic planners use the terms strategies and tactics to label ways to achieve objectives. Using these terms, strategies describe an approach or method you will use to achieve an objective. A tactic is a specific activity or project that achieves the strategy, which, in turn, helps achieve the objective.

How to Write about Capacity, Operations Plans, Marketing Plans, and Financial Plans

After you come up with your goals and objectives, you need to figure out who will do what, how you will market what they do, and how you will pay for what you need to do.

“If you choose to shortchange the process [and not talk about capacity and finances], you need to know what the consequences will be,” explains McNerney. “If you do not consider the additional costs or revenues your plan is going to drive, you may be creating a plan you cannot implement.”

To achieve all the goals outlined in your strategic plan, you need the right people in place. Include a section in your strategic plan where you talk about the capacity of your organization. Do you have the team members to accomplish the objectives you have outlined in order to reach your goals? If not, you may need to hire personnel.

The operations plan maps out your initiatives and shows you who is going to do what, when, and how. This helps transform your goals and objectives into a reality. A summary of it should go into your strategic plan. If you need assistance writing a comprehensive implementation plan for your organization, this article can guide you through the process.

A marketing plan describes how you attract prospects and convert them into customers. You don’t need to include the entire marketing plan in your strategic plan, but you might want to include a summary. For more information about writing marketing plans, this article can help.

Then there are finances. We would all like to accomplish every goal, but sometimes we do not have enough money to do so. A financial plan can help you set your priorities. Check out these templates to help you get started with a financial plan.

How to Write Performance Indicators

In order to know if you are reaching the goals you outline in your strategic plan, you need performance indicators. These indicators will show you what success looks like and ensure accountability. Sadly, strategic plans have a tendency to fail when nobody periodically assesses progress.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) can show you how your business is progressing. KPIs can be both financial and nonfinancial measures that help you chart your progress and take corrective measures if actions are not unfolding as they should. Other terms similar to KPIs include performance measures and performance indicators .

Performance indicators are not always financial, but they must be quantifiable. For example, tracking visitors to a website, customers completing a contact form, or the number of proposals that close with deals are all performance indicators that keep you on track toward achieving your goals.

When writing your performance indicators, pay attention to the following:

Define how often you need to report results.

Every KPI must have some sort of measure.

List a measure and a time period.

Note the data source where you will get your information to measure and track.

ASP’s Stockmal has some questions for you to ask yourself about picking performance indicators.

Are you in control of the performance measure?

Does the performance measure support the strategic outcomes?

Is it feasible?

Is data available?

Who is collecting that data, and how will they do it?

Is the data timely?

Is it cost-effective to collect that data?

ls the goal quantifiable, and can you measure it over time?

Are your targets realistic and time-bound?

Stockmal also says performance indicators cannot focus on only one thing at the detriment of another. “Don’t lose what makes you good,” he says. He adds that focusing on one KPI can hurt other areas of a company’s performance, so reaching a goal can be short-sided.

Some performance indicators can go into your strategic plan, but you might want to set other goals for your organization. A KPI dashboard can help you set up and track your performance and for more information about setting up a KPI dashboard, this article can help.

Communicating Your Strategic Plan

While writing your strategic plan, you should think about how to share it. A plan is no good if it sits on a shelf and nobody reads it.

“After the meetings are over, you have to turn your strategy into action,” says Stefan Hofmeyer, an experienced strategist and co-founder of Global PMI Partners . “Get in front of employees and present the plan [to get everyone involved].” Hofmeyer explains his research has shown that people stay with companies not always because of money, but often because they buy into the organization’s vision and want to play a part in helping it get where it wants to go. “These are the people you want to keep because they are invested,” he says.

Decide who should get a physical copy of the entire plan. This could include management, the board of directors, owners, and more. Do your best to keep it from your competitors. If you distribute it outside of your company, you might want to attach a confidentiality waiver.

You can communicate your plan to stakeholders in the following ways:

Hold a meeting to present the plan in person.

Highlight the plan in a company newsletter.

Include the plan in new employee onboarding.

Post the plan on the employee intranet, along with key highlights and a way to track progress.

If you hold a meeting, make sure you and other key planners are prepared to handle the feedback and discussion that will arise. You should be able to defend your plan and reinforce its key areas. The goal of the plan’s distribution is to make sure everyone understands their role in making the plan successful.

Remind people of your company’s mission, vision, and values to reinforce their importance. You can use posters or other visual methods to post around the office. The more that people feel they play an important part in the organization’s success, they more successful you will be in reaching your goals of your strategic plan.

Challenges in Writing a Strategic Plan

As mentioned, strategic planning is a process and involves a team. As with any team activity, there will be challenges.

Sometimes the consensus can take priority over what is clear. Peer pressure can be a strong force, especially if a boss or other manager is the one making suggestions and people feel pressured to conform. Some people might feel reluctant to give any input because they do not think it matters to the person who ultimately decides what goes into the plan.

Team troubles can also occur when one or more members does not think the plan is important or does not buy into the process. Team leaders need to take care of these troubles before they get out of hand.

Pay attention to your company culture and the readiness you have as a group, and adapt the planning process to fit accordingly. You need to find the balance between the process and the final product.

The planning process takes time. Many organizations do not give themselves enough time to plan properly, and once you finish planning, writing the document or presentation also takes time, as does implementation. Don’t plan so much that you ignore how you are going to put the plan into action. One symptom of this is not aligning the plan to fit the capacity or finances of the company.

Stockmal explains that many organizations often focus too much on the future and reaching their goals that they forget what made them a strong company in the first place. Business architecture is important, which Stockmal says is “building the capabilities the organization needs to fulfill its strategy.” He adds that nothing happens if there is no budget workers to do the work necessary to drive change.

Be careful with the information you gather. Do not take shortcuts in the research phase — that will lead to bad information coming out further in the process. Also, do not ignore negative information you may learn. Overcoming adversity is one way for companies to grow.

Be wary of cutting and pasting either from plans from past years or from other similar organizations. Every company is unique.

And while this may sound obvious, do not ignore what your planning process tells you. Your research might show you should not go in a direction you might want to.

Writing Different Types of Strategic Plans

The strategic planning process will differ based on your organization, but the basic concepts will stay the same. Whether you are a nonprofit, a school, or a for-profit entity, strategic plans will look at where you are and how you will get to where you want to go.

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a Nonprofit

For a nonprofit, the strategic plan’s purpose is mainly how to best advance the mission. It’s imperative to make sure the mission statement accurately fits the organization.

In addition to a SWOT analysis and other sections that go into any strategic plan, a nonprofit needs to keep an eye on changing factors, such as funding. Some funding sources have finite beginnings and endings. Strategic planning is often continuous for nonprofits.

A nonprofit has to make the community care about its cause. In a for-profit organization, the marketing department works to promote the company’s product or services to bring in new revenue. For a nonprofit, however, conveying that message needs to be part of the strategic plan.

Coming up with an evaluation method and KPIs can sometimes be difficult for a nonprofit, since they are often focused on goals other than financial gain. For example, a substance abuse prevention coalition is trying to keep teens from starting to drink or use drugs, and proving the coalition’s methods work is often difficult to quantify.

This template can help you visually outline your strategic plan for your nonprofit.

Download Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Excel | Smartsheet

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a School

Writing a strategic plan for a school can be difficult because of the variety of stakeholders involved, including students, teachers, other staff, and parents.

Strategic planning in a school is different from others because there are no markets to explore, products to produce, clients to woo, or adjustable timelines. Schools often have set boundaries, missions, and budgets.

Even with the differences, the same planning process and structure should be in place for schools as it is for other types of organizations.

This template can help your university or school outline your strategic plan.

‌ ‌Download University Strategic Plan Outline – Word

How to Write a 5-Year Strategic Plan

There is no set time period for a strategic plan, but five years can be a sweet spot. In some cases, yearly planning might keep you continually stuck in the planning process, while 10 years might be too far out.

In addition to the basic sections that go into any strategic plan, when forecasting five years into the future, put one- and three-year checkpoints into the plan so you can track progress intermittently.

How to Write a 3-Year Strategic Plan

While five years is often the strategic planning sweet spot, some organizations choose to create three-year plans. Looking too far ahead can be daunting, especially for a new or changing company.

In a three-year plan, the goals and objectives have a shorter timeframe and you need to monitor them more frequently. Build those checkpoints into the plan.

“Most organizations do a three- to five-year plan now because they recognize the technology and the changes in business that are pretty dynamic now,” Stockmal says.

How to Write a Departmental Strategic Plan

The first step in writing a strategic plan for your department is to pay attention to your company’s overall strategic plan. You want to make sure the plans align.

The steps in creating a plan for a department are the same as for an overall strategic plan, but the mission statement, vision, SWOT analysis, goals, objectives, and so on are specific to only the people in your department. Look at each person separately and consider their core competencies, strengths, capabilities, and weaknesses. Assign people who will be responsible for certain tasks and tactics necessary to achieve your goals.

If you have access to a plan from a previous year, see how your department did in meeting its goals. Adjust the new plan accordingly.

When you finish your departmental plan, make sure to submit it to whomever is responsible for your company’s overall plan. Expect to make changes.

How to Write a Strategic Plan for a Project

A strategic plan is for the big picture, not for a particular project for an organization. Instead of a strategic plan, this area would fall under project management.

If you have a failing project and need to turn it around, this article might help.

How to Write a Personal Strategic Plan

Creating a strategic plan isn’t only for businesses. You can also create a strategic plan to help guide both your professional and personal life. The key is to include what is important to you. This process takes time and reflection.

Be prepared for what you discover about yourself. Because you will be looking at your strengths and weaknesses, you might see things you do not like. It is important to be honest with yourself. A SWOT analysis on yourself will give you some honest feedback if you let it.

Begin with looking at your life as it is now. Are you satisfied? What do you want to do more or less? What do you value most in your life? Go deeper than saying family, happiness, and health. This exercise will help you clarify your values.

Once you know what is important to you, come up with a personal mission statement that reflects the values you cherish. As it does within a business, this statement will help guide you in making future decisions. If something does not fit within your personal mission, you shouldn’t do it.

Using the information you discovered during your SWOT and mission statement process, come up with goals that align with your values. The goals can be broad, but don’t forget to include action items and timeframes to help you reach your goals.

As for the evaluation portion, identify how you will keep yourself accountable and on track. You might involve a person to remind you about your plan, calendar reminders, small rewards when you achieve a goal, or another method that works for you.

Below is additional advice for personal strategic plans:

There are things you can control and things you cannot. Keep your focus on what you can act on.

Look at the positive instead of what you will give up. For example, instead of focusing on losing weight, concentrate on being healthier.

Do not overcommit, and do not ignore the little details that help you reach your goals.

No matter what, do not dwell on setbacks and remember to celebrate successes.

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Strategy Implementation: The 6 Step Process

What is Strategy Implementation?

Strategy implementation is the process used to ensure a strategic plan is executed. It involves translating the high-level goals and objectives outlined in a company's strategic plan into specific actions and initiatives that can be carried out by employees at all levels of the organization.

As a whopping 9 out of 10 organizations fail to implement their strategies, you can’t just create a strategic plan and leave it on the shelf—make sure you have a solid strategy implementation process in place to bring it to life.

In our six-step strategy implementation process, you will transform your static, inactive plan into a living, dynamic, and successful strategy implementation. Read our article on factors affecting strategy implementation to develop an even deeper understanding of strategic implementation.

6-Step Strategy Implementation Process

The implementation process should follow a strategic analysis and strategy formulation phase. After you’ve identified your business problem and strategy to tackle it, you should follow these key steps to put your strategy into action:

• Choose your strategy framework
• Build your plan
• Define projects and KPIs
• Establish your strategy rhythm
• Implement strategy reporting
• Link performance to strategy

Here is our 6-step process guide to strategy implementation to ensure your new strategy evolves from a plan to strategic implementation.

Step #1: Choose your strategy framework

Strategy is something that should be embedded in everything an organization does. 

It must be part of the DNA of both the organization and its people. But if you don't make an effort to call it out explicitly, you won't get the focus or traction you need.

Start with a simple framework that establishes a strategy lexicon everyone understands and can get behind. Whenever someone asks, "how are our strategic objectives going?", everyone must be on the same page regarding what it actually means.

For example, at Cascade , we use the following "strategy house" to define the different elements of our strategy:

We walk you through this approach in our How to Write a Strategic Plan Guide , where you’ll also find a free template you can download to jump-start the development of your strategy.

It gives you a clear way to talk about strategy implementation and avoids using unnecessary jargon.

We've deliberately chosen to include only a vision statement rather than the more popular “ vision and mission ” combo because we found that people struggle to understand the difference between those two.

If you need to add more depth to your strategy, consider using a strategic planning framework such as the Balanced Scorecard or McKinsey's Strategic Horizons . 

However, whichever strategic framework you choose, simplicity should remain your top priority. All of the frameworks in our guide pass this test with flying colors!

Step #2: Build your plan and set clear goals 

The next step of our strategy implementation process is where you start creating your roadmap to success.

Now that you've got your framework in place, you're ready to move on to the actual creation of your strategic plan. We've developed a comprehensive guide on how to write a strategic plan , so we won't go into details here.

But assuming you're using a framework similar to the one above, here's how we'd suggest approaching the creation of your implementation plan with your key stakeholders:

1. Bring together your management team: Gather the leaders of your organization (founders, CEO, directors, etc.) to agree on your vision. You might do this in one workshop but have them engaged with it regularly. Have them read this article to keep everyone on the same page. ‍

2. Define values: At the same workshop, write down the values that the organization holds. They’re crucial for your company’s culture, so go through this article to make the process smoother.

3. Align on strategic priorities : Finally (same workshop still), write down 3 or 4 Strategic Focus Areas the team thinks need to be addressed to reach the vision.

4. Co-create objectives with your teams: Take your basic framework back to your team(s) and have them independently input ideas for strategic goals and objectives under each Focus Area. You must involve them in the planning process and give them a voice. This will ensure buy-in and motivation to implement your business strategies.

💡 Tip : You might want to assign one Focus Area to each member of your leadership team and have them lead the charge for getting that Focus Area fleshed out. This is a great way to ensure buy-in to the final product of your strategic plan.

📚 Recommended read: The Right Way To Set Team Goals

5. Make a final check: Once you've fleshed out the strategic objectives, get back together as a group and ask yourself a series of hard questions:

• ‍ If we deliver each of these strategic objectives under a given Focus Area, will we have nailed that Focus Area?
• If we deliver all of our Focus Areas, will we reach our vision?
• Will our values help or hinder us along the way?

