his section looks at alternatives to using OpenOffice.org.

Microsoft Office

MS-Office is the biggest player in the office suite market. The product’s market dominance is
such that any potential competitor has to be able to demonstrate a migration path from and
interoperability with MS-Office:
Migration from MS-Office requires ability to re-use MS-Office documents
must be easy to use by people already familiar with MS-Office
Interoperability with MS-Office requires ability to read and write MS-Office documents

MS-Office has its roots in three quite separate software packages rather than as a single office
suite, and there are places where the joins still show.

Microsoft Inc
Microsoft are a one of the largest corporations in the world with huge financial resources and
legendary marketing prowess. Their virtual monopoly of the desktop PC operating system market
means they have the resources to make mistakes - e.g. covering losses in the games machine
market while they refine their product offering.

On the other hand corporations of this size and market dominance make enemies (see box)

Some Reluctant Microsoft Customers

corporations who do not like dealing with monopoly suppliers

governments who dislike companies with a turnover exceeding their own GNP
individuals who resent the wealth of prominent Microsoft employees
trading blocs with open market / anti-monopoly policies

Microsoft Office
MS-Office is sold in a variety of different formats in different markets and at different times. It is
also periodically relaunched as an upgraded or enhanced product. As many corporate users sign
up for multiyear upgrade contracts, Microsoft has a considerable interest in allowing no more than
three years - the maximum length of a multiyear contract - between versions. Microsoft report
sales of MS-Office within their ‘Information Worker’ business segment - an over $1,000 million
business in 2004. Microsoft recognise three separate revenue streams from the ‘Information
Worker’ business segment: original licence sales (approx 40% of total revenues); licence
upgrades / maintenance contracts (40%); and software ‘bundled’ with new PCs (about 20%).

Editions
MS-Office is sold in a variety of different editions, with increasing features for increasing cost, for
example:

Standard

Excel (spreadsheet)
Outlook (email client)
PowerPoint (presentations)
Word (word processor)

Small Business
as Standard, plus:

Business Contact Manager (for Outlook)

Publisher (desktop publisher)

Professional
as Business, plus:

XML support (for Word)

Access (database)

In terms of functionality, independent reviews agree there is very little to choose between
OpenOffice.org and MS-Office ‘Standard’ for the vast majority of users, although OpenOffice.org
lacks the templates, clip-art etc. bundled with MS-Office.

Platforms and Languages

MS-Office is available for MS-Windows and also as Microsoft Office for Mac (the Mac editions are
slightly different from the MS-Windows editions). MS-Office is available for over 35 localised
versions.

Pricing
Microsoft - theoretically - operates a single price list world wide. However, there are many
examples of it offering substantial discounts when forced to do so to safeguard market share,
while maintaining the convenient fiction of a single price (see Competitive Position below). Large
volume enterprise customers are also offered substantial discountsii, and in many markets
‘educational’ versions are available at substantial discounts.

Marketing
Microsoft has a massive marketing budget and promotes its products widely throughout the world
and throughout all the different media types. Its estimated advertising spend is between $5,000-
$10,000 million per annum. Spend typically peaks towards the launch of new products / re-launch
of existing products (e.g. the launch of Windows XP and the Xbox clocked up $1,500 million).

Goals
Microsoft’s goal is to dominate the office suite market in the same was as it has dominated the
desktop operating systems market. Dominating the office suite market does not have quite the
same sensitivities as the operating systems market, giving Microsoft more room for manoeuvre
without incurring the wrath of competition regulators.

Recently announced development plans for MS-Office suggest that Microsoft is seeking to create
closer integration between products within the ‘Information Worker’ product group. This would
further increase their competitive ‘lock-in’ and discourage migration away from MS-Office to
competitive products.

Competitive Position
Microsoft is finding the need to protect its market share from the growth of open-source
competition. This has been noticeable at the operating system level, with various ‘knocking’
campaigns against open-source, and most recently (mid 2004) a high-profile campaign to ‘prove’
that open-source is a more expensive computing platform than Microsoft. In at least one country,
this campaign fell foul of the national advertising regulatory authority for its blatantly
unsupportable claims(20).

