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corporate strategic planning Tagged Articles
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Strategy Misalignment: The Symptoms, Dangers and Treatment
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| Strategic misalignment is insidious. It creeps into organizations silently, tenaciously takes root and over time begins to undermine successful organizations. There are tell-tale symptoms to watch out for and many dangerous implications when it goes untreated.
This article reviews the symptoms to watch for; evaluates the damage that occurs over time if left unchecked and reveals methods to correct the ailment and reverse the damage that occurred. |
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Mapping Out Strategic Execution: Part 2 of “Why We Fail at Strategic Implementation“
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| Are you completely satisfied with your organization’s ability to execute on strategy? If your answer was “yes”, you and your organization are obviously doing the right things right and should be commended. Even so, this article may provide some additional thoughts you can incorporate into your strategic planning and execution process, so we hope you’ll read on.
If you are one of the tortured masses who answered “no” to this question, you are in good company with most organizational leaders. We hope you will definitely continue to read on. |
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What's Wrong With Your Corporate Planning Process?
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| Does your corporate strategic planning process consistently deliver the outcomes you expect or has strategic planning been devalued (literally or figuratively) within your organization due to its declining efficacy?
Corporate planning in today’s rapidly-changing and uncertain business environment requires a strategic planning process that empowers organizations to achieve operational excellence on a day-to-day basis while also planning for the future. If your corporate planning process has lost its luster, consider what may be wrong. |
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The Role of the Internal versus the External Strategist
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| Can an external strategist be an asset to an established corporate strategic planning team? There is clearly no substitute for the value provided by the internal strategist and the homegrown planning processes that fits the organization like an old well-worn baseball glove. But can this value be enhanced by an outsider’s involvement? |
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A Fresh Approach to Obtaining Global Perspectives on Corporate Strategic Planning
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| Now more than ever, executives should rely upon bodies of knowledge assembled around topical domains that can help them be better leaders. Social media and the Internet in general have made this possible, on a scale unimagined until recent years. |
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Do You Really Want to Build a Faster Strategic Plan?
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| How long should the process take to create your corporate strategic plan and get the job done right? Even if the plan is created in a week’s time (and it won’t be), is the job really done? Has everything that needs to be done to support the strategy roll-out been addressed? |
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Today’s Definition of Strategic Planning
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| A quick Google search for definitions of strategic planning will yield numerous variations. Often these definitions point to the blatant misunderstanding of what strategic planning truly is. At other times the term is flat out misused. In the end, we find that strategic planning lacks a widely accepted definition. It seems everyone in the field of planning has a different view on the exact definition. Yet, the definitions we most embrace, convey in one form or fashion, that the idea of strategic planning is to build and sustain competitive advantage by defining desired outcomes and creating some sort of go-forward plan to achieve those outcomes.
This article offers a modern definition of corporate strategic planning. |
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7 Ways to Test Your Strategic Planning Approach
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| Evaluate your corporate strategic planning approach using these 7 tests to determine if yours is as good as it should be. |
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In Corporate Strategic Planning, Be Ready to Prioritize and Justify
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| So much has been written about the importance of setting priorities. Whether in time management or corporate strategic planning, the point remains: We must know our priorities and focus on the projects and opportunities that represent our highest priorities. The saying, “Do your best and forget the rest” is applicable in more than one way. Focus your resources and energy on your best opportunities and set the others aside. The question is: How do you determine your priorities? And in the face of competing corporate agendas, how do you justify your choices? Both prioritization and justification are important steps in an effective corporate planning process. |
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Opportunity Valuation Gives Direction to Strategic Planning
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| n corporate strategic planning and, let’s face it, in life itself we have to choose our battles. As much as we try to stretch our limited resources, the fact remains that they’re still limited. In our strategic planning approach, we call the process of choosing our battles “opportunity valuation.” And by the way, choosing our battles isn’t a negative; it merely refers to the fact that we must select the opportunities (targeted outcomes) that will earn our limited energy and resources. In our proprietary planning process, known as Plan4, opportunity valuation combats the behavior of many organizations that bite off more than they can chew and suffer for it. Opportunity valuation provides a structure for measuring the relative value of potential outcomes so the organization can move forward with confidence and realism.
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Why Do We Need More “Whys” in Corporate Strategic Planning?
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| A simple question, yet powerfully thought-provoking, “Why?” is too often missing from our decision-making vocabulary. Why, what if, and other forms of critical evaluation contribute to a more effective decision-making process by promoting debate and discussion that is necessary to achieve the best possible outcome. |
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In Corporate Strategic Planning, Leave Your Perfectionism at the Door
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| The pace of change and uncertainty in today’s economic and business environments require that business leaders define and evolve their plans while the organization is in full motion. Leaders must be able to react to risks and opportunities as they appear, while making choices that support a consistent corporate strategy. And while it’s tempting for organizations to strive for perfection in every strategic plan, this approach can result in serious missed opportunities and lost market share. Embrace the imperfection that is inherent in any corporate strategic plan. After all, without clairvoyant powers nobody has perfect information upon which to plan and act -- and that’s okay.