📚 Recommended read: How To Effectively Co-create Strategy At Your Organization (Summary and recording of the workshop with Illana Rosen, Director of Innovation and Strategy at Old Navy)

Step #3: Define KPIs and projects

Now it’s time to cover the bottom layer of our strategy house: projects and key performance indicators (KPIs). 

That's part of the strategy implementation process where top management should empower people throughout the organization to come up with their projects and KPIs to measure success. 

Step 3 of our process guide to strategy implementation is to define your KPIs and create effective projects . You need actionable steps (projects) and a way to measure progress toward your strategic objectives (KPIs).

KPIs are one of the oldest management tools around. And for a good reason—they work. They keep you and your team members honest about progress and focused on outcomes.

They need to become your beacons for implementing strategy. Here are a few tips when it comes to coming up with your own:

• Keep them simple: Don't try to come up with complex ratios that only a small group of people understand. Make them simple and relatable to everyone in the organization.
• Choose at least 1 KPI for each of your strategic objectives : In general, it’s best to have 1-3 KPIs per objective. Too many KPIs can lead to confusion and dilute focus. However, the exact number will depend on the complexity of the objective and available resources. If an objective is particularly complex, it may require more KPIs to adequately measure progress.
• Make it easy to measure them quickly: Large organizations have hundreds of metrics, with each unit and function tracking them in their own set of preferred tools and applications. Bring them under one roof so you can get real-time insights. 
• Don't make them all about the $$$: Sure, profit and revenue might be your end-game, but KPIs should be the drivers of those things—measuring the outcomes alone adds little value.

Here’s an example of focus areas, related strategic objectives, and assigned KPIs:

Focus area: Operational Excellence 

Strategic objective: Reduce waste in the manufacturing process by 15% within the next year

• Scrap rate : Measures the percentage of defective products or materials that are discarded during the manufacturing process. 
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) : Measures the overall efficiency of manufacturing equipment. 
• Cycle time : Measures the amount of time it takes to complete one unit of production.

One final point: You need to update the progress of your KPIs at least once per month, or you risk quickly losing focus on them. Spend the time now as part of your strategic planning process to figure out how to access the stats and data you need. 

Projects are the specific initiatives and actions that will help the organization achieve its strategic goals. Here are some steps to create effective projects in the strategy implementation process: 

• Make sure your projects are aligned with your overall business strategy . 
• Prioritize the projects that will have the most significant impact, and define specific project objectives that are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).
• For each project, you should have a detailed project plan that includes timelines, milestones, and key stakeholders. 
• Assign teams with the right skills and knowledge to execute the project, monitor progress, and adjust as needed.
• Once the project is complete, hold a retrospective meeting. Evaluate the outcomes, identify successes and areas for improvement, and use this information to inform future projects.

📚 Recommended read: Free Implementation Plan Templates And Examples

Step #4: Deal with business-as-usual

Step 4 in our guide to strategy implementation is where you overcome business-as-usual.

The ironic thing about strategy implementation is that everyone acknowledges its importance, but it's often the first thing to be forgotten about when the going gets tough.

People get so caught up in the day-to-day that they don't have time to focus on the big-picture items that will keep the organization moving forward. This rapidly becomes a self-fulfilling cycle and is one of the most common reasons strategies fail .

Here are some tips to help you break the cycle:  

• Meet often to discuss progress: We'd suggest a minimum of quarterly reviews for higher-level objectives, but monthly would be a great place to start until things get bedded in.
• Determine the attendees: You'll need the leadership team at a minimum—but you also need to involve the rest of the organization. The more they engage with the overall strategy, the stronger the ownership they feel.
• Be conscious of time: Specify the end time and always respect it. Allocate the last 10 minutes (or as many as you need) to “next steps”. Reviewing progress without the next steps is meaningless. ‍
• Define the meeting structure beforehand: What metrics will you discuss? For how long? Which reports will be used? More on this in step #5 below.

Step #5: Implement consistent & simple strategy reports

Step 5 of our process guide to strategy implementation focuses on strategy reporting .

Once you've put your strategy into action, it's important to review and adapt it regularly to ensure it's still on track to meet your business goals. This is where strategy reports come in handy. 

Now that your meetings are in place, you'll want to choose a consistent way of reporting the progress of your strategy implementation . The main objectives of this report should be:

Consistency

Set up a regular schedule for reviewing your strategy reports. This could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly—whatever works best for your business. Everyone should know what to expect and what they need to update before the meeting(s).

The progress report should give an at-a-glance view of how the strategy is progressing. Identify the key metrics that are most important to your business, and focus on those when reviewing your reports and dashboards .

Accountability

Ensure that the report includes the names of the owner of each goal (accountability), as well as the names of the people getting things done (recognition).

Conclusions

Your next steps. Your action plan. What will be done to get to desired outcomes? The strategy report needs to include not only an overview of how the strategy looks now but how it's progressing over time. Try to include a comparison period or graphs/charts that show progress over time to ensure momentum is maintained.

Strategy reports will help you look for trends and patterns in your data. Are there areas where you're consistently exceeding expectations? Are there areas where you're consistently falling short? Use this information to make informed decisions about how to adapt your strategy.

And don't forget - adapting your strategy doesn't mean giving up on it entirely. It simply means making adjustments and tweaks to ensure you're staying on track and achieving your goals. Sometimes, a small tweak can make a big difference in your results, so don't be afraid to make changes as you go.

👉 How Cascade can help you: 

You should be able to create, customize, and share strategy reports with your team with ease. Even if you are not a professional business data analyst. That’s where Cascade comes in. 

With a user-friendly interface, you’ll be able to stay organized and focused on your strategic goals.

But you’ll be able to do more than just create progress reports; Cascade helps you do work that matters—accomplishing business outcomes. Imagine how you would use the extra 2 hours if you wouldn’t have to fill out the spreadsheets to analyze and report on progress.

Step #6: Link performance management with strategic management 

Linking performance reviews to strategy, the first five steps of our process guide to strategy implementation are the absolute basics to ensure that you have success implementing and executing your strategy .

But organizations that truly succeed are those who manage to weave strategy implementation into the fabric of their existence. An easy way to get started with this is to create a formal link between strategic management and performance reviews.

Nothing shows people how important strategy is more than when it impacts their reviews and potentially even their reward and remuneration. Here are a few ways to do it: 

• Build a strategic management system that has these performance review links built into its HR processes.

But even if you're doing performance reviews the old-fashioned way, you can still make a point of awarding specific credit to employees who embrace strategy execution in their role and can demonstrate how they've contributed.

• Encourage your managers to talk to people about strategy regularly. Consider creating a 1:1 template that managers can use which highlights how a person's goals contribute to the strategy.
• Expose your strategy to your people. Lack of communication is a common pitfall that prevents successful strategy execution. If you only present your strategy in PowerPoint, people won’t remember it. Help your people align with the plan by having them access it at will.

👉 How Cascade can help: 

You should see at a glance how connected your functional units are to your strategic goals, giving you the context you need to make informed decisions. 

With Cascade, you get a complete view of alignment within your organization and its teams.

You’ll be able to easily evaluate how the performance of each initiative and team contributes to the success of your strategy. This will help you identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions that drive your business forward.

Key Components To Support Successful Strategy Implementation

A well-written implementation plan is not enough to guarantee successful strategy execution . There are several key components crucial to support effective strategy implementation in an organization. Here’s why you should pay attention to:  

Strategic alignment 

Ensure that the strategy is aligned with the overall vision and mission of the organization, as well as the organization's core values. It’s essential to have clarity and unity across all levels of the organization.

Assign ownership of specific tasks and responsibilities to individuals or teams within the organization, and hold them accountable for achieving their objectives. This will promote ownership, commitment, and a sense of responsibility in your team.

Resource allocation

Ensure that the necessary resources, including financial, human, and technological resources, are allocated appropriately to support the implementation of the strategy. Without the right resources, your strategy is just a piece of paper.

📚 Recommended read: Resource Allocation: How To Do It Effectively (+ Templates)

Performance measurement

You should have a transparent performance measurement system in place to track progress. This way, you can easily identify any areas that are underperforming and take corrective action before it affects your overall objectives. Regularly monitor and report on these metrics to track your progress and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Organizational structure

Design your organizational structure to support the implementation of your strategy. Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes to avoid confusion and maximize efficiency.

Effective systems, including processes, procedures, and tools, can help ensure that resources are allocated appropriately and that performance is monitored and evaluated effectively. Use the right systems to simplify your processes and streamline your workflow.

Remember, a well-written implementation plan is just the beginning. To guarantee successful strategy execution, pay attention to these key components. If you’re not sure if you have them covered, try McKinsey’s 7S Model to identify potential implementation constraints. 

Benefits of a well-executed strategy implementation 

Here are some of the key advantages of an effective strategy implementation process:

• Increased revenue: When everyone in the organization is working toward the same objectives, it becomes easier to identify and pursue new growth opportunities.
• Improved operational efficiency: When your team understands their roles and responsibilities and is working toward common goals, they're better able to collaborate and optimize their workflows. This means smoother sailing and less hiccups along the way.
• Better decision-making: With a solid strategy in place, leaders can use it as a guidepost when making important decisions, ensuring they stay aligned with the organization's overall goals and objectives. No more flailing around in the dark!
• Increased employee satisfaction: By involving employees in the strategy development process and regularly communicating progress updates, organizations can foster a sense of ownership and accountability among their teams. Happy employees = happy workplace.
• Enhanced reputation: When a business delivers on promises and consistently exceeds customer expectations, it establishes itself as a leader in its industry and builds a loyal customer base.
• Faster adaptability: By regularly reviewing and updating the strategy, organizations can stay ahead of the curve and be better positioned to pivot in response to new challenges or opportunities. Flexibility is key!

Strategy Implementation Best Practices And Final Tips 

Here are some final tips and best practices to help you implement your strategies like a pro: 

Be decisive and go all in

No action plan is perfect, so don’t get too attached to it. When you spot opportunities or mistakes in your reviewing meetings, act on them decisively. Change is not only natural but necessary to learn and adapt at light speed to the market’s conditions.

Guide decision-making with good strategies

Frame your strategy as choices. The company’s direction must be clear enough that it educates your people’s decisions when they reach crossroads. And they reach crossroads multiple times per day. 

Get rid of static tools

Refining your strategy faces massive friction without a dynamic tool. That means wasting time, losing peace of mind, and ultimately losing money. Cascade removes this friction from all the stages of your strategy refinement, from planning to reporting , and even aligning .

Leverage data analytics

Use data analytics to inform your strategy implementation decisions. Data analytics can help you to identify trends, opportunities, and potential roadblocks, and to make data-driven decisions that support your strategic goals.

If you are struggling to discover insights because your data and metrics are scattered across multiple business and project management tools, Cascade will make your life easier. 

By integrating your metrics into one centralized source of truth , you'll have access to all performance data in one place. This makes it simple to transform statistical information into actionable insights and compelling narratives with effective data storytelling. 

Cascade’s real-time dashboards are designed to help you monitor key sets of data or metrics in real time, giving you the visibility you need to stay on top of what's important.

And with customizable features, you can tailor your dashboard view to suit your needs, making it easy to share insights with your team and keep everyone aligned.

Follow these tips and best practices, and let Cascade help you bring your strategy implementation game to the next level.

📚 Recommended read: Best Strategy Software: 8 Possible Roads To Strategy Execution (2023)

Implement strategies with Cascade 🚀

Working your way through our 6-step process guide to strategy implementation isn't something you'll be able to do overnight. It will take a good few weeks and probably a few iterations. But don't let that be an excuse not to start.

We can tell you without question that when our customers follow the above process, their strategy implementation plan succeeds far more often than it fails. This is an integral component of effective strategic management and shouldn't be overlooked.

By incorporating Cascade into your strategy implementation process, you can simplify your approach and maximize your chances of success. With Cascade's real-time dashboards, centralized business data, and full visibility into performance, you can stay focused and mitigate risks to ensure long-term success.

So why not take the first step today and incorporate Cascade into your strategic management process?

Experience the power of Cascade for yourself by taking a tour of our platform or booking a 1:1 demo call with one of our in-house strategy experts.

Other Related Strategy Implementation Templates 

• Program Implementation Plan Template 
• IT Implementation Plan Template 
• Project Implementation Plan Template
• Digital Transformation Plan Template 
• Strategic Growth Plan Template 

Strategy Implementation FAQs

What is the difference between strategy implementation and strategy formulation.

Strategy formulation is the process of developing a strategic plan, while strategy implementation is the process of executing that plan by coordinating and communicating with different departments and individuals.

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• Section 1. An Overview of Strategic Planning or "VMOSA" (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans)

Chapter 8 Sections

• Section 2. Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements
• Section 3. Creating Objectives
• Section 4. Developing Successful Strategies
• Section 5. Developing an Action Plan
• Section 6. Obtaining Feedback from Constituents: What Changes are Important and Feasible?
• Section 7. Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and System Change
• Main Section

VMOSA (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans) is a practical planning process used to help community groups define a vision and develop practical ways to enact change. VMOSA helps your organization set and achieve short term goals while keeping sight of your long term vision. Implementing this planning process into your group's efforts supports developing a clear mission, building consensus, and grounding your group's dreams. This section explores how and when to implement VMOSA into your organization's planning process.

What is VMOSA?

One way to make that journey is through strategic planning, the process by which a group defines its own "VMOSA;" that is, its V ision, M ission, O bjectives, S trategies, and A ction Plans. VMOSA is a practical planning process that can be used by any community organization or initiative. This comprehensive planning tool can help your organization by providing a blueprint for moving from dreams to actions to positive outcomes for your community.

In this section, we will give a general overview of the process, and touch briefly on each of the individual parts. In Examples, we'll show you how an initiative to prevent adolescent pregnancy used the VMOSA process effectively. Then, in Tools, we offer you a possible agenda for a planning retreat, should your organization decide to use this process. Finally, the remaining sections in this chapter will walk you through the steps needed to fully develop each portion of the process.

Why should your organization use VMOSA?

Why should your organization use this planning process? There are many good reasons, including all of the following:

• The VMOSA process grounds your dreams. It makes good ideas possible by laying out what needs to happen in order to achieve your vision.
• By creating this process in a group effort (taking care to involve both people affected by the problem and those with the abilities to change it), it allows your organization to build consensus around your focus and the necessary steps your organization should take.
• The process gives you an opportunity to develop your vision and mission together with those in the community who will be affected by what you do.  That means that your work is much more likely to address the community’s real needs and desires, rather than what you think they might be.  It also means community ownership of the vision and mission, putting everyone on the same page and greatly increasing the chances that any effort will be successful.
• VMOSA allows your organization to focus on your short-term goals while keeping sight of your long-term vision and mission.

When should you use VMOSA?

