Strategic Thinking, vision & Planning

Day 1:

How We Think: Are we simply allowing things to happen, or are we making them happen the way we want?

• What is strategy – core concept and definition of terms

• What is a Strategic Plan?

• How did we think?

  • Analytical thinking

  • Creative thinking

• What is a Leader? - The difference between leadership and management

• Strategic and operational goals – the significance and difference

• Two key roles

• Visionary - the role of the Chief Executive Officer

• Chief implementer - the role of the Chief Operating Officer

• Building a strategy/business planning team

• Mini-case 1: tutor presentation and group discussion

• Two key roles

Day 2:

Strategic Planning

• Review of Day One – questions and answers

• Cost-based strategies versus differentiation-based strategies

• Concept of the “business model”: the integrated supply-demand chain

• Vision, Mission, and Values – case examples, class discussion, and guidelines

• Practical group exercise on Vision/Mission statements

• Analysis of the business environment (1) – the SPECTER technique

• Analysis of the business environment (2) - the 5-forces technique

• Mini-case 2: group work and presentation/discussion

Day 3:

Linkage to Marketing and Sales and Strategy Choice

• Review of Day Two – questions and answers

• How to evaluate market structures, trends, and prospects

• SWOT analysis and the strategy matrix

• Strategic choice – how to make strategy selection decisions

• Marketing plans and sales plans

• Market plan – capturing value rather than just volume

• Sales plan – how to choose and fulfill market opportunities

• Mini-case 3: group discussion

Day 4: 

Linkage to the financial dimension

• Review of Day Three – questions and answers

• Strategic versus operational aspects of finance. The strategic role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

• The issue of financial risk/volatility and its impact on strategy

• Globalization of the financial markets

• The issue of financial risk/volatility and its impact on strategy

• The strategic impact of time compression and shortening life-cycles

• Capital-labor substitution, overhead cost, fixed and variable costs, breakeven analysis. The financial aspects of supply chain design – the “value engineering” of fixed and variable cost through outsourcing and “minimal inventory” processes.

• Summary – strategic cost analysis

Day 5:

Bringing It All Together

• Review of Day Four

• Review of the whole course

  • Vision

  • Mission

  • Values

  • Strategic choice and critical goals

  • Marketing and Sales Plans

  • Operational Plan

• Developing Action plans

• The importance of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measurements

• Building a business strategy team and gaining buy-in within the organization

• The importance of strategic planning aligned throughout an organization and its supply-demand chains. The emerging 21st-century concept of 'dynamic alignment'

• The 'death of distance' and the shift of competitiveness from product/service to business model

• Final thoughts and conclusions – the future of strategic management