Microsoft has also admitted in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commissions that it is
prepared to use price cutting to defend market share: “To the extent opens source software gains
increasing market acceptance, sales of our products may decline, we may have to reduce the
prices we charge for our products, and revenue and operating margins may consequently
decline.”(21)

OpenOffice.org has also had a part to play here, with Microsoft reacting to defend its market
position whenever OpenOffice.org has threatened MS-Office’s position:

How Microsoft has responded to competitive threats from OpenOffice.org

 after years of inaction, Microsoft has suddenly released new translations of MS-Office in
response to OpenOffice.org local language releases(22)
where OpenOffice.org has proved successful in developing markets, Microsoft has
effectively reduced the price of MS-Office with the release of special low cost local editions of
MS-Office(23)

ummary:

GM&T is seeking to grow rapidly towards its target of becoming a leading global energy trader.
As such it requires a world-class Strategy function that supports the business in identifying,
achieving and retaining value.

This role plays a critical part in a dynamic Strategy team, and will mean working closely with
GM&T’s commercial and executive leaders to:

Understand the energy trading markets and GM&T’s position within those markets, as part of
the wider Gazprom Group;
Provide rigorous, commercially sound support and challenge in relation to major transactions,
investments and acquisitions in order to identify value and minimise risks;
Structure growth opportunities into comprehensive business plans that address profits, costs
and resource requirements; and
Co-ordinate the annual business planning cycle and produce an integrated business plan that
is captured in a comprehensive set of high quality Board materials.

The key responsibilities of this role will be to provide rigorous commercial analysis in relation to
GM&T’s core markets and new opportunities. This analysis will be delivered through business
case development, financial modelling, written output and cross-business unit workshop
facilitation.

The successful candidate will need to develop effective, trusting relationships with the senior
commercial leaders across the business, the Executive Management Team, the Financial
Planning team and other Support Functions such as Risk and Credit. It also requires that the
candidate take on a business partner role in relation to one of the core business units within
GM&T.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop a mentoring and coaching role within the
team to enable capability development and sharing of expertise.
Main Responsibilities:

Business strategy and strategic transaction support:

Business case development
Market analysis and research
Modelling and evaluating businesses and project economics
Business plan preparation

Business planning:

Support the BUs and Support Functions during the annual planning cycle
Co-ordinate development of a set of coherent, aligned plans across all BUs and Support
Functions
 Prepare and run planning workshops for the senior business leaders
Stakeholder co-ordination
Supporting major transactions, investments and acquisitions through the Strategic Transaction
Process

Candidate Specification:

We are looking for a candidate with enthusiasm for driving change through our organisation. They
need to demonstrate a proven track-record in solving complex business problems and in
communicating complex business plans.

This role will require working closely with teams across the company and potentially the wider
Gazprom Group; the successful candidate will be required to build strong, cooperative
relationships at all levels.
Qualifications:

Good degree from a top-tier university (2.1 or above).

Strong A-levels or equivalent.

Skills:

Ability to prioritise analysis and identify key commercial questions in order to focus on key
issues.
Ability to frame complex problems, apply creative analytics and formulate a pragmatic solution.
Strong understanding of and ability to model business and/or deal economics (using Excel).
Strong communication skills, both written and oral.
Adept at building trusting relationships within the business in order to enlist their participation
and support.
Logical and comprehensive approach to the development of business cases.

Competencies:

Highly developed analytical abilities as well as a practical sense of what works in complex
organisations.
Resourceful and tenacious in approaching problems.
Energy, determination and commercial judgment.
Capable of working with multiple stakeholders under tight deadlines.
Actively listens to others, shows that they understand and value others’ views.
Able to translate the output of analysis into practical and implementable recommendations.
Self starter; acts independently and takes on challenges willingly.

Experience:

Experience of the energy industry is highly desirable, as is experience in a consulting or

strategy role.
Must be able to demonstrate experience in business modelling, problem solving and ideally
strategy development.
Russian language skills would be highly valued.

Location:

Regents Park, London.

Apply
Basic Approach to Strategic Planning

A critical review of past performance by the owners and management of a business and the
preparation of a plan beyond normal budgetary horizons require a certain attitude of mind and
predisposition. Some essential points which should to be observed during the review and
planning process include the following:

Relate to the medium term i.e. 2/4 years

Be undertaken by owners/directors
Focus on matters of strategic importance
Be separated from day-to-day work
Be realistic, detached and critical
Distinguish between cause and effect
Be reviewed periodically
Be written down.