So, when should you use this strategic planning process? Of course, it always makes sense for your organization to have the direction and order it gives you, but there are some times it makes particularly good sense to use this process. These times include:

• When you are starting a new organization.
• When your organization is starting a new initiative or large project, or is going to begin work in a new direction.
• When your group is moving into a new phase of an ongoing effort.
• When you are trying to invigorate an older initiative that has lost its focus or momentum.
• When you’re applying for new funding or to a new funder.  It’s important under these circumstances to clarify your vision and mission so that any funding you seek supports what your organization actually stands for.  Otherwise, you can wind up with strings attached to the money that require you to take a direction not in keeping with your organization’s real purpose or philosophy.

Let's look briefly at each of the individual ingredients important in this process. Then, in the next few sections we'll look at each of these in a more in-depth manner, and explain how to go about developing each step of the planning process.

Vision (the dream)

Your vision communicates what your organization believes are the ideal conditions for your community – how things would look if the issue important to you were perfectly addressed. This utopian dream is generally described by one or more phrases or vision statements, which are brief proclamations that convey the community's dreams for the future. By developing a vision statement, your organization makes the beliefs and governing principles of your organization clear to the greater community (as well as to your own staff, participants, and volunteers).

There are certain characteristics that most vision statements have in common. In general, vision statements should be:

• Understood and shared by members of the community
• Broad enough to encompass a variety of local perspectives
• Inspiring and uplifting to everyone involved in your effort
• Easy to communicate - for example, they should be short enough to fit on a T-shirt

Here are a few vision statements which meet the above criteria:

• Healthy children
• Safe streets, safe neighborhoods
• Every house a home
• Education for all
• Peace on earth

Mission (the what and why)

Developing mission statements are the next step in the action planning process. An organization's mission statement describes what the group is going to do, and why it's going to do that. Mission statements are similar to vision statements, but they're more concrete, and they are definitely more "action-oriented" than vision statements. The mission might refer to a problem, such as an inadequate housing, or a goal, such as providing access to health care for everyone. And, while they don't go into a lot of detail, they start to hint - very broadly - at how your organization might go about fixing the problems it has noted. Some general guiding principles about mission statements are that they are:

• Concise . Although not as short a phrase as a vision statement, a mission statement should still get its point across in one sentence.
• Outcome-oriented . Mission statements explain the overarching outcomes your organization is working to achieve.
• Inclusive . While mission statements do make statements about your group's overarching goals, it's very important that they do so very broadly. Good mission statements are not limiting in the strategies or sectors of the community that may become involved in the project.

The following mission statements are examples that meet the above criteria.

• "To promote child health and development through a comprehensive family and community initiative."
• "To create a thriving African American community through development of jobs, education, housing, and cultural pride.
• "To develop a safe and healthy neighborhood through collaborative planning, community action, and policy advocacy."

While vision and mission statements themselves should be short, it often makes sense for an organization to include its deeply held beliefs or philosophy, which may in fact define both its work and the organization itself. One way to do this without sacrificing the directness of the vision and mission statements is to include guiding principles as an addition to the statements. These can lay out the beliefs of the organization while keeping its vision and mission statements short and to the point.

Objectives (how much of what will be accomplished by when)

Once an organization has developed its mission statement, its next step is to develop the specific objectives that are focused on achieving that mission. Objectives refer to specific measurable results for the initiative's broad goals. An organization's objectives generally lay out how much of what will be accomplished by when. For example, one of several objectives for a community initiative to promote care and caring for older adults might be: "By 2025 (by when), to increase by 20% (how much) those elders reporting that they are in daily contact with someone who cares about them (of what)."

There are three basic types of objectives . They are:

• Behavioral objectives . These objectives look at changing the behaviors of people (what they are doing and saying) and the products (or results) of their behaviors. For example, a neighborhood improvement group might develop an objective around having an increased amount of home repair taking place (the behavior) or of improved housing (the result).
• Community-level outcome objectives . These are related to behavioral outcome objectives, but are more focused more on a community level instead of an individual level. For example, the same group might suggest increasing the percentage of decent affordable housing in the community as a community-level outcome objective.
• Process objectives . These are the objectives that refer to the implementation of activities necessary to achieve other objectives. For example, the group might adopt a comprehensive plan for improving neighborhood housing.

It's important to understand that these different types of objectives aren't mutually exclusive. Most groups will develop objectives in all three categories. Examples of objectives include:

• By December 2030, to increase by 30% parent engagement (i.e., talking, playing, reading) with children under 2 years of age. ( Behavioral objective )
• By 2025, to have made a 40% increase in youth graduating from high school. ( Community -level outcome objective )
• By the year 2026, increase by 30% the percentage of families that own their home. ( Community-level outcome objective )
• By December of this year, implement the volunteer training program for all volunteers. ( Process objective )

Strategies (the how)

The next step in the process of VMOSA is developing your strategies. Strategies explain how the initiative will reach its objectives. Generally, organizations will have a wide variety of strategies that include people from all of the different parts, or sectors, of the community. These strategies range from the very broad, which encompass people and resources from many different parts of the community, to the very specific, which aim at carefully defined areas.

Examples of broad strategies include:

• A child health program might use social marketing to promote adult involvement with children
• An adolescent pregnancy initiative might decide to increase access to contraceptives in the community
• An urban revitalization project might enhance the artistic life of the community by encouraging artists to perform in the area

Five types of specific strategies can help guide most interventions . They are:

• Providing information and enhancing skills (e.g., offer skills training in conflict management)
• Enhancing services and support (e.g., start a mentoring programs for high-risk youth)
• Modify access, barriers, and opportunities (such as offering scholarships to students who would be otherwise unable to attend college)
• Change the consequences of efforts (e.g., provide incentives for community members to volunteer)
• Modify policies (e.g., change business policies to allow parents and guardians and volunteers to spend more time with young children)

Action plan (what change will happen; who will do what by when to make it happen)

Finally, an organization's action plan describes in great detail exactly how strategies will be implemented to accomplish the objectives developed earlier in this process. The plan refers to: a) specific (community and systems) changes to be sought, and b) the specific action steps necessary to bring about changes in all of the relevant sectors, or parts, of the community.

The key aspects of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought are outlined in the action plan. For example, in a program whose mission is to increase youth interest in politics, one of the strategies might be to teach students about the electoral system. Some of the action steps, then, might be to develop age-appropriate materials for students, to hold mock elections for candidates in local schools, and to include some teaching time in the curriculum.

Action steps are developed for each component of the intervention or (community and systems) changes to be sought. These include:

• Action step(s): What will happen
• Person(s) responsible: Who will do what
• Date to be completed: Timing of each action step
• Resources required: Resources and support (both what is needed and what's available )
• Barriers or resistance, and a plan to overcome them!
• Collaborators: Who else should know about this action

Here are two examples of action steps, graphed out so you can easily follow the flow:

Of course, once you have finished designing the strategic plan or "VMOSA" for your organization, you are just beginning in this work. Your action plan will need to be tried and tested and revised, then tried and tested and revised again. You'll need to obtain feedback from community members, and add and subtract elements of your plan based on that feedback.

Everyone has a dream. But the most successful individuals - and community organizations - take that dream and find a way to make it happen. VMOSA helps groups do just that. This strategic planning process helps community groups define their dream, set their goals, define ways to meet those goals, and finally, develop practical ways bring about needed changes.

In this section, you've gained a general understanding of the strategic planning process. If you believe your organization might benefit from using this process, we invite you to move on to the next sections of this chapter, which explain in some depth how to design and develop your own strategic plan.

Online Resources

Concerns Report Handbook: Planning for Community Health

The Free Management Library  presents a thorough guide to strategic and action planning, plus links to online discussion groups.

Imagining Our Dream Community provides guidance for visualizing your organization's ideal community.

Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Adolescent Substance Abuse: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Preventing Youth Violence: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Promoting Child Well-Being: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Promoting Health for All: Improving Access and Eliminating Disparities in Community Health

Promoting Healthy Living and Preventing Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Communities

Promoting Urban Neighborhood Development: An Action Planning Guide for Improving Housing, Jobs, Education, Safety and Health

Reducing Risk for Chronic Disease: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

The Ruckus Society  offers an Action Planning Manual that discusses strategies for nonviolent direct action.

Strategice Plan information page from Implementation Matters.

The Strategic Planning Process outlines 8 steps to developing a customized strategic plan for a coalition.

Work Group Evaluation Handbook

Your Action Planning Guide for Promoting Full Community Participation Among People with Disabilities , a resource for independent living centers and other community-based initiatives, from the KU Research & Training Center on Independent Living and the KU Center for Community Health and Development.

Youth Development: An Action Planning Guide for Community-Based Initiatives

Print Resources

Barry, B. (1982).  Strategic planning workbook for non-profit organizations . St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

Bryson, J. (1988).  Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Coover, V., et al. (1985).  Resource manual for a living revolution: a handbook of skills & tools for social change activists . Philadelphia: New Society Publisher.

Fawcett, S., Paine, A., Francisco, V., Richter, K.., Lewis, R., Williams, E., Harris, K., Winter-Green, K., in collaboration with Bradley, B. & Copple, J. (1992).  Preventing adolescent substance abuse: an action planning guide for community -based initiatives . Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development, University of Kansas.

Fawcett, S., Schultz, J., Francisco, V., Cyprus, J., Collie, V., Carson, V., & Bremby, R. (2001).  Promoting urban neighborhood development: An action planning guide for improving housing, jobs, education, safety and health, and human development . Lawrence, KS: Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development.

Halfon, N., Inkelas, M., Rice, T., Sutherland, C., Tullis, E., & Uyeda, K. (2004).  Building State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems. Volume 6: A Strategic Planning Guide for State-Level Early Childhood Systems-Building Initiatives: From Resources to Results for Young Children and Their Families.  Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities.

Kansas Health Foundation.  VMOSA: An approach to strategic planning . Wichita, KS: Kansas Health Foundation.

Lord, R. (1989). T he non-profit problem solver: a management guide . New York, NY: Praeger Publishers.

Murray, E., & Richardson, P. (2002).  Fast Forward: Organizational Changes in 100 Days . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Olenick, J., & Olenick, R. (1991).  A non-profit organization operating manual: planning for survival and growth . New York, NY: Foundation Center.

Stonich, P. J. (1982).  Implementing strategy: making strategy happen . Cambridge: Ballinger Publishing Company.

Unterman, I., & Davis, R. (1984).  Strategic management of not-for-profit organizations . New York, NY: CBS Educational and Professional Publishing.

Watson-Thompson, J., Fawcett, S.B., & Schultz, J. (2008).  Differential effects of strategic planning on community change in two urban neighborhood coalitions . American Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 25-38.

Wolff, T. (1990).  Managing a non-profit organization . New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press.

Wolff, T. (2010). The Power of Collaborative Solutions: Six Principles and Effective Tools for Building Healthy Communities . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

More Like this

3 pro tips for strategy implementation, what is strategy implementation.

Strategy implementation is the process that turns your strategy plan into real action. Implementing your strategic plan is key to ensuring your organization’s future growth and success. Master the art of bringing your strategy to life like a pro.

Is implementing strategy difficult?

While strategy implementation is a critical follow-up for any new strategy or strategic plan, it poses significant challenges for many organizations. Nine out of 10 companies with strategic plans fail to implement them. Fortune Magazine says nine out of ten organizations fail to implement their strategic plan. These reasons include:

• 60% of organizations don’t link strategy to budgeting
• 75% of organizations don’t link employee incentives to strategy
• 86% of business owners and managers spend less than one hour per month discussing strategy
• 95% of the typical workforce doesn’t understand their organization’s strategy.

The root cause of strategic implementation failure often lies in lacking a well-defined, actionable plan that resonates with the organization’s broader goals.

Tip 1: Make Sure Your Have a Complete Plan

This might seem obvious, but the first step is ensuring you have an implementation-ready plan before starting your execution process. A great plan covers what you want to achieve and why you’re setting out in this direction. It’s supported by clear objectives, goals, and actions that articulate who, where, when, and how you’ll achieve your bigger vision of success.

Before moving into a strategy implementation and execution process, make sure your strategic plan checks off the following boxes:

• You have a clear vision of the future.
• Your plan articulates your mission and core values.
• You have a current state analysis that articulates where you are today.
• A clear growth strategy has been defined and is supported by your competitive advantages.
• There’s 4-6 long-term strategic objectives that create the framework for your plan.
• You have annual goals/OKRs to support your long-term objectives.
• You have clear KPIs, measures, and targets.
• You have the right people in the room.
• You have a quarterly action plan.

Ensuring that your strategic plan is actually ready to implement requires getting your teams together, outlining expectations, assigning roles and responsibilities, setting deadlines and KPIs, and finally, providing the resources needed for your teams to do their jobs to bring your strategic plan to life.

Get the Free Guide for Agile Implementation & OKR Cycles

Tip 2: make sure your team is aligned with your plan and direction..

One of the key steps to successful strategy implementation is ensuring your team understands your vision, goals, plan structure, available resources, market conditions, and how they play a pivotal role in the success of your plan.

Once your team is aligned on your goals and objectives and they understand your strategy, it is time to implement your strategic plan.

Download the Free Guide

Tip 3: Recognize the common pitfalls of strategy implementation and avoid them.

Identifying your pitfalls and course-correcting them before they occur is a more beneficial and mature approach to strategic implementation, especially in the beginning stages or if this is your first strategic planning process.

6 Strategic implementation roadblocks and OnStrategy’s best practices to avoid them:

Because you want your plan to succeed, heed the advice here and identify the pitfalls and solutions that are most relevant to your strategy implementation process. Here are the 6 most common pitfalls seen in strategic plans and how you can avoid them as you implement your strategy:

Lack of ownership and accountability.

Lack of ownership is the most common reason a process fails. If members of your team don’t have a stake in the plan, it’ll be business as usual for all but a frustrated few. This lack of ownership also coincides with a lack of accountability where your team is unwilling or unable to take responsibility for the success of the plan.

OnStrategy Approach: We recommend employing cross-functional teams, so everyone is responsible for a piece of the plan. Accountability helps drive change, so each measure, objective, data source, and initiative must have an owner.

Lack of communication and infrequent reporting schedule.

Your plan doesn’t get communicated to employees, and they don’t understand how they connect with the strategy or contribute to its success. Your team also doesn’t find value in frequent reporting, so meetings are regularly pushed back in favor of higher-priority tasks.

OnStrategy Approach: The solution to this pitfall is ensuring that your entire organization and each relevant team are in alignment and clearly understand the strategic plan and their role within it. This means regular, firmly scheduled check-ins to report on progress and address shortcomings. These meetings should be treated just as important as any other.

Treating your planning as a special occasion.

