Introduction

This program helps executives and professionals shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive planning and execution. Participants will learn to set clear goals, implement effective strategies, and drive desired outcomes. Key topics include building or improving business units, managing change, balancing objectives, and career planning. Transform your approach to make things happen the way you envision.

Objectives

• Learn how to develop a plan to achieve the goals you want for you and your company, and develop strategic thinking in your organization/business unit/team.

• Determine where you and your company want to be.

• Develop a strategic plan for - your organization (company/division/business unit/team and for yourself personally.

• Identify the principles and mechanisms that drive successful implementation

• Develop measurable action plans that result in success. Identify, measure, and track critical success factors

Target Audience

This program is designed for:

• Executives and Senior Managers
• Business Unit Directors and Division Heads
• Strategy and Strategic Planning Professionals
• General Managers and Operations Leaders
• Department Heads across functional areas (Finance, HR, Marketing, Operations)
• Project and Program Managers involved in strategic execution
• Business Development and Commercial Managers
• Entrepreneurs and Business Owners
• Management Consultants and Analysts
• Middle Managers preparing for senior leadership roles
• Professionals seeking to develop strategic thinking, planning, and execution capabilities

Outlines

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