STRATEGIC PLANNING
 Set Direction
FOUNDATIONS
1. BEFORE YOU BEGIN PLANNING
A. PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGIC
PLANNING
- STRATEGIC PLAN
 Defines the market where you
compete and how you compete
 Define goals and initiatives to pursue
the goals
 Allocate limited resources
- IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC PLAN
 FOCUS – provides focus for effort
and limited investments
 ENTHUSIASM
 IDENTIFY RISKS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
- PRINCIPLES OF STRATEGIC PLAN
 Set a clear direction
 No to Distractions
 Diversify investments (spread at
different time horizons, markets and
products
B. AVOID MAJOR STRATEGIC
PLANNING RISK
- Strategic planning takes a lot of time and
effort; it is high resource type of exercise
- RISKS:
 Initiative Proliferation
 Thinking too Small
 Thinking too Big
 Random Initiative Generator
- To Avoid Risks:
 Fix strategic planning process
 Put some focus on initiatives
C. STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS
- It is a simple process that require tools and
steps
1. Set direction and stay on the lane
 Mission
 Vision
 Goals
 Core competencies
2. Define Strategic Filters
 The heart of the method
 Objective function to achieve
 Evaluation criteria to analyze
initiatives
3. Say no to distractions
 Focused
 Uses tools such as two by
two matrix (to evaluate which
opportunities to pursue and
avoid)
 List initiatives and run on to
strategic filters to identify
high value and high potential
initiatives
4. Draw the line
 List down the initiatives from
top to bottom and resource
appropriately then draw a
line
 Focus on the upper portion of
the line starting from the top
initiatives
5. Diversified Portfolio of Initiatives
 6. Execute Strategic Plan - Classic tool:

 Long term and short term Porter’s 4 Forces that shape

 Balance competencies industry competition
 Are they balanced among
1. Competitive Rivalry
products, markets and
services? - How many competitors are in the
marketplace?
- Come up with a plan with a prioritized set
of initiatives - How do they behave?
D. STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS: - How are they distributed by market
TACTICAL NEEDS share?
STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS: - What are their core competencies?
INDIVIDUAL 2. Threats of New Entry
1. Pre-work - New competitors to enter the
market
3. Evaluate Initiatives
3. Threat of Substitution
5. Deep Analysis
- What other products could meet
TEAM
the needs of your customers?
2. Mission, Vision, Principles
- Understand what customers are
4. Prioritization buying, not necessarily what you are
selling.
6. Final Plan and Resource
Allocation 4. Evaluate Buyer Power

- Come up with strategic plan in a form of 5. Supplier Power

DOCUMENT
- Through these 5 dynamics, you will be
- STRATEGIC PLAN CONTENTS: able to identify:

1. Core Competencies - What are the major threats?

2. Prioritized initiatives list - Where are the opportunities to

pursue?
3. Implementation and sequencing
plan (which initiatives, when, what B. CONDUCTING THE SWOT ANALYSIS
resources to allocate)
- Another tool to assess the environment
2. DEFINING THE STRATEGIC
- SWOT ANALYSIS is typically drawn on a
ENVIRONMENT
grid
A. ASSESSING THE MARKET
- Strengths and weaknesses: within the - 4 Elements in setting directions:
organization
1. Mission – cultural reflection of
- Opportunities and threats: internal or values, beliefs, philosophy
external
 Why does your organization
STRENGTHS exist?
 Purpose
 Brands
 Supply Chain - defines your industry (what
 Sales Force business are you engaged at?
 Recruiting I.T. Where you compete?)
 Financial Position
2. Vision – clear picture of where
WEAKNESSES – what are the you want to be as an organization in
gaps? 3-5 yrs

 Digital Marketing  Where are we going to be?

 Intern Program  What do we want to achieve?
 Integration  What do the organization
look like at some future
OPPORTUNITIES point?

 Social Media - ambitious and realistic

 Competitor Bankruptcy
- states value proposition
 Third-party sales
- excites employee
THREATS
- concise
 Customer pricing
 Talent Poaching - what makes you different from your
 Weather competitors?
 Economic Trends
3. Principles – rules you want your
C. EXTRACTING INSIGHTS FROM A team to live by
SWOT ANALYSIS
 How would employee
- Prioritizing by means of shortening the list behave?
in the SWOT analysis  What are the lenses to look
through when evaluating
- Eliminate things that are not going to be
decisions?
major strategic themes
4. Goals
3. SETTING YOUR STRATEGIC
DIRECTION  Quantify (measurable ideal
state; e.g. X number of
A. DEFINING THE DIRECTION
customers by a certain date,
 Dollars of revenue/profit,
margin percentage)

- Mission and Vision must be clear, short

and concise.

- Guiding principles must be clear enough to

be understand by anyone in the
organization

- Goals need to be aggressive but

pragmatic