This can hinder your plan’s effectiveness. When strategic planning is viewed as separate from the day-to-day management process or only addressed during annual retreats or special events, the overall impact of your strategy diminishes.

OnStrategy Approach: To counter this, integrate your strategy into the core of your organization’s operations through consistent reporting and ongoing activity (monthly reporting and quarterly refresh). Rather than treating strategy as a periodic project, make it an integral part of everyone’s regular responsibilities and job duties.

The plan is overwhelming.

The goals and actions generated in the strategic planning session are too numerous because the team failed to make tough choices to eliminate non-critical actions. Employees don’t know where to begin.

OnStrategy Approach: We always recommend that organizations focus on 4-6 key initiatives or objectives within their strategic implementation plan. This ensures your team isn’t spread too thin and that you are only focusing on the relevant and impactful initiatives that will drive your success.

The implementation plan isn’t clear.

Implementation isn’t discussed in the strategic planning process. The planning document is seen as an end in itself, but you lack the forethought on how to make it actionable.

OnStrategy Approach: The objective of strategic planning is not just the plan itself but the continual process of working towards it and improving it. You need to set clear, actionable steps to make your strategic plan more than just a sheet of paper—this means setting KPIs, scheduling regular check-ins, assigning teams and goal owners, and implementing strategy via tracking and communication processes so that everyone is on the same page.

Your short-term objectives are undefined.

Another reason why your team may struggle to implement strategy is due to a lack of clear objectives. Sure, the broad strokes of your plan and vision are outlined, but you lack the key components of a complete plan, including annual goals, quarterly action plans, and key performance indicators.

OnStrategy Approach: Make sure you have a complete plan and roadmap for achieving your business goals. Your long-term plan must be supported by short-term goals and objectives with measurable analytics! A purpose-built strategic management tool and dashboard can also help keep our team coordinated and aligned. Again, with the help of a dynamic dashboard, like as the StrategyHub , you can set clear goals with well-defined measurements of success. Setting smaller, specific objectives that you know will contribute to your long-term goals will allow you to see in real-time what is working for your plan and what is not working and allow you to re-calibrate accordingly.

It’s easier to avoid pitfalls when they’re clearly identified and when you’ve outlined a solution to address them. Now that you know what they are, you’re more likely to jump right over them!

• A clearly defined implementation calendar and scheduled reviews. When you roll out your plan, schedule your monthly and quarterly reviews out for the year. It can be helpful to include monthly updates in your current standing meetings, but you should host dedicated quarterly reviews to review performance, refresh your plan, and create a focus for the next quarter.
• Clear expectations for when performance is to be updated and reviewed. Your entire team members need to know what they own and when they are responsible for updating their progress against performance.

9 Steps to Finalize a Strategy Implementation Approach

Implementing your plan includes several steps and can sometimes feel like it needs another plan of its own. But you don’t need to go to that extent. Use the steps below as your base implementation plan. Modify it to make it your own timeline and fit your organization’s culture and structure.

• Finalize your strategic plan after obtaining input from all invested parties.
• Align your budget to annual goals based on your financial assessment.
• Produce the various versions of your plan for each group.
• Establish your scorecard system for tracking and monitoring your plan.
• Establish your performance management and reward system.
• Roll out your plan to the whole organization to implement the strategy.
• Build all department annual plans around the corporate plan.
• Set up monthly strategy meetings with established reporting to monitor your progress.
• Set up annual strategic review dates, including new assessments and a large group meeting for an annual plan review.

Check out OnStrategy’s whiteboard video, explaining our Strategic Implementation Checklist!

Final Thought: Strategy Execution Doesn’t Need to Be Overwhelming!

Setting your strategy implementation approach might seem totally overwhelming after you complete your plan, but it doesn’t need to be. If you need help, we’ve got you covered with our expert strategy consultants and purpose-built strategy implementation tool called the StrategyHub.

We can help you ensure your plan is supported by the organizational culture, implementation approach, and necessary resources to achieve your vision of success.

Covering All Your Bases

As a business owner, executive, or department manager, your job entails making sure you’re set up for a successful implementation. Before you start this process, evaluate your strategic plan and how you may implement it by answering a few questions to keep yourself in check.

Take a moment to honestly answer the following questions:

• How committed are you to implementing the plan to move your company forward?
• How do you plan to communicate the plan throughout the company?
• Are there sufficient people who have a buy-in to drive the plan forward?
• How are you going to motivate your people?
• Have you identified internal processes that are key to driving the plan forward?
• Are you going to commit money, resources, and time to support the plan?
• What are the roadblocks to implementing and supporting the plan?
• How will you take available resources and achieve maximum results with them?

16 Comments

Hi i like to read these article and i got lots of help about strategy plan thanks

the implementation plans can assists an organisation in making its strategic efficiently which bust the organisation performance

Great article , I am an MBA student from kenya and am intending to research on factors that influence the implementaton of strategic plans in kenyan schools . Any idea on the relevant objectives and theories for my theoretical review and framework will be highly appreciated .

The article has been of invaluable use to me.thanks a lot.I would like to get more articles on strategic Management since I have done an Undergraduate degree in Strategic Management.

Good outline. My experience suggests that strategic plan ACHIEVEMENT always boils down to: broad understanding; assignability; actionable tasks; measurable elements; and stretch reasonableness. When plans fail, it’s usually because they’re either too esoteric, vague, unrealistic, or lack broad-based employee buy-in. Shorter-term plans, subsidiary plans, budgets, functional assignments, and job descriptions need to support this broader set of goals and objectives. There needs to be regular, ongoing communication and updates. Lastly, (and this makes professional planners uneasy), it’s not just about an elegant process, it’s about translating that vision into an executable framework from which elegant outcomes are actually achieved.

this is great and I have scooped a lot from it

Thanks a lot.This article has made me understand better

Isn’t this from “Strategic planning for dummies”? anyways thanks

Hi Brian- Our COO, Erica Olsen, wrote the book “Strategic Planning for Dummies” so you will some very similar thoughts here that you would see in the book.

thanks for the article . it has really helped me answer all my questions keep it up.

Thanks but can you assist more on why in most cases the strategic planning is regarded as a meaningless ,trivial and mundane ritual in organisations

I’m very happy reading your article and help much in our project implementaion, hoping that there are still more than this, thanks very much

The article is very useful for information. Thank you.

thanks alot for the outline,really impressed though an advise for strategy formulation in a motor vehicle showroom as a new business venture and also implementation of the same.

This is a very valuable piece. You helped me understand strategic planning and implementation much better. Thanks so much.

Very helpful information, thank you!

Comments Cancel

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Develop and Implement Effective Strategies (FREE PPT Template)

Discover the power of effective strategy development with our step-by-step guide and FREE PPT template. This comprehensive resource will walk you through the process of developing and implementing a winning strategy.

StrategyPunk

Are you looking to develop a winning strategy for your organization? Our strategy Development Framework can help.

Imagine this: you're the CEO of a thriving company, but you've hit a roadblock.

Your competitors are gaining ground, and your once-in-novative products are starting to feel stale.

It's time for a change, but where do you begin?

The answer lies in developing and implementing an effective strategy.

Strategies are the backbone of any successful organization. They provide a clear direction, align resources, and help you stay ahead of the curve. However, creating a strategy is easier said than done. It requires a deep understanding of your business, customers, and the ever-changing market landscape.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through a step-by-step process to develop and implement effective strategies that drive growth and success. Buckle up because we're about to embark on a journey that will transform how you approach strategic planning.

Our template can help you analyze your organization's effectiveness, allocate resources effectively, and ensure all elements are aligned to support your strategy.

How to Develop and Implement Effective Strategies?

Define the problem (or opportunity)

• Conduct a thorough analysis and gather information through market research, financial analysis, customer surveys, and competitor analysis
• Identify potential solutions and develop a range of strategic options
• Develop a hypothesis-driven approach and evaluate options based on impact, feasibility, and alignment with organizational goals and values
• Create a roadmap , recommend a course of action, and develop a detailed implementation plan
• Implement and monitor progress , maintain impartiality, prioritize the needs and goals of the organization, and have practical communication skills.

Strategy Development Framework: 6 Key Steps to develop and implement effective strategies

The first step in any strategic planning process is clearly defining your problem or opportunity. Although this may seem obvious, it's often overlooked or oversimplified.

Ask yourself: What's keeping you up at night? Is it a declining market share, a disruptive technology, or a shift in customer preferences? Or you've identified an untapped opportunity that could propel your business to new heights.

Articulating the problem or opportunity is crucial because it sets the stage for the rest of the process. It helps you focus your efforts and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Conduct a thorough analysis.

Once you've defined the problem or opportunity, it's time to gather information. This is where the real work begins.

Market research: Understand your target market, needs, and behaviors. Conduct surveys and focus groups and analyze industry trends to gain valuable insights.

Financial analysis: Dive deep into your financial data. Analyze your revenue streams, costs, and profitability. Identify areas for improvement and potential growth opportunities.

Customer surveys: Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. Gather feedback through surveys, interviews, and social media listening to understand their pain points, preferences, and expectations.

Competitor analysis: Monitor your competitors closely. Analyze their strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. Identify areas where you can differentiate yourself and gain a competitive advantage.

This step is crucial because it provides the foundation for your strategic decisions. The more information you have, the better equipped you'll be to develop effective strategies.

Identify potential solutions

With a wealth of information at your fingertips, it's time to start brainstorming potential solutions and strategic options.

Encourage creativity and unconventional thinking. Do not limit yourself to obvious solutions; instead, explore various options, from incremental improvements to disruptive innovations.

Consider different approaches, such as:

• Product or service innovation
• Market expansion or diversification
• Strategic partnerships or acquisitions
• Process improvements or operational efficiencies
• Organizational restructuring or cultural shifts

At this stage, it is important to keep an open mind and avoid premature judgment. Every idea, no matter how unconventional, deserves consideration.

Develop a hypothesis-driven approach.

With a list of potential solutions and strategic options, it's time to evaluate them. This is where a hypothesis-driven approach comes into play.

Eachh option, develop a hypothesis that outlines the expected impact, feasibility, and alignment with your organizational goals and values.

Impact: What is the potential impact of this option on your business? Will it drive revenue growth, increase market share, or improve operational efficiency

Feasibility: Is this option realistic and achievable? Do you have the resources, capabilities, and infrastructure to implement it successfully?

Alignment: Does this option align with your organization's mission, vision, and values? Will it reinforce your brand and strengthen your competitive position?

Use a structured evaluation process to assess each option objectively. Involve key stakeholders and subject matter experts to ensure a well-rounded perspective.

Create a roadmap

After evaluating the options, it's time to decide and create a roadmap for implementation.

Recommend a course of action that aligns with your strategic objectives and addresses the problem or opportunity you identified in the first step.

Develop a detailed implementation plan outlining the steps, timelines, resources, and responsibilities required to execute your strategy successfully.

Your implementation plan should be comprehensive and actionable. It should address potential risks, contingencies, and mitigation strategies.

Remember, a well-crafted strategy is only as good as its execution. Ensure your implementation plan is realistic, achievable, and supported by the necessary resources and buy-in from key stakeholders.

Implement and monitor progress

With your implementation plan in place, it's time for you to go ahead and implement your strategy.

Implement your plan with precision and discipline. Communicate regularly with your team, stakeholders, and customers to ensure transparency and alignment.

Please monitor progress closely and be prepared to make adjustments if needed. The business landscape constantly evolves, and your strategy should be agile enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

Throughout the implementation process, maintain impartiality and prioritize the needs and goals of your organization. Avoid personal biases or conflicts of interest that could compromise your decision-making.

Effective communication is critical. Clearly articulate your strategy, rationale, and expectations to all stakeholders. Foster an open dialogue and collaboration environment, where feedback and constructive criticism are welcomed.

Remember, developing and implementing effective strategies is an ongoing process. Celebrate your successes, learn from your failures, and continuously refine your approach to stay ahead of the curve.

FREE PPT Template

To help you get started, we've created a FREE PowerPoint template that you can use to develop and present your strategic plan. This template includes:

• A structured outline to guide you through the strategic planning process
• Customizable slides for each step, including problem definition, analysis, option evaluation, and implementation planning
• Visual aids and graphics to enhance your presentation
• Tips and best practices for effective strategic planning and communication

Download the FREE PPT template now and start your journey towards developing and implementing effective strategies that drive growth and success.

Strategy Development Framework: PDF Download

Strategy development framework: powerpoint download.

Global Bites: PESTLE Insights into Nestlé (Free PPT)

Download our free PPT template for in-depth PESTLE insights into Nestlé's global strategy. Learn more today!

PESTLE Analysis: Decoding Reddit's Landscape (Free PPT)

Decode Reddit's global influence with our free PowerPoint PESTLE Analysis. Explore the hub of vibrant discussions and ideas.

Navigating the Terrain: A PESTLE Analysis of Lululemon (Free PowerPoint)

Explore Lululemon's business terrain with our free PESTLE analysis PowerPoint. Instant access!

The Art of Strategic Leadership: 5 Keys to Success by Willie Peterson

Explore Willie Peterson's 5 crucial strategies for strategic leadership. Master learning, customer focus, and effective storytelling.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans

The value of planning.

James stumbled into his position as the human resource manager. He had been working for Techno, Inc. for three years, and when the company grew, James moved from a management position into a human resource management position. Techno, Inc. is a technology and software consulting company for the music industry.

James didn’t have a good handle on how to effectively run a human resources (HR) department, so for much of the time he tried to figure it out as he went. When Techno started seeing rapid growth, he hired thirty people within a one-month period to meet the demand. Proud of his ability to accomplish his task of meeting the business’s current needs, James was rather pleased with himself. He had spent numerous hours mulling over recruitment strategies, putting together excellent compensation plans, and then eventually sifting through résumés as a small part of the hiring process. Now the organization had the right number of people needed to carry out its projects.

Fast forward five months, however, and it turned out the rapid growth was only temporary. James met with the executives of the business who told him the contracts they had acquired were finished, and there wasn’t enough new work coming in to make payroll next month if they didn’t let some people go. James felt frustrated because he had gone through so much effort to hire people, and now they would be laid off. Never mind the costs of hiring and training his department had taken on to make this happen. As James sat with the executives to determine who should be laid off, he felt sad for the people who had given up other jobs just five months before, only to be laid off.

After the meeting, James reflected on this situation and realized that if he had spoken with the executives of the company sooner, they would have shared information on the duration of the contracts, and he likely would have hired people differently, perhaps on a contract basis rather than on a full-time basis. He also considered the fact that the organization could have hired an outsourcing company to recruit workers for him. As Jason mulled this over, he realized that he needed a strategic plan to make sure his department was meeting the needs of the organization. He vowed to work with the company executives to find out more about the company’s strategic plan and then develop a human resource management (HRM) strategic plan to make sure Techno, Inc. has the right number of workers with the right skills, at the right time in the future.