As the precursor to developing a strategic plan, it is desirable to clearly identify the current status,
objectives and strategies of an existing business or the latest thinking in respect of a new venture.
Correctly defined, these can be used as the basis for a critical examination to probe existing or
perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities. This then leads to strategy
development covering the following issues discussed in more detail below:

Vision
Mission
Values
Objectives
Strategies
Goals
Programs

Top - Business Plan WareTop of Page

2. Key Steps towards a Strategic Plan

The preparation of a strategic plan is a multi-step process covering vision, mission, objectives,
values, strategies, goals and programs. These are discussed below.

The Vision

The first step is to develop a realistic Vision for the business. This should be presented as a
pen picture of the business in three or more years time in terms of its likely physical appearance,
size, activities etc. Answer the question: "if someone from Mars visited the business, what would
they see (or sense)?" Consider its future products, markets, customers, processes, location,
staffing etc. Here is a great example of a vision:

I will come to America, which is the country for me. Once there, I will become the greatest
bodybuilder in history.......... I will go into movies as an actor, producer and eventually director. By
the time I am 30 I will have starred in first movie and I will be a millionaire...... I will collect houses,
art and automobiles. I will marry a glamorous and intelligent wife. By 32, I will have been invited
to the White House. Attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger who was elected Governor of the State
of California in 2003.

The Mission
 The nature of a business is often expressed in terms of its Mission which indicates the purpose
and activities of the business, for example, "to design, develop, manufacture and market specific
product lines for sale on the basis of certain features to meet the identified needs of specified
customer groups via certain distribution channels in particular geographic areas". A statement
along these lines indicates what the business is about and is infinitely clearer than saying, for
instance, "we're in electronics" or worse still, "we are in business to make money" (assuming that
the business is not a mint !). Also, some people confuse mission statements with value
statements (see below) - the former should be very hard-nosed while the latter can deal with
'softer' issues surrounding the business. The following table contrasts hard and soft mission
statements.

Hard Soft
What business is/does
Primary products/services
Key processes & technologies
Main customer groups
Primary markets/segments
Principal channels/outlets Reason for existence
Competitive advantages
Unique/distinctive features
Important philosophical/social issues
Image, quality, style, standards
Stakeholder concerns

Compare the following statements:

Hard Statement Soft Statement

X Corp. designs, develops, assembles and markets systems for data base management. These
systems integrate its proprietary operating system software with hardware supplied by major
manufacturers, and are sold to small, medium and large-sized companies for a range of business
applications. Its systems are distinguished by a sophisticated operating system, which permits
use without trained data-processing personnel. Our mission is to enhance our customers'
business by providing the very highest quality products and services possible. Our customer
support strategy is based upon total, no-compromise customer satisfaction and we continually
strive to offer a complete package of up-to-date value added solutions to meet our customers'
needs. We value above all our long term customer relations.

Intel's original plan, written on the back of a menu (view copy), is an excellent example of a
hard statement:

The company will engage in research, development, and manufacture and sales of
integrated electronic structures to fulfill the needs of electronic systems manufacturers. This will
include thin films, thick films, semiconductor devices, and ......... A variety of processes will be
established, both at a laboratory and production level ...... as well as the development and
manufacture of special processing and test equipment required to carry out these processes.
Products may include dioded transistors ....... Principal customers for these products are
expected to be the manufacturers of advanced electronic systems ..... It is anticipated that many
of these customers will be located outside California.

If you'd prefer a soft statement, use the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator.

When drafting a mission statement, critically examine every noun, adjective and verb to ensure
that they are focused, realistic and justified.
The Values
 The next element is to address the Values governing the operation of the business and its
conduct or relationships with society at large, customers, suppliers, employees, local community
and other stakeholders.
The Objectives

The third key element is to explicitly state the business's Objectives in terms of the results it
needs/wants to achieve in the medium/long term. Aside from presumably indicating a necessity to
achieve regular profits (expressed as return on shareholders' funds), objectives should relate to
the expectations and requirements of all the major stakeholders, including employees, and should
reflect the underlying reasons for running the business. These objectives could cover growth,
profitability, technology, offerings and markets.
The Strategies

Next are the Strategies - the rules and guidelines by which the mission, objectives etc. may be
achieved. They can cover the business as a whole including such matters as diversification,
organic growth, or acquisition plans, or they can relate to primary matters in key functional areas,
for example:

The company's internal cash flow will fund all future growth.
New products will progressively replace existing ones over the next 3 years.
All assembly work will be contracted out to lower the company's break-even point.