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8 Steps to Boost the ROI of Your Strategic Planning Efforts
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| Studies suggest that 90% of all corporate strategic planning efforts fail to deliver the intended result. In fact, the average ROI on most strategic planning initiatives is 34% or less. What’s more, one-third of companies that are now at the top of their fields will no longer hold that position three years from now.
What’s wrong with this picture? How can so many smart CEOs deliver strategies that fail? |
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Qualities of an Effective Corporate Strategic Planning Process
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| Corporate strategic planning is intended to provide both the direction (strategy) and the actions (execution) needed to achieve strategic goals. The combination of smart strategy and successful execution is the hallmark of a great planning process. Does your planning process have the qualities to translate strategy into successful business execution? |
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The 2010 Twelve-step Checklist to Help You Evaluate Your Strategic Business Planning Process
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| Have you given much consideration to the possibility that your strategic and operational plans may be far less effective than they could be? How would you begin to measure the effectiveness of your current plan? This article should help you to objectively evaluate your own process and self-diagnosis potential issues that may exist in your organization’s current planning world. As you read this article, answer along as we ask the questions to help you honestly evaluate your current business planning process.
Let’s start with the checklist. Scan through the list and do your best to give a first impression “yes” or “no” answer to each question. |
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The Feng Shui of Your Money
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| Feng Shui, literally meaning wind and water (the only two elements you can't live without!), is the art of positive interaction between people and their environments for optimal life success. The name for this action is "chi" flow; literally, it is our cosmic breath. |
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The 2011 Strategic Planning Checklist: Evaluate Your Strategic Planning Process and Strategy Effectiveness
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| One of our most popular articles last year dealt with a simple checklist for evaluating strategic planning process effectiveness. Having ushered in the new year and a fresh decade, we decided it would be a worthwhile exercise to revisit the list and analysis done last year and submit an updated, more fitting set of evaluation criteria for 2011. There are new criteria added in this year’s evaluation, and many that have carried over from last year but have enhanced analysis. |
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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 4 of 12
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| Last week’s post (part 3 of this article series) began going into the layers of the strategic planning model in the context of of the business ecosystem analysis. This model was introduced two articles ago and depicted as a graphical representation of the key elements of strategic planning. In this week’s edition of the strategic planning series, we will continue walking through the layers of the graphical model relating to the “business ecosystem”.
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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 7 of 12
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| In this week’s edition, part 7 of this 12 part article series on corporate strategic planning, we will continue the discussion on planning, but examine some other key attributes for consideration. As we all know, corporate strategies will never be perfect or foolproof, but you may not realize how much they can be systematically improved through process changes. Our corporate strategies are what determines the directional flow of our business, such as markets to be entered or exited, products to be enhanced through innovation programs and acquisitions that will solidify competitive price advantage through supply-chain integration. As such, it must be holistic in interpreting and leveraging our business enterprise to be truly effective. That leads us to the next topic to discuss - factors that can help or, in some cases, impede execution |
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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 8 of 12
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| The spectrum of corporate strategic planning models and processes is broad, and the term has taken on many different connotations over recent decades. For organizations that are new to formal strategic planning, it can seem like a daunting task. It certainly does not have to be, and this article series is intended to help chief executives get on the right path to better corporate planning. Just compiling goals and timelines into a spreadsheet that gets sent along with a meaningless report in a binder doesn’t cut it. That becomes worthless data to all involved in the organization and will not accomplish the results strategic planning should accomplish. There is no “magic binder” of spreadsheets and PowerPoints that can perform miracles when it comes to strategy and the execution thereof. |
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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 11 of 12
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| In last week’s article, and in the prior week’s edition, we covered questions related to planning effectiveness. In the continuation of analysis this week, we will cover others. How would you answer the following questions about your own corporate strategic planning process? |
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Strategy, Business Decisions and Saber-toothed Tigers
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| In business, all to often, decisions are made based on emotion and not on critical evaluation. Call it “being decisive” or call it having a talent for being able to act fast; because you have trust your instincts. Regardless, it can be reckless and costly in business. So how should we make strategically sound decisions? |
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Does This Business Strategy Make Me Look Fat?
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| “Innovate or die.” A widely-accepted rule of business states that if a company fails to continuously innovate it will fall behind and eventually die. From this, common wisdom says that organizations must gear their business strategy toward continually increasing customer value. |
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To Improve Your Corporate Strategic Planning Efforts, Take Clues from NBA Coaches
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| It’s playoff season in the NBA so there’s no better time for an analogy between NBA coaching and corporate strategic planning. Reflecting on the season and the final games, it begs the question; what if NBA teams were run like many businesses are?