Human Resource Management Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

22 Develop an Assignment Plan

Now that you have a clear idea of what you need to do, the next step is to break down the assignment into manageable “chunks”.  The idea of completing a major research paper may seem overwhelming, but if you can divide the task into achievable steps you will be on your way to success.

Use the chart below to break your assignment into smaller steps.  You will want to create steps that can be done easily in one day, and preferably in a single work period.  Consider the following example breakdown for a research paper.

In the above example, the assignment is divided into smaller pieces, with a manageable amount to complete each day. It is also clear when each task has been completed.  A daily work goal like “work on research paper” is not well-defined, and can seem overwhelming.  This can make it easy to procrastinate.  By choosing specific and achievable goals, you may become more motivated to get started, and you will be able to measure your progress each day.  Remember to reward yourself for meeting your goals along the way.

Choose one of your upcoming assignments, and create a work plan modelled on the example above.

Download the assignment planner worksheet .

University 101: Study, Strategize and Succeed Copyright © 2018 by Kwantlen Polytechnic University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to implement a strategic management process

Strategic management is the ongoing process of strategy formulation, evaluation, and improvement in order to gain a competitive advantage. Learn about the five stages of strategic management and how implementing a strategic management process benefits your organization.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. When your team has a clear sense of where you’re going and why, they’re empowered to get their best work done efficiently and effectively. 

But building that level of clarity takes time—and effort. That’s where strategic management comes in. In this article, we’ll take a look at what strategic management is and how your team can benefit from the strategic management process. 

What is strategic management?

Strategic management is the organization and execution of business resources in order to achieve your company goals. This isn’t an individual initiative but rather an ongoing process of strategy formulation, evaluation, and improvement in order to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. 

The strategic management process includes:

Long-term, large-scale goal setting, like BHAGs

SWOT analysis

Strategy evaluation

Internal analysis of your organizational structure

Analysis of your external, competitive environment

Strategic planning

Process implementation plans to achieve your organization’s objectives

Competitive strategy implementation

Strategic management might sound similar to several other critical business elements. Here’s how it stacks up in the business environment. 

Strategic management vs. strategy

At first glance, strategic management and strategy seem like the same thing. The easiest way to differentiate between the two is to think of strategic management as the implementation of your corporate strategy. 

In a business setting, strategy is the process of formulating decisions to hit your organization’s goals. An effective strategy is critical to help your business team understand what your priorities are and where you’re going. But to put the strategy into motion, you need strategic management. Strategic management takes your competitive environment into account and factors in how you’ll execute against your company’s strategy. 

Strategic management vs. strategic planning

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning howyou will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

Strategic management vs operational management

Even though the terms are very different, strategic management is often confused with operational management. Operational management is what your company does. This includes your organization’s value chain—in other words, the processes and practices your organization does on a regular basis in order to deliver a final product, good, or service.

If operational management is the “what,” strategic management is the “why” and “how.” To start, strategic management helps you define why you’re prioritizing different business initiatives and what you’re aiming to achieve in the long term. Then, during the implementation and planning phase, strategic management also defines how you’ll achieve your goals. 

Strategic management example

Strategic management helps companies achieve ambitious goals that require strategic alignment across departments. 

For example, imagine your company is introducing a brand new service line and wants to implement a strategic management process to ensure execution goes smoothly. You’ll first want to evaluate a few things about your current processes and future goals. 

What are the goals of introducing a new service? 

What areas have we struggled with in the past?

What is our budget?

How can we differentiate ourselves in our industry?

By using the strategic management process, you can use the questions above to create a coordinated plan that helps you reach your target goals. Keep reading as we break down the five stages of the strategic management process along with some benefits strategic management can have for your organization. 

5 stages of the strategic management process

The important concepts of strategic management can be viewed in five stages:

1. Identify your goals

The first step in the strategic management process is to evaluate where you’re going, and why. Ideally, you already have some goal materials in place, including: 

Your vision statement

Your mission statement

Your long-term goals and/or BHAGs

Your company’s core competencies

There are additional documents you can consider at this point, including:

Your strategic plan

Your yearly objectives, OKRs , and KPIs

It’s critical to identify your goals and plans in order to understand how you’re going to achieve them. Your goals form the basis of your strategic decisions.

2. Analyze your current situation

Once you’ve compiled a list of where you want to go, it’s helpful to get a bearing on where you are. The second step of strategic management is to take a look inwards at your current processes. If you haven’t already, run a SWOT analysis to get a better understanding of your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Also consider:

What’s currently working? 

What competitive advantages does your company have? 

What isn’t working? 

What, if any, operational issues have you run into? 

What is your current market share, and how does it compare to your goals? 

What are your current business needs, and are they being met? 

What, if anything, could potentially impact your organization’s goals? 

How does the external environment (including public opinion and the competitive environment) impact your business?

How does your internal environment (including your operations, employee retention and satisfaction, and team morale ) impact your business? 

What does your organization need to do to achieve profitability?

3. Form your strategy

If you haven’t already, this is the step where you build your strategic plan to describe exactly where you want to go and how you plan to achieve those goals. Depending on your organization, and whether or not you’re a new business, this is also when you’d use business process management (BPM) to improve processes.

Key questions to ask during this stage include:

What steps do you need to take to reach your goals? 

How will you measure success? 

What are your current processes, and are you able to achieve your goals with them? 

4. Implement your strategy

You’ve identified your strategy—now it’s time to put it into action. The fourth step of the strategic management process takes the longest. This is where you implement your strategic plan and see it come to life. 

This step depends largely on your business strategy. Essentially, you’re deciding which processes you need to evaluate, monitor, and improve—and putting those process improvement plans into action. This includes anything from better resource allocation or implementing business process automation (BPA) to streamline processes, to developing a company-wide project management office (PMO) . 

Remember that implementing your strategy is a long-term process. In addition to your long-term strategic goals , make sure to set short-term goals to guide your strategy implementation and make sure you remain on track.

5. Evaluate your process

Strategic management isn’t a one-and-done thing. Your management strategy and business environment also change as your company matures. Similar to how you should revisit your strategic plan every three to five years, make sure you’re revisiting your overall strategic management plan regularly as well. Take into consideration any new potential threats, relevant success metrics, and developing avenues your business may want to pursue.

Strategic management frameworks

There are a number of frameworks that can help you approach strategic management. Some of the most popular include:

A SWOT analysis guides you in identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for your business strategy. When working through the strategic management process, factor a SWOT analysis into the “Analyze” phase, as it helps establish your baseline and where you can go from there. 

Balanced scorecard

 A balanced scorecard can help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance. By analyzing these aspects separately, you can visualize where your organization has a competitive advantage and where you can make improvements. 

Like a SWOT analysis, this framework can help you during the “Analyze” phase, as it dives into your baseline for each aspect of your business model. 

Value chain analysis

The value chain describes the systems and processes involved in producing new products or services. Analyzing the value chain allows organizations to identify opportunities for improvement within the project life cycle. Some questions that come from value chain analysis include:

Is there an opportunity for cost reduction? 

Can we streamline this process? 

What can we do to make our product or service different from competitors? 

Diving into a value chain analysis will help you pick apart your process and add more specific plans to your strategic management process.  

Why is strategic management important?

Strategic management benefits every level of your organization. While the process takes time, energy, and effort, the upsides are immense and echo throughout the entire organization. With effective strategic management, you’re building:

Clear plans on how you’ll reach organizational goals

At its core, strategic management is a roadmap for achieving company goals. Using the frameworks stated above, strategic management paints a clear picture of an organization’s goals and outlines the path to reach them. 

A team-wide understanding of organizational priorities

The strategic management process ensures that your goals align with what’s best for your organization. By diving into techniques like SWOT analyses and value chain analyses, you’ll discover what opportunities should be at the forefront of your improvement efforts. 

Strategic alignment across the organization

When you establish and communicate your company’s goals and priorities, strategic improvement will trickle down from the leadership level to the whole organization. 

The strategic management process is so effective because it takes strategic initiatives from ideation to execution. By establishing the right goals in the first stage of the process, you’ll find your whole organization aligned with the plan to achieve them.                                                                                             

An ongoing business process

Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the strategic management process is that it creates a system that is ongoing. The end result of the strategic management process should be a new system that you can tweak as your company evolves. 

Reach new heights with strategic management

Strategic management doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You need key business units and project stakeholders to buy into your strategic plan. Effective strategic management permeates all levels of your organizational structure and factors in all of your organization’s resources in order to build the best long-term strategy for your business.

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BSBMGT616 Develop and Implement Strategic Plans

DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIC PLANS

Assessment 1: Written Questions

• Give three examples of risks that should be considered in developing and implementing strategic plans.

Delays in Project Completion

Implementation of a strategy may require the completion of a series of steps by different departments within your organization. If one department can’t complete its assigned projects on schedule, implementation of the strategy will be delayed. For example, you may plan to launch a new product in the upcoming year, but if delays in product design or prototype testing occur, your strategic implementation will also be delayed.

Higher Implementation Cost than Forecast

During the planning process, you and your staff will prepare a marketing budget that shows the cost of implementing your chosen strategies. Particularly with strategies the company hasn’t employed in the past, precisely calculating the costs can be difficult. As the strategy is rolled out, you may see that the costs are higher than forecast, requiring difficult decisions to be made on where costs could be reduced in order to keep the company on track toward reaching its profit goals.

Government Regulation

New government regulations can make it more difficult for a small business to implement its strategies. For example, a more restrictive zoning policy by a municipality may prevent you from opening the additional location you planned.

• Give two examples of risk management strategies that can be used when developing and implementing strategic plans.

Make a Plan

There are a few essential items to include in a risk management plan, however. Here they are:

• a list of individual risks
• a rating of each risk based on likelihood and impact
• an assessment of current controls
• a plan of action

For example, “Key client XYZ Corp is late paying its invoice.” Maybe you are already controlling for that risk by having automated reminders sent out when the invoice is close to its due date, and having one of your staff members responsible for following up personally with phone calls and emails. You’d list those as existing controls on your risk management plan.

Decide How to Handle Each Risk

In the world of risk management, there are  four main strategies :

• Transfer it.
• Give an example of a risk management strategy that can be used to manage intellectual property risks inherent in strategic planning.

 Develop and have in place rapid response procedures to mitigate risk when theft or abuse of intellectual property occurs.

These are procedures that call for a change in culture, a transformation as profound as the shift to a customer-oriented culture that many organizations went through in the previous decade. It is an orientation to alertness, protection and swift action. The commitment to make it happen, like all leading-edge organizational changes, has to come from the top. If you are a director, it is more than a commitment. It is an obligation to shareholders.

• Outline the benefit of conducting a SWOT analysis as part of a strategic planning process and how a SWOT analysis is conducted.

The main advantages of conducting a SWOT analysis is that it has little or no cost - anyone who understands your business can perform a SWOT analysis. You can also use a SWOT analysis when you don't have much time to address a complex situation. This means that you can take steps towards improving your business without the expense of an external consultant or  business adviser .

To work out if something is an internal or external factor, ask yourself if it would exist even if your business didn't. If it would, then it's an external factor (e.g. new technology).

Use the following 8 steps to conduct a SWOT analysis.

• Decide on the objective of your SWOT analysis
• Research your business, industry and market
• List your business's strengths
• List your business's weaknesses
• List potential opportunities for your business
• List potential threats to your business
• Establish priorities from the SWOT
• Develop a strategy to address issues in the SWOT
• Outline four examples of questions that could be used when conducting a SWOT analysis.

What are your assets?

Do you have experience in this task (mission) before?

What areas do your competitors have an advantage on?

What are the negative aspects in the current market?

• Outline the benefit of conducting a PESTLE analysis as part of a strategic planning process and how a PESTLE analysis is conducted.

Importance of PEST Analysis in Strategic Planning

• It informs about both internal and external factors that affect a firm’s failure and success
• It gives an overview of the business’ current position
• It forecasts future and sheds light on current situation
• Evaluates business environment and allows firms to make strategic decisions
• Provide companies with a reality check of their performance and loopholes
• Enables firms to understand the economy and market and expand
• Provides a mechanism to identify threats and opportunities
• Enables companies to learn markets and enter new markets, nationally or globally
• Prevents future failures and creates a system of continuous success
• It helps firms assess the report and take countermeasures for improvement and to analyse threats.
• Know the Categories

The first step in conducting a PESTLE analysis is  understanding the PESTLE model  itself — in particular, the six categories. The six broad categories of business variables that PESTLE analysis draws from are:

• Sociocultural
• Technological
• Environmental
• Do the Research

Once you’re familiar with the six categories of PESTLE analysis, the next step is  to start doing your research . If you’re new to business analysis, this can be a lot more difficult than it sounds.

• Put It All Together

Once you’ve sourced your information, the only thing left is to put all the pieces together

• Outline four examples of questions that could be used when conducting a PESTLE analysis.

What key influences are affecting people’s attitudes and behaviour in ways that might affect my organisation or sector?

Are there trends discernible in particular groups that have implications for my organisation or sector?

What changes are likely in the political priorities of government at regional, national and European levels?

Will any changing technologies have an impact on political or economic events with implications for my organisation or sector?

• List two internal sources of information that a business could use to find out about its market, competitors, customer base, vision, values and capabilities.

Internal data is gathered from the sales department to determine revenue, profit, and the bottom line. Understanding these numbers gives a business the opportunity to maximize them. It also provides reasoning to place more focus on particular areas or cut them out altogether. The numbers can be broken down further by analysing each distribution channel, price point, geographic area, customer type, and salesperson.

The finance department should be supplying internal data in the form of cash flow reports, production reports, and a budget variance analysis. A cash flow report shows the amount of cash generated and used within a certain period. A production report shows the cost incurred by the company to produce a product or service. The cost includes raw material and labour. 

• List two external sources of information that a business could use to find out about its market, competitors, customer base, vision, values and capabilities.

TELEVISION AND RADIO MEDIA 

This source of business information is perhaps the least helpful of the various external sources available to small business owners. Programs devoted to general investment strategies and the changing fortunes of large companies can be found, of course, but the broad-based nature of broadcasting makes it difficult, if not impossible, to launch programs aimed at narrow niche audiences (like dental instrument manufacturers or accounting firms, for example).

ONLINE INFORMATION 

The phenomenon of online information is burgeoning as much as computers are themselves. "The power of the computer to store, organize and disseminate vast amounts of information has truly revolutionized business publishing," noted Lavin. "Large online systems can help overcome the incredible fragmentation of published information.

• Explain the purpose of developing organisational values and two techniques that could be used to identify values as part of the strategic planning process.