Use SWOTs to help identify possible strategies by building on strengths, resolving

weaknesses, exploiting opportunities and avoiding threats.

For further discussion on strategies, refer to the paper on Devising Business Strategies as well
as these items below: Use Hindsight when Strategic Planning, Effect not Equal to Cause when
Planning Strategy and SWOTs - Keys to Business Strategies.
The Goals

Next come the Goals. These are specific interim or ultimate time-based measurements to be
achieved by implementing strategies in pursuit of the company's objectives, for example, to
achieve sales of $3m in three years time. Goals should be quantifiable, consistent, realistic and
achievable. They can relate to factors like market (sizes and shares), products, finances,
profitability, utilization, efficiency.
The Programs

The final elements are the Programs which set out the implementation plans for the key
strategies. These should cover resources, objectives, time-scales, deadlines, budgets and
performance targets.

Get Strategic Planning Help:

Free Online Strategic Planner for creating a 3-page strategic plan.

See Also: Expert tools for Assessing Business Ideas (US$ 229.95)
and Evaluating Marketing Strategies (US$ 795.00).

It goes without saying that the mission, objectives, values, strategies and goals must be inter-
linked and consistent with each other. This is much easier said than done because many
businesses which are set up with the clear objective of making their owners wealthy often lack
strategies, realistic goals or concise missions.

Top - Business Plan WareTop of Page

3. Use Hindsight when Strategic Planning

Statements on vision, mission, objectives, values, strategies and goals are not just elements of
future planning. They also provide benchmarks for a historic review. Most managers will find it
exceedingly difficult to develop a future strategy for a business without knowing its current
strategies and measuring their success to date.
Assess Current Position

The starting point must be to determine a company's existing (implicit or explicit) vision, mission,
objectives and strategies. Then judge these against actual performance along the following lines:

Is the current vision being realized?

How has the company's mission and objectives changed over the past say, three years? Why
have the changes occurred or why have no changes occurred? Identify primary reasons and
categorize them as either internal or external.
Describe the actual strategies followed over the past few years in respect of products/services,
operations, finance, marketing, technology, management etc.
Critically examine each strategy statement by reference to activities and actions in key
functional areas covering such matters as:
How has the company been managed?
How has the company been funded?
How has the company sought to increase sales and market share?
How have productivity/costs moved?

Take each element and quantify by reference to actual performance. Ask of each "why not"?,
"why only"?, or "why so"? and locate the reasons for differences between the actual and desired
performance.
Drill Down

A useful technique for exploring performance shortfalls is to review the business's financial return
and to drill down through the components of this return to locate and assess the key determinants
of performance. For example, return on shareholders' funds is a key measure of profitability which
can be expressed as:
Net income
------------
Sales X Sales
-----------
Shareholders' funds

Take each item in this formula, explore its contents and derive performance measures or ratios.
For example:

Sales break down into sales values, units, prices, discounts, commissions, bad debts and so
on.
Net income is derived by deducting costs (materials, labor, power etc.), expenses, interest and
depreciation from sales revenue.
Shareholders' funds are based on the value of fixed assets, current assets, current liabilities,
debt etc.

Click to display full sizeUse of cascading ratios is illustrated in this DuPont-type profitability
chart (click thumb opposite) which is automatically generated by more powerful versions of Exl-
Plan to show the impact of specific changes in key variables and assumptions on overall
profitability.

Subject the resultant ratios to critical examination and attempt to compare them with industry
norms. The paper entitled Managing Working Capital explains key working capital ratios.
Note that the Exl-Plan financial planners generate extensive ratios based on projected P&Ls,
cashflow forecasts and balance sheets for 1-3-5-7 years ahead.

Top - Business Plan WareTop of Page

4. Effect not Equal to Cause when Planning Strategy

When reviewing a business it is essential to cut through the symptoms of problems and reach the
underlying causes. Questions which can assist in revealing the real causes include the following:

"What stopped the business from?"

"What caused the cause of?"
"Why didn't the business achieve a 25% return?"

