The document discusses the importance of strategically aligning business actions with organizational goals of sustainability and profitability. It defines strategic alignment and notes that it requires aligning practices with broad goals and objectives. The CEO and executive team must ensure alignment is prioritized and driven from the top down. Strategic alignment is especially important during strategy development processes, when goals are identified and planned for, and when implementing strategic initiatives, to increase the chances of successful execution and reduce risks. Properly aligning business actions can streamline processes, leverage organizational assets effectively, and allow an organization to assess its ability to achieve its goals and longevity.

1. Why strategic alignment of
business actions is important
for sustainability and
profitability...
Tshidiso S. Moetapele
Master of Technology: Business Information Systems (In-progress @ TUT)
Business Projects Management (WBS)
moetapele@gmail.com
Copyright © 2014 Tshidiso S. Moetapele

2. Table of Contents
o WHAT… Definitions
o WHO… must ensure alignment
o WHERE & WHEN…alignment must happen
o WHICH… business actions must be aligned to...
o WHY… must business actions be aligned to…
o HOW… do we align business actions with…

3. WHAT...
 Strategic alignment
It is an alignment of practices (e.g. interaction with clients / customers,
systems optimization, etc) with the broad organizational goals and
objectives (e.g. Sustainability and profitability).
 Business actions
Refer to any action within an organizational setting that utilizes the business
resources to create value (e.g. Buying a new computer, identifying and
prioritizing potential client / customer, etc)
 Organizational sustainability and profitability
Sustainability is the management and harmonization of the business
environment, resources (e.g. finances, time, etc) and risks or concerns
associated with the business to facilitate responsible, ethical and
continuous success. The impact of business sustainability is often
associated with the following; Profit, People and the Planet.
Profitability, primary goal of ALL businesses. It is the condition of yielding a
financial profit / gain.

4. WHO
“… strategic alignment of business actions is important for sustainability and profitability.”
 Just like organizational culture, strategic alignment must be a top down approach kind of setup.
For example; when the business is experiencing a downward spiral which will obviously affect
sustainability and profit… As part of a turnaround strategy, EXCO can decide to pursue a
“Strategic Alignment” process which will focus all assets and actions to the business strategy.
 Assets is Employees, business core competencies and process, organizational culture,
technology, market, products and services, Intellectual Property.
 The project will be driven by Project Managers / Executives close to the cockpit and heart of
business e.g. CEO’s office (Project Sponsor & Owner) with full support of business leadership

5. WHERE & WHEN
“… strategic alignment of business actions is important for sustainability and
profitability.”
 Under normal circumstances, strategic alignment usually happens during
the “Strategic Development Process”, when primary business goals are
identified, analysed, interrogated, prioritized and planned for. During this
session (e.g. Strategy Boot Camp somewhere in the bush) strategic
alignment of all business actions should plays a centre stage.
 Another example would be during the course of any business action
(running projects: EPMO), for example; When we are implementing a “Key
Strategic Initiative” which is necessary to effect some positive change
(sustainability with more profit) within the business... continuous monitoring
and controlling is necessary to ensure that business actions involved are
aligned to the overall business goals which will yield positive results and
reduce business risks.

6. WHICH
“… strategic alignment of business actions is important for sustainability and
profitability.”
 Above slides we have highlighted 2 areas where alignment of business
actions can be interrogated; “Strategy Development Process” and “any
Project setting within an organization with a defined project framework”
 These are NOT the only 2 important areas, organizational culture for
example, where what we do when we create value should be aligned to
broad organizational goals which yield profit and sustainability. Level of
organizational maturity and readiness, market that that the organization is
operating in, systems and people alignment and many other areas.

7. WHY
“… strategic alignment of business actions is important for sustainability and
profitability.”
• Below are benefits of strategic alignment of business actions;
o According to Larry Myler on Forbes website, less than 10% of all
organizations successfully execute the strategy, alignment of
business actions increases chances of successful execution the
organizational strategy.
o Effective leveraging of assets e.g. skills of employees, especially
skilled workers which in turn increases competitive advantage
o Streamlined and easily measurable processed, which reduced
business risks
o Enable effective organizational decision making process based on
informed business operations.
o Allows an organization to contemplate its longevity and diagnose if it
will achieve set business goals.

8. HOW
“… strategic alignment of business actions is important for sustainability and
profitability.
Scenario 1: Strategy Development Process… continued next slide.
”
Strategy Planning Process
Organizational Assets;
People, Intellectual Property, Core Competencies and
Processes, Organizational Culture, Technology,
Product / Services, etc

9. HOW… continued
Process involved;
1. Review, clarification and improvement of business strategies producing
specific set of goals and necessary actions to enable business to achieve
goals. Next step, categorization of ongoing strategies and registration of
change management process (and planning thereof). Linkages of the new
change strategies with existing strategies. The next step; monitoring and
controlling of “Change management process” to ensure that all actions is
aligned to project charter, this will enable us to measure the change
process and eliminate any kind of issues and risks that may arise.
2. The project framework is then complied and broken down into customizable
pieces to suit division and driven from the top to down in an organizational
setting.

10. “Strategic Alignment is an enabling
business process...”
TO BE CONTINUED
END
Tshidiso S. Moetapele
Master of Technology: Business Information Systems (In-progress @ TUT)
Business Projects Management (WBS)
moetapele@gmail.com
Copyright © 2014 Tshidiso S. Moetapele