The main purpose of developing organisational values is for the employees. Each and every employee of the organisation must know these values to help them identify with and connect to targeted consumers, as well as to remind employees about its priorities and goals.

Techniques to identify values are as follows:

Project brief and plan. In consultation with senior team members, we outlined our objective, or why we were doing this: “Why? To clarify and update what Recruiting Social stands for and what we want to accomplish, so we can hold ourselves accountable internally (as a company, as teams, and as individual team members) and externally (to our clients, candidates, vendors, partner companies, stakeholders, followers, and the broader public.” Then, we listed out the steps we’d take to accomplish the objective, and scoped out how much time it would take and who would need to be involved.

Discovery. The first and largest step involved research. We performed 15-minute interviews with every member of our small team, plus two clients. Interviewees were asked to identify attributes of our team and workplace and share examples of how they experienced them. Once interviews were completed, we held a 45-minute team workshop to collaboratively explore the insights uncovered in the one-on-one conversations.

Assessment Task 2: Organisational vision and mission project

• Prepare for meeting with team.

Introduction

In this assignment analyst has discussed case study of Native bush spices which manufactures and retails a range of organic, Australian native foods including:

• Native herbs and spices
• Native herbal teas
• Native fruit jams and conserves

In Australia. Company is planning to expand its business by entering into International markets of selling and distributing herbs and spices mainly in South-East Asia – specifically Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

The company mission and vision set for the period of time is to enhance the sales into particular segment. The profit of the organisation will allow to the stakeholders of the organisation to invest and all communities in which Native bush spices operate to prosper. According to the analysis of product offered current competitions and rivalry position of business is to be analysed in review of current market segment positioning of business. 

• Meet with the management team (your assessor)

Discussion Held During Meeting

To reach over the management team and also to be able to analyse how there can be the strategic goals, objectives and the performance indicators has to be attributed to the ideas of the cooperative ventures would be beneficial to easily enter into the market and also be able to control the market. Even taking as a back seat, would still be able to capture the market.

Native Bush Spices is an Australian native products business based in Coffs Harbour. To enhance the business Native Bush Spices, need to make the strategic planning and implement it.

Vision and Mission : The vision and mission of Native Bush Spices is to promote its business for a long time. It is working on older strategy and wants to see itself in a large business all over the world. For implementing its strategies, the Operational Manager of the Native Bush Spices present the annual report of previous year in board of meeting and the revert has come from Chair Board that is Native Bush Spices will be going in a right direction. Chair Board is assuming that Native Bush Spices will be the know company within 5years by providing good facilities to its customer and it will be integrated as the part of the manufacturing industry and perceived its services for taking both large and small manufacturing industry. It became the key components of establishment of large and small manufacturing services. It is the mission of Native Bush Spices to provide quality gourmet food so that the customers can be satisfied towards the services of Native Bush Spices and able to meet the sustainability, reliability and efficiency need of the clients of food which will revert as reward and profit to the business. All above mentioned above is the vision and mission of the Native Bush Spices. To allow the stakeholder’s investment in the Native Bush Spices vision is to bring up the organisation in higher level and to make complete the vision, mission of Native Bush Spices is to promote the products in food manufacturing industry so that they can earn huge revenue.

Similarly, Herbie’s Spices, Forty-Five years of working in the industry, including face-to-face lectures to groups from the general public, industrial brokering, manufacturing and marketing, has made Herbie a well-respected and popular figure amongst his peers, in Australia and overseas.

Also, Indigiearth, provide premium bush foods made from authentic Australian native products that are ethically sourced and sustainably harvested. After years of workshops and corporate catering, Indigiearth was launched to the food industry and in 2012 with twenty-five premium native foods.

The meeting is about cooperative ventures which would be done in sync with the leading supermarkets. It would help to grab the maximum market share, at less time and would be beneficial to formulate a profitable and the sales target territory. The listening would be base don't the verbal and the non- verbal reactions of the people and discussion would be open based.

Key business strategies and strategic objectives

According to Network (2012), the strategy of an organisation considered as an important part of the organisation. To implement the strategic planning organisation need to know the value of the customers as well as the employee of the organisation. There are so many approaches have with Native Bush Spices to make the profit in an effective manner. Native Bush Spices need to identify those sectors which impact on the value of the organisation. The aim of Native Bush Spices is to making the position of the organisation in marketing at high level and for this it is contributing their services to being a good corporate citizen in the way of recognising the responsibilities to be active participants in local communities. It will enhance the value of the organisation. As per God & People (2012) it has been seen through many organisations that to give the donation to profit and non-profit organisation increase the value of the organisation and it also helpful to those people who need help. So it would be add on the strategic planning of Native Bush Spices to donate some part of the profit of the organisation to the variety of communities and non-profit organisation.

• Write a summary of the meeting outcomes.

As per the minutes prepared on the basis of board meetings of Native Bush Spices enterprises following objectives were discussed and formulated for the future purposes.

Patricia Meets CEO of the group company presented various objectives which would be standard guidelines for the operations of business enterprise as per the next five years plans. These are detailed as follows

• Native Bush Spices primary objective is to expand the business in international market. As per Java Estates delicate this would be top need that would include its acknowledgment. This will be critical cooperation that ought to be overseen at the most elevated amount.
• To expand overall revenues by 5% in the upcoming period time. The time frame given here for the expansion approach will be 5 years. This ought to get implemented in factuality with expanded deals taking into account while making better value transactions with providers of raw materials and other resources. Apart from that human resources in the business organisation is motivated to achieve the desired task.
• To build the brand value of the group in the untapped geographical regions in a time span of 5 years
• To reduce the overall wastes and reducing the abnormal wastes account to the extent of 10 %. Various guidelines and standards are to be formulated to achieve the desired goals and objective. 
• Target a particular age group of 35- 65 years’ old who likes to eat gourmet food.

After the reviewing of vision and mission of the Native Bush Spices the understanding has come out that the existing value of the Native Bush Spices will remain same until the existence of the organisation. It has been understood by the employee of the organisation that the stakeholder of the business will be treating as before and it has been about stewardship. The standard of moral will be conducted as before business does. For the employees of the Native Bush Spices the opinion of CEO of Native Bush Spices is that the  health and safety requirements of them will be get preference first. Self-directed team conducted to encourage the employees so that the aim of the Native Bush Spices is easy to achieve. In the point of external response, Native Bush Spices is committed with wisely to environmental practices and maintain the strategic planning to make the customer happy and satisfied.

The discussion made that the changes is become the requirements for the organisation. As per the prior criteria or planning Native Bush Spices want to make the future in food industry to earn huge amount of profit but after changing time and analysing it could be found that there is a need to make changes in incorporate innovations because it has been tan outcome of directive of self-directed team. It is the priority of Native Bush Spices to improve the effectiveness and process of customer solution. It is important to evaluate the planning and its implementation so that it come to know that how the business is doing work and how much the implementation of the working going on. Evaluation of the working style should be done in the form of making the improvement in the business. It would be good for the business. It is important to adopt the new technology and make the innovation as per changing time. The new strategy of planning should be not dependant on laurels.  The organisation needs to embrace strategic alliances. It is the time to do partnership with well-known company and make the reputation of the business in front of market in well-known and it can be made only for health partnership which will helpful to implement the mission to attain the vision. 

Strategies are prepared while reviewing the present organisational strengths and weaknesses and further analysing the rivals position in the market. Strategic decision is taken in core aspect of investments portfolios, market risk, human resource management and trigger to implement an effective change. Strategies are prepared according to the internal business position and external environment conditions. Company can go for existing market penetration into the competitive market scenario or develop an untapped market according to the current product that is offered by customers. Here company is looking for an expansion approach by entering into new regions and focusing on increase in revenue by almost 5 % in the span of 5 years.

• Send an email to the Management Team (your assessor).

Date: 03/05/2020

Email to: Management Team

Team members of the Native Bush.

Subject-: Meeting agenda discussion points

This summarizes what we have discussed about the meeting concerning the co-operative ventures which address the pros and the cons of it. As decided that there can be various attributes about the cooperative ventures and it would be examined how the best strategy would be exercised to penetrate the business.

Not only it would help the company to formulate and to be able to typecast most of its success stories. Cooperative ventures would be a blessing for the new company strategy and it would also help to penetrate the market easily, capturing maximum customer and to lead along with another company. the flip side would be it would be difficult to back out after forming a successful venture.

Also Kindly provide approval to proceed to developing the strategic plan based on the agreed vision, mission and values, as well as strategic objectives.

Feel free to drop in your suggestions and discussions on it.

Assessment 3: Research and develop strategic plan project

• Research Native Bush Spice Australia’s customers and competitors.

Identify sources of information to use to research Native Bush Spice Australia’s market, competitors and target customers.

Magazines- There has been recent increase in popularity of Organic foods and Australian owned and produced products. This has led to a number of magazines being made readily available to consumers that focus on these trends.  Australian magazines, like Mind Food, Gourmet Traveller, Sprout, Recipes, Delicious, dining out and Eat Well magazine, just to name a few. These magazines play a significant role in the organization and development of new products for the organization. It allows us to see gage the competition and upcoming trends.

Internet searches- The advancement of technology with the internet has opened up an abundance of information from sources not just locally, but also globally. Numerous Blogs and websites alike that focus soley on Organic Foods, Gourmet cooking and even Native Australian grown ingredient blogs. The ability to research everything and anything globally. Websites, Blogs, Products, ingredients

Library | Industry reports and market research - QUT

https://libguides.library.qut.edu.au › c. php

Provides research and analysis about the global information It can help Native Bush Spice Australia’s by providing global information.

www.austrade.au.

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission, or Austrade, is the Australian Government's trade, investment and education promotion agency. Austrade can be source to determine the Native Bush Spice Australia’s economic prosperity.

Trends and developments in the industry

There has been a massive trend toward locally grown and produced foods in recent years.  It has been heavily marketed toward keeping local sellers and smaller Australian producers able to compete in the saturated imported product market. Australians have embraced this change in an effort to keep jobs locally and in turn help Australia’s economy.

Additionally, there has been a tenfold increase in health awareness and the importance of maintaining a healthy diet. This alone has led to a huge increase in people wishing to eat the “cleanest” produce. Organic foods have been sought after more increasingly.

There is still quite limited competition for specifically native bush spices, however two main competitors that specialise in only native spices include Herbies Spices. Herbies is owned and run by John and Rosemary Hemphill who have Forty-Five years’ experience working in the spice industry, including face-to-face lectures to groups from the general public, industrial brokering, manufacturing and marketing. Herbies is well respected and popular in both Australia and overseas markets. John Hemphill now enjoys sharing his extensive experience and knowledge with his customers at Herbie’s Spices.

Another major competitor in the market is Indigiearth. Indigiearth is an Award Winning, 100 percent Aboriginal owned and established business, with its headquarters in Mudgee - the heart of great wine country in Central West New South Wales.  They provide premium bush foods made from authentic Australian native products that are ethically sourced and sustainably harvested. 

After years of workshops and corporate catering, Indigiearth was launched to the food industry and in 2012 with twenty-five premium native foods.

Demand by chefs and home cooks for on-trend, premium quality native foods has steadily increased, allowing Sharon to further develop and introduce an ever-growing range of responsibly sourced products.

Today, Indigiearth offers over two hundred products including native spices, foods, candles, diffusers and the new all-natural Skin Care range.

Whilst Herbies and Indigiearth both sell native spices neither are fully organic and neither have acquired organic certification.

Organic food companies, such as The Wild Hibiscus Flower Co, have also positioned themselves producing natural preservatives, teas and drinks made from premium Australian native flowers.

Ballemy’s Organics are an organic baby food company another interesting area of substantial growth. They provide recipes to their customers and even conduct training sessions and seminars on how to use the various products they have available.

Organizations have gained global recognition through partnering with international, non-governmental organizations. Bellamy’s Organics did this when partnering with the World Health Organisation. This increased their international customer base and allowed a growth in international markets.

Competitors

Competitors would include Herbies and Indigiearth.

Bellamy’s organic and Wild Hibiscus Flower Co, are organic Australian companies that dominate our organic market also.

Potential new and emerging markets

Production of the commodities in various flavours like the native herbal tea can be produced in various flavours like apple, ginger and make the flavours as natural as possible

China has steadily become a leading country in need of organic foods.

This could increase the range of products available in trade chains. Currently the most widely practiced trade chains are with food. Primarily dairy products, eggs, bread and vegetables of organic origin.

Potential customers however, would also be interested in organic meat and fruit.

Supply of organic cosmetics, spa products, herbs and herbal products could be extended in connection with the growing interest to green and eco-friendly way of life.

Offering more organic products in other types of retail outlets (not sale), such as hotels and restaurants.

Other relevant factors.

Contraction of consumption due to poor availability of organic products. A significant part of potential consumers argue that they do not know where to buy these products or that they have never seen them sold in stores. Limited distribution channels are likely to cause the consumption to remain at a level which it is at present.

• Research and review potential cooperative ventures as discussed at the meeting.

This should include their risks and benefits.

Reduced consumption due to poor popularization of bio products. Promotion of organic products has several dimensions. First is related to the degree of awareness of the consumers that manufacturers and traders determined as relatively low. This creates a danger and consumption remains reduced unless steps are taken to increase the level of awareness to consumers. Another problem is the lack of advertising of organic products. This is one of the factors which the producers themselves determine as an obstacle to better realization of such goods.

Collapse of production for unfavourable external economic factors. Deepening of economic crisis is one of the factors that could negatively organic producers.

Research conducted on the Cooperative venture including risks and benefits

Through a strategic alliance, two companies will decide to share resources to accomplish a specific, mutually beneficial project. This type of agreement is less involved and less binding than a joint venture, where the two businesses pool resources in the creation of a separate business entity. Each of the two companies will maintain their autonomy in a strategic alliance while gaining a new opportunity.

Native bush spices Australia should be considered during the planning phase of cooperative venture may choose to work with another cooperative, commercial firm or individual on a specific project. For the duration of the project, the other entity does not need to join the cooperative. Instead, these joint ventures allow the entities to remain separate while working together on a common goal. This arrangement allows the cooperative to take advantage of the partner's resources, while it maintains its democratic structure.

Strategic alliances

could be as simple as two companies sharing their technological and/or marketing resources. On the contrary, they could be extremely complex; involving a number of organizations, positioned in different nations around the world.

These companies may in turn be associated with other businesses in separate alliances. The result is a maze of intertwined companies, which may be competing with each other in numerous product areas while working together in some.

• A strategic alliance allows a business to get competitive advantage through access to a partner’s resources, including markets, technologies, capital and people.
• Joining up with others provides complementary resources and capabilities, making it possible for businesses to grow and expand more speedily and efficiently.
• Alliances also benefit organizations by lowering manufacturing costs, and developing and diffusing new technologies quickly.