By way of an example consider why this company may be unable to increase its market share:

Because it cannot penetrate major customers because its product range is too narrow because
the company doesn't have the capability to produce additional products because of shortcomings
in R & D because of a lack of expertise and resource because R & D is not an immediate priority
because of a lack of profits because of a high interest burden because the company is over-
reliant on borrowings because the shareholders won't/can't raise additional permanent capital.

The moral in this case is that there are no major customers due to under-capitalization !

Also have a look at the discussion on causes of business failure in Devising Business Strategies.

Top - Business Plan WareTop of Page

5. SWOTs - Keys to Business Strategies

Having built up a picture of the company's past aims and achievements, the all-important SWOT
(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can commence.
Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses are essentially internal to the organization and relate to matters
concerning resources, programs and organization in key areas. These include:

Sales - marketing - distribution - promotion - support;

Management - systems - expertise - resources;
Operations - efficiency - capacity - processes;
Products - services - quality - pricing - features - range - competitiveness;
Finances - resources - performance;
R&D - effort - direction - resources;
Costs - productivity - purchasing;
Systems - organization - structures.

If a startup is being planned, the strengths and weaknesses are related mainly to the promoter(s)
- their experience, expertise and management abilities - rather than to the project.

Take a moment to complete or view the results of this survey.

Survey about Strengths & Weaknesses of Businesses

The objective is to build up a picture of the outstanding good and bad points, achievements and
failures and other critical features within the company.
Threats & Opportunities
The external threats and opportunities confronting a company, can exist or develop in the
following areas:

The company's own industry where structural changes may be occurring

(Size and segmentation; growth patterns and maturity; established patterns and relationships,
emergence/contraction of niches; international dimensions; relative attractiveness of segments)
The marketplace which may be altering due to economic or social factors (Customers;
distribution channels; economic factors, social/demographic issues; political & environmental
factors)
Competition which may be creating new threats or opportunities
(Identities, performances, market shares, likely plans, aggressiveness, strengths &
weaknesses)
New technologies which may be causing fundamental changes in products, processes, etc.
(Substitute products, alternative solutions, shifting channels, cost savings etc.)

Against an uncertain and shifting background, the objective must be to identify and prioritize the
key SWOTs in a one-handed manner (Don't say "on the one hand ...........but on the other
hand.........").
Develop Business Strategies

Once the SWOT review is complete, the future strategy may be readily apparent or, as is more
likely the case, a series of strategies or combinations of tactics will suggest themselves. Use the
SWOTs to help identify possible strategies as follows:

Build on strengths
Resolve weaknesses
Exploit opportunities
Avoid threats

The resulting strategies can then be filtered and moulded to form the basis of a realistic strategic
plan - see also Devising Business Strategies for further insights into the development of
strategies.
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and comparing business and marketing strategies.

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6. Simple & Short Strategic Plans

Notwithstanding that "battles are often lost for want of nails", a company rarely succeeds or fails
for minor or trivial reasons. The causes are usually substantial and are often self-evident, at least
to an outsider. For example, the business was completely over-borrowed; management was
weak; a major new product opportunity was identified; legislation changed; a major competitor
went bust or expanded; the company never reinvested.

It should be possible in the course of a few pages to set down the main elements of a business's
vision, mission, values, objectives, goals, strategies, SWOTs etc. The compilation of a short
report along these lines is likely to prove much more difficult than a lengthy dissertation which
mixes up details and principles, and confuses the broad picture. See a sample strategic plan -
use the back button on your browser to return to this page.
Get Strategic Planning Help:

Free Online Strategic Planner for creating a 3-page strategic plan.

See Also: Expert tools for Assessing Business Ideas (US$ 229.95)
and Evaluating Marketing Strategies (US$ 795.00).

Independent advisers or non-executive directors can play a valuable role in this process because
they can readily adopt the role of devil's advocate and also bring external knowledge and
expertise to bear. The worksheet presented below may also assist.

For further information on business planning issues, refer to other papers in this series which
cover business ideas, business strategies, financial planning, cashflow forecasting and business
planning.
Free Tools from PlanWare

Business financial planner for high-level, integrated 2-year projections using Excel - details and
download links for Exl-Plan Free.
Excel-based, comprehensive, rolling 6-month cash flow planner - details and download links for
Cashflow Plan Free.
Business plan template & guidelines (Word format) - details & download link for Free-Plan.
Online strategic planner for creating a 3-page strategic plan - details and sample plan.
More free tools here.