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The Truth About Why So Many Strategic Plans Don’t Get Executed
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| Last week I was asked the question by a client prospect, “so how many retreats will we be doing as part of the strategic planning process?”. That got me to thinking about just how many of these retreats are probably happening in hotels across the U.S. this fall. Strategic planning retreats are a joke in terms of producing meaningful strategic plans, yet every year companies go through this ritualistic planning process. The problem is, virtually all of these so called strategy retreats provide very little value in terms of desired strategic planning outcomes. |
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Other corporate strategic planning Related Articles
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“A Major Communication Tip For Successful Strategic Planning – Provide Definitions of Major Strategic Planning Terms As You Begin”
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| One of the key elements in any endeavor is clear communications. This is especially true when doing strategic planning. So, my major communication tip to ensure more successful strategic planning efforts is to first provide basic definitions of major terms used in the strategic planning process. Having written definitions to hand out to all participants at the start of the process will help ensure that everyone knows the meaning of the terms being used throughout the strategic planning process facilitates this.
Here are the definitions of major strategic planning terms that have served me well in all of my strategic planning efforts over more than 25 years.
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“The Top Ten Reasons Strategic Planning Meetings Fail, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
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| Strategic planning is an awesome and powerful process that sometimes gets a bad rap because of some bad experiences people have had when engaging in some form of strategic planning meetings. Many times the combination of personal agendas, absence of open minds, and preconceived judgments about the strategic planning process can turn strategic planning meetings into real disasters. And frankly, there are many reasons why so many strategic planning meetings are unsuccessful. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach has developed a list of the top 10 reasons why strategic planning meetings fail. And the Top 10 Reasons are: |
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Ten Major Fears That Scare Small Businesses Away From Strategic Planning
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| An often offered comment to me when I speak about strategic planning to small business owners and managers is that their company or organization is too small for strategic planning. Or they will offer any number of other excuses why they do not use strategic planning for their business. In my opinion, this is a sad commentary on the thinking of these small business people. They do not realize or comprehend that their business or organization is on a pathway to the business graveyard without a strategic plan. Well, I really believe if the truth were told, the real reason they do not do strategic planning is related more to fear than anything else. Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following ten major fears that drive small businesses away from strategic planning. |
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What's Wrong With Your Corporate Planning Process?
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| Does your corporate strategic planning process consistently deliver the outcomes you expect or has strategic planning been devalued (literally or figuratively) within your organization due to its declining efficacy?
Corporate planning in today’s rapidly-changing and uncertain business environment requires a strategic planning process that empowers organizations to achieve operational excellence on a day-to-day basis while also planning for the future. If your corporate planning process has lost its luster, consider what may be wrong. |
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How Long Should It Take To Complete A Strategic Plan?
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| Given the opportunity to better leverage the art and science of strategic planning, organizational leadership should strive to better understand strategic planning and unlock the competitive advantages it can bring them. This article examines the process of strategic planning In the corporate world and explores the required effort the process takes to accomplish the organization’s go-forward plan for the future and accompanying desired outcomes. |
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Today’s Definition of Strategic Planning
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| A quick Google search for definitions of strategic planning will yield numerous variations. Often these definitions point to the blatant misunderstanding of what strategic planning truly is. At other times the term is flat out misused. In the end, we find that strategic planning lacks a widely accepted definition. It seems everyone in the field of planning has a different view on the exact definition. Yet, the definitions we most embrace, convey in one form or fashion, that the idea of strategic planning is to build and sustain competitive advantage by defining desired outcomes and creating some sort of go-forward plan to achieve those outcomes.
This article offers a modern definition of corporate strategic planning. |
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A Lesson in the History of Strategic Planning
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| When today’s business leaders think of strategic planning they are likely think of the planned strategic and organizational actions and innovations that will be used to maintain and build competitive advantage. In fact, an entire industry is built around strategic planning services and consulting to support these efforts to build advantage over ones business competitors. But strategic planning wasn’t always thought of this way. So how much do you know about the history of strategic planning? |
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8 Steps to Boost the ROI of Your Strategic Planning Efforts
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| Studies suggest that 90% of all corporate strategic planning efforts fail to deliver the intended result. In fact, the average ROI on most strategic planning initiatives is 34% or less. What’s more, one-third of companies that are now at the top of their fields will no longer hold that position three years from now.
What’s wrong with this picture? How can so many smart CEOs deliver strategies that fail? |
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Strategic Planning - Business Executive Essentials - Part 8 of 12
| |
| The spectrum of corporate strategic planning models and processes is broad, and the term has taken on many different connotations over recent decades. For organizations that are new to formal strategic planning, it can seem like a daunting task. It certainly does not have to be, and this article series is intended to help chief executives get on the right path to better corporate planning. Just compiling goals and timelines into a spreadsheet that gets sent along with a meaningless report in a binder doesn’t cut it. That becomes worthless data to all involved in the organization and will not accomplish the results strategic planning should accomplish. There is no “magic binder” of spreadsheets and PowerPoints that can perform miracles when it comes to strategy and the execution thereof. |
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How to crystalize business growth options through Strategic Planning
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| What is it? Why do strategic planning? When is the right time for strategic planning?
Strategic Planning is a tool to formulate high level business strategy. It sets the table to allow preparation of detailed business plans.
Strategic planning is undertaken to define the precise mission of the organization, prioritize opportunities and help manage growth. It is also a very useful tool in satisfying succession planning needs.
Most strategic planning is undertaken to establish base guidelines for a business plan. It also provides the benefit of helping maximize resource utilization and prioritize growth options. |
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