Strategic Alliances are also employed to speed up product introduction and overcome legal and trade barriers expeditiously. In this age of rapid technological changes and global markets forming alliances is usually the quickest, most effective technique for attaining growth objectives.

The risks involved in Strategic Alliances:

• There can be differences between both the parties on the processes and operations of the business activities even after the arrangement is clear and crisp for both the organizations.
• If there is a term in the agreement of the Strategic Alliance that the parties need to inform each other of their proprietary information that it requires a high level of trust between both the entities.
• The parties may become mutually dependent on each other in case of the long-term Strategic Alliances.
• Partners may misrepresent or lie about their competencies or other crucial factors.
• One party may be able to stand to the commitment of resources and capabilities to the other party involved.
• In the alliance, one of the parties may commit heavily whilst the other may not be that serious about the accomplishment of the common goals and objectives.
• It can be the case that the partners may fail to utilize their complementary resources in an effective manner.

I choose 2 companies for do strategic alliance:

• Smart organic
• Ontario Natural food company

The reason I chose these 2 companies is why we could generate a synergy of work since these companies handle high quality standards in their products which would serve us to advance the Market and increase our sales by 20% in a period of t I'm not more than 1 in the middle, thus allowing the company a Window to show our products in different countries in Europe and the West. 

• Develop a SWOT and a PESTLE analysis

SWOT Analysis

PESTLE ANALYSIS

• Strong possibility- of introduction to impose carbon tax on all energy intensive products used for commercial use
• Market Regulations
• Anti-discriminatory laws and minimum wages
• Strengthen of Australian dollar against trading partners in coming years.
• Economic situations and trends
• Market Distribution
• Interest and exchange rates
• Lifestyle trend to eat out is becoming more affluent and frequent
• Steady population growth rate
• Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact of business activity on the local
• Internet, information and social networking technologies continue to evolve and provide new challenges and opportunities for marketing.
• Native Bush Spices Australia will continue with its effective use of its website to promote and sell products and social networking to reach its target markets.
• Native Bush Spices Australia already have environmentally sound policies, but more of these policies can improve the company’s brand image. They also have the opportunity to capitalize on its organic certification to build the company’s reputation. The organic certification evaluates suppliers based on 100% organic practices and in turn gives customers the peace of mind that they are in fact getting a complete organic product.  They legally have to ensure every aspect of growth and production are in fact soley organic or they risk legal action for false or misleading claims.

Ecological/Environmental Factors

• Our recent environmental extremes such as bushfires and flooding threaten the productivity of farmers in the production and supply chain.

Areas of the Coffs Coast where Native Bush Spices co currently operate have been impacted and may take some time to fully recover.

• Send an email to your assessor.

Dear Assessor,

I hope you are well.

Please find attached my SWOT and PESTLE analysis for Native Bush Spices Australia.

Organic certification has gained them a great advantage over their competitors as it gives customers peace of mind. The Australian and overseas trend toward clean organic products and a healthy lifestyle will remain a positive advantage for Native Bush Spices. There is a strong need and want for organic products in China in particular. This leads them into a great opportunity to diversify internationally.

One of the main threats to the current operation and production has been the environmental instability in the farming regions in the Coffs region. The bushfires and flooding has affected the farming land and could possibly affect the crops. We have seen an increase in the cost of locally produced produce on the shelves at present.

For a more detailed analysis please find attached the SWOT and PESTLE for your perusal.

Any feedback you could give me, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks kindly,

• Update your PESTLE and SWOT analysis

Revise these to reflect with any feedback provided by your assessor

Updated SWOT Analysis

Updated PESTLE Analysis for Native Bush Spices Australia

Political factor

Is great political pressure on the food industry because government stability increases the economic activity in the country and government makes different regulations to control the business activities

Economic factors

The economic factors, situations and incidents can affect the growth of any industry and it also affects the retail food industry due to various reasons like disposable income, interest rates, inflation, consumer spending, unemployment, taxation, monetary issues, and recent economic recession in different countries. The labor cost is increased, then the supply cost and the selling prices of the products will also be increased.

Social factors

The social sector has the impact of eating habits of the people and their local trends of spices. Despite of some social and behavioral problems, the trend of suing the organic food is becoming popular among the young generation of different countries.

Technological factor

Is used to get the competitive advantage over the competitor brands. They have to face various technological issues from the production of the food products to the packing supply to the clients.

• Develop the Strategic Plan.

I hope this email finds you well.

After assessing the SWOT and PESTLE analysis I have produced a Strategic Plan for Native Bush Spices Co.

You will note the main actions to be implemented in the next twelve months in order to meet their objectives.  These actions will need to be broad and will include hiring more staff along with providing training. To grow both locally and within Asia, they will need a larger staff to increase productivity and output.

Product development should be continued on a constant basis, should they wish to broaden their product range.

Production of raw produce will need to be escalated to meet the growth we are intending. This will mean refining both our production and post production processes.

For a more detailed appraisal of the strategic plan, please find it attached. Of course your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Attachments

• Update your strategic plan

The below mentioned table will describe the strategy that will be required to achieve the objectives prepared by business organisation to be achieved in the span of 5 years. Along with that key responsible person is also set which will take care for the achievement of desired objectives.

After Updating the SWOT and PESTLE analysis I have produced a updated Strategic Plan for Native Bush Spices Co.

You will note the main actions to be implemented in the next 5 years in order to meet their objectives.  These actions will need to be broad and will include hiring more staff along with providing training. To grow both locally and within Asia, they will need a larger staff to increase productivity and output.

For a more detailed appraisal of the updated strategic plan, please find it attached. Of course your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Assessment 4: Strategic Plan performance monitoring

• Write a report for management.

Management report

Key performance indicators

• A 20% increase in total sales revenue.
• International market identified and exporting commenced. Sales to international markets to comprise 20% of total income.
• Suitable alliance for marketing identified and 10% increase in sales attributed to alliance marketing.
• Identify new products through review of competitors’ web sites.

 Key performance indicators performance

Our goal of a 20% increase in total sales revenue was far reached and exceeded. Total sales revenue climbed from $550, 000 to $800, 000. That makes for a 45.4% increase in sales revenue. Almost double of our initial expectations.

In the past twelve months Native Bush Spices Co began export to sell internationally in both Hong Kong and Singapore.  Strategic plan KPI was benchmarked at 20% of total sales. Total international sales were not reached as 70’000.  This is 8.75% of our total sales revenue. Less than half of the KPI.

The strategic management plan sought to find a suitable alliance for marketing and identified the KPI to be 10% increase in sales attributed to that alliance marketing.

Unfortunately, we did not reach this KPI at all. Native bush spice Co failed to find a suitable alliance for marketing and therefore made 0% increase in sales revenue as a result of our projected marketing alliance. 

Similarly, the strategic plan set out to identify potential new products through thorough research and review of our competitor’s offerings. Our product development KPI was to have ideas and that could lead to potential new products. We failed to meet this KPI with current data showing no ideas for new products were attained.

Recommendations for the next twelve months

As Operations Manager, I have evaluated the data from our previous 12 months of operation and considered our original strategic objectives and key performance Indicators. 

Whilst we have increased our total sales revenue well beyond expected, we have also failed to meet some important parts of our strategic plan for long term success.

Figures show that we have increased out our sales greatly on a national scale, which has been fantastic. It is my recommendation that we continue this momentum but focus quite strongly on developing our marketing alliance and product range, Further visibility in the Australian market could see local sales increasing further.

Our international expansion into Hong Kong and Singapore were not without hurdles. Though we did don’t reach our KPI we must remember, we have only just entered the foreign market. During the next twelve months, our focus should be to grow our distribution network further among a number of leading retailers and larger retailers. We are currently working to further expand into the Japanese market in coming months.

No new products or product idea were developed in the last 12 months. This leads me to recommend the possibility of hiring staff to focus on product development. Whilst we have excellent products existing the need for innovation will we be needed if we are to meet our competitors and grow.

Changes that will need to be made in regards to our strategic plan will include:

• A 50% increase in sales revenue for the next twelve months (this revision is to be based on our previous year 45.4% increase in total sales revenue)
• Focus on our marketing strategies and more effort be made to find a suitable alliance for marketing.
• Hire specific product research and development personnel.

While our strategic plan outlined a need for product innovation, our KPI needs to be updated with the introduction of staff primarily looking to develop and implement new products. Our KPI might include 2 new product launches in the next twelve months.

Best practice strategic planning processes

There are many different frameworks and methodologies for strategic planning and management.

While there are no absolute rules regarding the right framework, most follow a similar pattern and have common attributes. Many frameworks cycle through some variation on some very basic phases:

• Analysis or assessment, where an understanding of the current internal and external environments is developed,
• Strategy formulation, where high level strategy is developed and a basic organization level strategic plan is documented
• Strategy execution, where the high level plan is translated into more operational planning and action items, and
• Evaluation or sustainment / management phase, where ongoing refinement and evaluation of performance, culture, communications, data reporting, and other strategic management issues occurs.

Native Bush spices Australia I believe achieved this primarily in the first strategic plan.  However, there is some room for improvement to be made.

Analysis and Assessment was quite thorough as a whole in the previous strategic plan however I believe there was not enough high level strategic planning in the way of planning specific actions to be made. I believe there should be a much more in depth set of actions, broken down into specific time lines.

The part of the strategic plan that failed I believe is in the ongoing evaluation at different intervals within the first 12 months.

Product development for example should have been evaluated every few months to ensure it didn’t escape under the radar.

Dear Management Team

I hope you are all well.

As our first twelve months of following our updated strategic plan have come to a close, I have evaluated and done a thorough analysis and evaluation on our final data.

Enclosed is the Management Report provided for you all to read. 

It stipulates our results against our KPI’s set.

I have included my recommendations for our next twelve months.

Feel free to add your feedback and if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

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Artificial intelligence in strategy

Can machines automate strategy development? The short answer is no. However, there are numerous aspects of strategists’ work where AI and advanced analytics tools can already bring enormous value. Yuval Atsmon is a senior partner who leads the new McKinsey Center for Strategy Innovation, which studies ways new technologies can augment the timeless principles of strategy. In this episode of the Inside the Strategy Room podcast, he explains how artificial intelligence is already transforming strategy and what’s on the horizon. This is an edited transcript of the discussion. For more conversations on the strategy issues that matter, follow the series on your preferred podcast platform .

Joanna Pachner: What does artificial intelligence mean in the context of strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: When people talk about artificial intelligence, they include everything to do with analytics, automation, and data analysis. Marvin Minsky, the pioneer of artificial intelligence research in the 1960s, talked about AI as a “suitcase word”—a term into which you can stuff whatever you want—and that still seems to be the case. We are comfortable with that because we think companies should use all the capabilities of more traditional analysis while increasing automation in strategy that can free up management or analyst time and, gradually, introducing tools that can augment human thinking.

Joanna Pachner: AI has been embraced by many business functions, but strategy seems to be largely immune to its charms. Why do you think that is?

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Yuval Atsmon: You’re right about the limited adoption. Only 7 percent of respondents to our survey about the use of AI say they use it in strategy or even financial planning, whereas in areas like marketing, supply chain, and service operations, it’s 25 or 30 percent. One reason adoption is lagging is that strategy is one of the most integrative conceptual practices. When executives think about strategy automation, many are looking too far ahead—at AI capabilities that would decide, in place of the business leader, what the right strategy is. They are missing opportunities to use AI in the building blocks of strategy that could significantly improve outcomes.

I like to use the analogy to virtual assistants. Many of us use Alexa or Siri but very few people use these tools to do more than dictate a text message or shut off the lights. We don’t feel comfortable with the technology’s ability to understand the context in more sophisticated applications. AI in strategy is similar: it’s hard for AI to know everything an executive knows, but it can help executives with certain tasks.

When executives think about strategy automation, many are looking too far ahead—at AI deciding the right strategy. They are missing opportunities to use AI in the building blocks of strategy.

Joanna Pachner: What kind of tasks can AI help strategists execute today?

Yuval Atsmon: We talk about six stages of AI development. The earliest is simple analytics, which we refer to as descriptive intelligence. Companies use dashboards for competitive analysis or to study performance in different parts of the business that are automatically updated. Some have interactive capabilities for refinement and testing.

The second level is diagnostic intelligence, which is the ability to look backward at the business and understand root causes and drivers of performance. The level after that is predictive intelligence: being able to anticipate certain scenarios or options and the value of things in the future based on momentum from the past as well as signals picked in the market. Both diagnostics and prediction are areas that AI can greatly improve today. The tools can augment executives’ analysis and become areas where you develop capabilities. For example, on diagnostic intelligence, you can organize your portfolio into segments to understand granularly where performance is coming from and do it in a much more continuous way than analysts could. You can try 20 different ways in an hour versus deploying one hundred analysts to tackle the problem.

Predictive AI is both more difficult and more risky. Executives shouldn’t fully rely on predictive AI, but it provides another systematic viewpoint in the room. Because strategic decisions have significant consequences, a key consideration is to use AI transparently in the sense of understanding why it is making a certain prediction and what extrapolations it is making from which information. You can then assess if you trust the prediction or not. You can even use AI to track the evolution of the assumptions for that prediction.

Those are the levels available today. The next three levels will take time to develop. There are some early examples of AI advising actions for executives’ consideration that would be value-creating based on the analysis. From there, you go to delegating certain decision authority to AI, with constraints and supervision. Eventually, there is the point where fully autonomous AI analyzes and decides with no human interaction.

Because strategic decisions have significant consequences, you need to understand why AI is making a certain prediction and what extrapolations it’s making from which information.

Joanna Pachner: What kind of businesses or industries could gain the greatest benefits from embracing AI at its current level of sophistication?

Yuval Atsmon: Every business probably has some opportunity to use AI more than it does today. The first thing to look at is the availability of data. Do you have performance data that can be organized in a systematic way? Companies that have deep data on their portfolios down to business line, SKU, inventory, and raw ingredients have the biggest opportunities to use machines to gain granular insights that humans could not.

Companies whose strategies rely on a few big decisions with limited data would get less from AI. Likewise, those facing a lot of volatility and vulnerability to external events would benefit less than companies with controlled and systematic portfolios, although they could deploy AI to better predict those external events and identify what they can and cannot control.

Third, the velocity of decisions matters. Most companies develop strategies every three to five years, which then become annual budgets. If you think about strategy in that way, the role of AI is relatively limited other than potentially accelerating analyses that are inputs into the strategy. However, some companies regularly revisit big decisions they made based on assumptions about the world that may have since changed, affecting the projected ROI of initiatives. Such shifts would affect how you deploy talent and executive time, how you spend money and focus sales efforts, and AI can be valuable in guiding that. The value of AI is even bigger when you can make decisions close to the time of deploying resources, because AI can signal that your previous assumptions have changed from when you made your plan.