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Exl-Plan Multi-year Financial Projections (with Excel)

Cashflow Plan Short-term Cashflow Forecasts (with Excel)
Plan Write Comprehensive Business Planner
Plan Write Marketing Planner
Plan Write Expert Business Planner
Quick Insight Business Idea Assessor
Business Insight Business Strategy Evaluator

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7. Using the Strategic Planning Worksheet

When using the Strategic Planning Worksheet below, note the following suggestions:

Relate the planning exercise to a specific company or, if diversified, to individual strategic
business units.
Ideally the worksheet should be compiled by a multi-discipline management group, or
separately by 2/3 groups and then discussed in plenary session if a large business unit is
involved.
If working on your own, complete the worksheet and then return to it a few times over the
following few days and critically review what you wrote - why, why, why etc. and ask yourself
whether you have seen the "wood for trees".
A completed worksheet should be edited down into a 1-2 page document and reviewed by the
group(s). The final form of the document need not follow the worksheet's layout provided all the
matters are covered.
 All ideas, issues etc. should be internally consistent and realistic.
You need a very good understanding of the market, competitors etc. in order to make a clear
assessment of your SWOTs. If you haven't got this insight, suspend work on your strategic plan
until you have done this basic research.
Allow enough time as you may find it much more difficult to write a short plan than a long
one !!!!

Top - Business Plan WareTop of Page

8. Strategic Planning Worksheet

To start using the worksheet below, copy the headings marked in red onto a blank sheet of paper
(or page in a word processor) and enter short statements about each item as per the guidelines
above.

Note: This worksheet is available as a free Online Strategic Planner. See sample strategic
plan - you may wish to print it for reference purposes. (Use the back button on your browser to
return to this page.)

Contents of the Strategic Plan

1. Assess the business's EXISTING strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities:

(Strengths & Weaknesses are internal to the business and Opportunities & Threats are
external. All SWOTs should be 'one-handed' - something is either a Strength or a Weakness but
cannot be both. Enter up to six items under each heading and then rank them in order of
importance. If you are planning a new business, consider the project's and its promoters' existing
SWOTs):

Internal Strengths

Internal Weaknesses

External Threats

External Opportunities

Take a moment to complete or view the results of this survey.

Survey about Strengths & Weaknesses of Businesses

2. Vision of business in 3/4 years time:

(What will the business look like? If a visitor from Mars dropped in what would be seen and
evident. Write in future tense. Maximum of 150 words)

3. Mission/purpose statement for business to cover next 3/4 years:

(What will the business really, really be doing? What activities will it perform, where, how etc.?
What makes the business special/competitive? Every noun, adjective and verb in the statement is
important and must be justified. Maximum of 150 words)

4. Statement of corporate values and beliefs:

(Covers employees, customers, environment etc. etc. Maximum of 150 words)

5. Set out key long-term objectives:

(These are the primary underlying reasons for being involved in the business, and are not
specific targets - these come later)
 5a Shareholders

5b Management (If different from shareholders)

5c Business (Relative to competitors etc.)

6. Identify key strategies for business and major functional areas:

(Build on strengths, resolve threats, exploit opportunities and avoid threats. Add any new
dimensions revealed by Vision and Mission. List and prioritize up to ten or so major strategies.
See Devising Business Strategies for further insights.)

7. Assess possible FUTURE strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities:

(Do the foregoing strategies improve the initial SWOTs? If they don't, then they should have
done so)

Internal Strengths

Internal Weaknesses

External Threats

External Opportunities

8. Review your vision, mission, values and objectives:

(Refine and revise/restate key strategies to deal with the perceived FUTURE SWOTs)

9. Specify major goals achievable over the next 3/4 years:

(Quantify in terms of sales, market shares, finances, operations etc.)

10. Define strategic action programs:

(Indicate who, what, where, when, how etc. Set targets and prioritize)

Note: This worksheet is available as a free Online Strategic Planner.

Next Steps in Developing a Strategic Plan

If you have prepared a strategic plan along the lines suggested above, you have several possible
pathways. These include the preparation of a full-blown business plan, compilation of financial
projections, undertaking market research, product development, management team-building etc.
etc. You may also wish to refer to some other papers in this series which cover business ideas,
business strategies, cashflow forecasting and managing working capital.

If preparing a business plan, look at Free-Plan. This is a free Business Plan Template for Word
(48 pages) and a complementary Guide (supplied as a 90+ topic Help file and as a 100+ page
PDF file for printing. Note that a strategic plan based on the structure in the Strategic Planning
Worksheet (above) is ideal for inclusion in edited form in Section 3. Mission, Strategies etc. of this
Template.

If you need to produce financial projections as part of a strategic plan or for use on their own, take
a look at our extensive range of Excel-based financial planners - Exl-Plan - which can be used to
prepare 3/5-year financial projections (P&Ls, cashflows, balance sheets, ratio analyses and
graphs). It incorporates a Quik-Plan facility for doing quick and dirty projections. If you seek a
very simple solution, look at Exl-Plan Basic (US$ 29) which generates comprehensive "high-level"
5-year projections based on annual assumptions (in contrast to the more detailed monthly and
quarterly assumptions used by other versions in the Exl-Plan range). Get the details and free trial
downloads.
If you need to go into more detail with your strategic plan, have a look at the following software-
based expert systems:

Plan Write Expert Business Planner: Combined business plan tool and expert system to help
evaluate and develop your plan.
Quick Insight - Business Idea Assessor: Expert system to help evaluate and improve a new
business idea.
Business Insight - Strategy Evaluator: Sophisticated expert system for evaluating, developing
and comparing business and marketing strategies.

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Objectives & Obligations

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Objectives

To serve the national interests in oil and related sectors in accordance and consistent with
Government policies.
To ensure maintenance of continuous and smooth supplies of petroleum products by way of
crude oil refining, transportation and marketing activities and to provide appropriate assistance to
consumers to conserve and use petroleum products efficiently.
To enhance the country's self-sufficiency in crude oil refining and build expertise in laying of
crude oil and petroleum product pipelines.
To further enhance marketing infrastructure and reseller network for providing assured service
to customers throughout the country.
To create a strong research & development base in refinery processes, product formulations,
pipeline transportation and alternative fuels with a view to minimizing/eliminating imports and to
have next generation products.
To optimise utilisation of refining capacity and maximize distillate yield and gross refining
margin.
To maximise utilisation of the existing facilities for improving efficiency and increasing
productivity.
To minimise fuel consumption and hydrocarbon loss in refineries and stock loss in marketing
operations to effect energy conservation.
To earn a reasonable rate of return on investment.
To avail of all viable opportunities, both national and global, arising out of the Government of
India’s policy of liberalisation and reforms.
To achieve higher growth through mergers, acquisitions, integration and diversification by
harnessing new business opportunities in oil exploration & production, petrochemicals, natural
gas and downstream opportunities overseas.
To inculcate strong ‘core values’ among the employees and continuously update skill sets for
full exploitation of the new business opportunities.
To develop operational synergies with subsidiaries and joint ventures and continuously engage
across the hydrocarbon value chain for the benefit of society at large.

Obligations

Towards customers and dealers:- To provide prompt, courteous and efficient service and
quality products at competitive prices.

Towards suppliers:- To ensure prompt dealings with integrity, impartiality and courtesy and
help promote ancillary industries.

Towards employees:- To develop their capabilities and facilitate their advancement through
appropriate training and career planning. To have fair dealings with recognised representatives of
employees in pursuance of healthy industrial relations practices and sound personnel policies.

Towards community:- To develop techno-economically viable and environment-friendly

products. To maintain the highest standards in respect of safety, environment protection and
occupational health at all production units.

Towards Defence Services:- To maintain adequate supplies to Defence and other para-military
services during normal as well as emergency situations.

Financial Objectives
 To ensure adequate return on the capital employed and maintain a reasonable annual dividend
on equity capital.
To ensure maximum economy in expenditure.
To manage and operate all facilities in an efficient manner so as to generate adequate internal
resources to meet revenue cost and requirements for project investment, without budgetary
support.
To develop long-term corporate plans to provide for adequate growth of the Corporation’s
business.
To reduce the cost of production of petroleum products by means of systematic cost control
measures and thereby sustain market leadership through cost competitiveness.
To complete all planned projects within the schedu