Joanna Pachner: Can you provide any examples of companies employing AI to address specific strategic challenges?

Yuval Atsmon: Some of the most innovative users of AI, not coincidentally, are AI- and digital-native companies. Some of these companies have seen massive benefits from AI and have increased its usage in other areas of the business. One mobility player adjusts its financial planning based on pricing patterns it observes in the market. Its business has relatively high flexibility to demand but less so to supply, so the company uses AI to continuously signal back when pricing dynamics are trending in a way that would affect profitability or where demand is rising. This allows the company to quickly react to create more capacity because its profitability is highly sensitive to keeping demand and supply in equilibrium.

Joanna Pachner: Given how quickly things change today, doesn’t AI seem to be more a tactical than a strategic tool, providing time-sensitive input on isolated elements of strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: It’s interesting that you make the distinction between strategic and tactical. Of course, every decision can be broken down into smaller ones, and where AI can be affordably used in strategy today is for building blocks of the strategy. It might feel tactical, but it can make a massive difference. One of the world’s leading investment firms, for example, has started to use AI to scan for certain patterns rather than scanning individual companies directly. AI looks for consumer mobile usage that suggests a company’s technology is catching on quickly, giving the firm an opportunity to invest in that company before others do. That created a significant strategic edge for them, even though the tool itself may be relatively tactical.

Joanna Pachner: McKinsey has written a lot about cognitive biases  and social dynamics that can skew decision making. Can AI help with these challenges?

Yuval Atsmon: When we talk to executives about using AI in strategy development, the first reaction we get is, “Those are really big decisions; what if AI gets them wrong?” The first answer is that humans also get them wrong—a lot. [Amos] Tversky, [Daniel] Kahneman, and others have proven that some of those errors are systemic, observable, and predictable. The first thing AI can do is spot situations likely to give rise to biases. For example, imagine that AI is listening in on a strategy session where the CEO proposes something and everyone says “Aye” without debate and discussion. AI could inform the room, “We might have a sunflower bias here,” which could trigger more conversation and remind the CEO that it’s in their own interest to encourage some devil’s advocacy.

We also often see confirmation bias, where people focus their analysis on proving the wisdom of what they already want to do, as opposed to looking for a fact-based reality. Just having AI perform a default analysis that doesn’t aim to satisfy the boss is useful, and the team can then try to understand why that is different than the management hypothesis, triggering a much richer debate.

In terms of social dynamics, agency problems can create conflicts of interest. Every business unit [BU] leader thinks that their BU should get the most resources and will deliver the most value, or at least they feel they should advocate for their business. AI provides a neutral way based on systematic data to manage those debates. It’s also useful for executives with decision authority, since we all know that short-term pressures and the need to make the quarterly and annual numbers lead people to make different decisions on the 31st of December than they do on January 1st or October 1st. Like the story of Ulysses and the sirens, you can use AI to remind you that you wanted something different three months earlier. The CEO still decides; AI can just provide that extra nudge.

Joanna Pachner: It’s like you have Spock next to you, who is dispassionate and purely analytical.

Yuval Atsmon: That is not a bad analogy—for Star Trek fans anyway.

Joanna Pachner: Do you have a favorite application of AI in strategy?

Yuval Atsmon: I have worked a lot on resource allocation, and one of the challenges, which we call the hockey stick phenomenon, is that executives are always overly optimistic about what will happen. They know that resource allocation will inevitably be defined by what you believe about the future, not necessarily by past performance. AI can provide an objective prediction of performance starting from a default momentum case: based on everything that happened in the past and some indicators about the future, what is the forecast of performance if we do nothing? This is before we say, “But I will hire these people and develop this new product and improve my marketing”— things that every executive thinks will help them overdeliver relative to the past. The neutral momentum case, which AI can calculate in a cold, Spock-like manner, can change the dynamics of the resource allocation discussion. It’s a form of predictive intelligence accessible today and while it’s not meant to be definitive, it provides a basis for better decisions.

Joanna Pachner: Do you see access to technology talent as one of the obstacles to the adoption of AI in strategy, especially at large companies?

Yuval Atsmon: I would make a distinction. If you mean machine-learning and data science talent or software engineers who build the digital tools, they are definitely not easy to get. However, companies can increasingly use platforms that provide access to AI tools and require less from individual companies. Also, this domain of strategy is exciting—it’s cutting-edge, so it’s probably easier to get technology talent for that than it might be for manufacturing work.

The bigger challenge, ironically, is finding strategists or people with business expertise to contribute to the effort. You will not solve strategy problems with AI without the involvement of people who understand the customer experience and what you are trying to achieve. Those who know best, like senior executives, don’t have time to be product managers for the AI team. An even bigger constraint is that, in some cases, you are asking people to get involved in an initiative that may make their jobs less important. There could be plenty of opportunities for incorpo­rating AI into existing jobs, but it’s something companies need to reflect on. The best approach may be to create a digital factory where a different team tests and builds AI applications, with oversight from senior stakeholders.

The big challenge is finding strategists to contribute to the AI effort. You are asking people to get involved in an initiative that may make their jobs less important.

Joanna Pachner: Do you think this worry about job security and the potential that AI will automate strategy is realistic?

Yuval Atsmon: The question of whether AI will replace human judgment and put humanity out of its job is a big one that I would leave for other experts.

The pertinent question is shorter-term automation. Because of its complexity, strategy would be one of the later domains to be affected by automation, but we are seeing it in many other domains. However, the trend for more than two hundred years has been that automation creates new jobs, although ones requiring different skills. That doesn’t take away the fear some people have of a machine exposing their mistakes or doing their job better than they do it.

Joanna Pachner: We recently published an article about strategic courage in an age of volatility  that talked about three types of edge business leaders need to develop. One of them is an edge in insights. Do you think AI has a role to play in furnishing a proprietary insight edge?

Yuval Atsmon: One of the challenges most strategists face is the overwhelming complexity of the world we operate in—the number of unknowns, the information overload. At one level, it may seem that AI will provide another layer of complexity. In reality, it can be a sharp knife that cuts through some of the clutter. The question to ask is, Can AI simplify my life by giving me sharper, more timely insights more easily?

Joanna Pachner: You have been working in strategy for a long time. What sparked your interest in exploring this intersection of strategy and new technology?

Yuval Atsmon: I have always been intrigued by things at the boundaries of what seems possible. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s second law is that to discover the limits of the possible, you have to venture a little past them into the impossible, and I find that particularly alluring in this arena.

AI in strategy is in very nascent stages but could be very consequential for companies and for the profession. For a top executive, strategic decisions are the biggest way to influence the business, other than maybe building the top team, and it is amazing how little technology is leveraged in that process today. It’s conceivable that competitive advantage will increasingly rest in having executives who know how to apply AI well. In some domains, like investment, that is already happening, and the difference in returns can be staggering. I find helping companies be part of that evolution very exciting.

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• Marquette 2031

Strategic Plan 2031 moves toward implementation with development of priority proposals 

• May 10, 2024
• 2 min. read

Marquette is moving forward on the implementation stage for Guided By Mission, Inspired to Change: Marquette’s strategic plan for 2031 , as the plan’s 18 priority leads and their respective teams have developed implementation proposals, which include outcomes, milestones, resources, metrics and contingency plans to mitigate risks. 

The Strategic Plan 2031 Core Team and a newly named advisory committee are reviewing the proposals for 1) readiness in terms of human, facility and financial resources; 2) alignment and synergies across priorities; and 3) connections to mission and diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

The Core Team and advisory committee will synthesize this information and seek input from the campus community to help shape recommendations to the Executive Leadership Team. Watch Marquette Today for upcoming opportunities to provide your feedback.  

Ultimately, the ELT will use the Core Team’s recommendations and supporting input to determine how the plan’s priorities will be sequenced and supported. Metrics will be used to measure progress toward achieving the strategic plan priorities and objectives and communicate that progress to the ELT and Board of Trustees. 

As announced at President Michael R. Lovell’s January address , the Core Team is led by Rev. John Thiede, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, and Dr. Chris Navia, vice president for inclusive excellence, and supported by Alix Riley, director of institutional research; Kate Braasch, chief of presidential affairs; and Brigid Alba, assistant director of mission engagement. 

The plan’s priority leads follow: 

• Rana Altenburg​, associate vice president for public affairs 
• Rick Arcuri​, acting vice president for student affairs 
• Dr. John Baworowsky, vice president for enrollment management​ 
• Ian Gonzalez​, vice president for finance 
• Dr. Jeanne Hossenlopp, vice president for research and innovation​ 
• Dr. Jennifer Maney, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning​ 
• Tim McMahon​, vice president for advancement 
• Dr. Gary Meyer, senior vice provost for faculty affairs​ 
• Dr. Chris Navia​*, vice president for inclusive excellence 
• Claudia Paetsch, vice president for human resources​
• Laurie Panella​, chief information officer 
• Dr. Scott Reid, professor and interim associate dean for academic affairs, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences 
• Alix Riley​*, director of institutional research 
• Lora Strigens, vice president for planning and facilities management​ 
• Dr. John Su​, vice provost for academic affairs and student success 
• Rev. John Thiede, S.J.*​, vice president for mission and ministry 
• Ralph Weber​, acting general counsel 
• Dr. Doug Woods, vice provost for graduate and professional studies and dean of the Graduate School

*Indicates core team member

The priority teams comprise dozens of faculty, staff and students representing relevant expertise and governance bodies from colleges, divisions and offices across campus. 

The Core Team and priority leads are joined by a new advisory committee designed to broaden input. Members of the advisory committee, which includes governance body representatives, were nominated by deans, colleagues and senior administrators. The group includes: 

• Dr. Kati Berg, associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs, Diederich College of Communication 
• Molly Eldridge, director of development for the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences, University Advancement  (Staff Senate representative) 
• Dr. Andrew Kim, associate professor of theology, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences 
• Dr. Jennifer Ohlendorf, associate professor, College of Nursing (Academic Senate representative) 
• Dr. Tim Tharp, associate professor of physics, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences 
• Dr. Jeffrey Toth, professor and associate dean for research, School of Dentistry 

Watch Marquette Today for additional updates in the coming weeks. 

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Building future leaders: proactive strategies for talent development.

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Stephen Nalley is the Founder & CEO of Black Briar Advisors .

In the rapidly evolving modern workplace, the ability to identify and cultivate talent within an organization is not just an advantage; it's a necessity. I believe companies that excel in recognizing and nurturing potential leaders are more likely to innovate, adapt and thrive. At my firm, we've seen firsthand how recognizing and nurturing potential leaders fosters innovation and adaptability. By investing in our team's growth, we not only enhance individual careers but also drive our company's success, ensuring we stay ahead in a competitive market.

Guiding promising employees into leadership roles requires a strategic approach—one that involves early identification, tailored development programs and continuous support. Here are some strategies and examples to consider.

Implementing Comprehensive Talent Identification Programs

Organizations should start with robust talent identification programs that go beyond traditional performance evaluations. These programs can include assessments that measure not just current performance but also potential, including leadership competencies like emotional intelligence, decision-making capabilities, and the ability to inspire and motivate others.

Example: A tech company might use 360-degree feedback mechanisms to gather insights about employees from peers, subordinates and supervisors. Coupled with leadership potential assessments, this approach can provide a well-rounded view of which employees have the attributes that align with the company’s leadership criteria.

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Wwe smackdown results winners and grades with stratton vs belair, biden-trump debates: what to know as trump pushes for 2 more faceoffs, creating tailored development plans.

Once potential leaders are identified, the next step is to create development plans that are tailored to the individual's strengths, weaknesses and career aspirations. This can include a mix of on-the-job training, mentorship programs and formal education such as leadership courses or workshops.

Example: If you discover an employee who excels in strategic thinking but needs improvement in public speaking, you can then tailor a development plan that includes public speaking workshops, leadership role shadowing and leading smaller project teams as a way to build these skills in a supportive environment.

Fostering A Culture Of Continuous Learning

A culture that values and encourages continuous learning is essential for nurturing future leaders. Organizations should provide ample opportunities for employees to learn and grow, both in their areas of expertise and in general leadership skills. At Black Briar Advisors, we support continuous learning by funding certifications and offering access to online classes. This empowers our team to advance their expertise and leadership skills. Additionally, we host regular learning workshops to encourage a culture of growth and innovation.

Example: An international consulting firm could establish a "leadership library" filled with resources on leadership development, offer subscriptions to relevant online courses, and organize regular leadership seminars led by external experts or in-house leaders.

Establishing Mentoring And Coaching Relationships

Mentorship and coaching are crucial for personal and professional growth. Pairing promising employees with experienced leaders within the organization can provide them with valuable insights, guidance and feedback.

Example: My firm will sometimes implement a mentorship program where high-potential employees are paired with senior executives. These relationships involve regular meetings to discuss career development, challenges and strategies for effective leadership within the organization.

Providing Leadership Opportunities

Practical experience is often the best teacher. Giving promising employees the chance to lead projects or initiatives allows them to develop and showcase their leadership skills.

Example: A software development company could allow an employee showing leadership potential to lead a critical software release, giving them full responsibility for the project's success under the supervision of a department head or team lead. Experiences like these can be instrumental in developing project management, team leadership and stakeholder communication skills.

Encouraging Cross-Functional Collaboration

Exposure to different parts of the business can provide employees with a broader perspective and deeper understanding of the organization's challenges and opportunities. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration and roles can help in developing versatile leaders.

Example: A manufacturing company might create cross-functional teams tasked with improving the efficiency of the production line, including employees from operations, finance and human resources. Leading such a team can help potential leaders understand various aspects of the business and develop holistic problem-solving skills.

Offering Support And Recognition

Recognizing and supporting emerging leaders is critical to their development. Regular feedback, recognition of achievements and support in overcoming challenges can reinforce their growth path and motivation.

Example: My firm has an annual "Emerging Leaders" award that recognizes individuals who have demonstrated significant growth and potential in leadership roles. We have found that this not only provides recognition but also motivates others within the organization to strive for excellence.

Stepping promising employees up into leadership roles is a strategic imperative that requires a thoughtful and multifaceted approach. By identifying talent early, creating tailored development opportunities, fostering a culture of learning, establishing mentoring relationships, providing practical leadership experiences, encouraging cross-functional collaboration and offering ongoing support and recognition, organizations can build a strong pipeline of future leaders. These proactive strategies can help companies ensure their leadership ranks are always rejuvenated, keeping the organization resilient and forward-moving in an ever-changing business environment.

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