This document is a how-to guide for creating comprehensive business strategy plans, detailing the processes of benchmarking core competencies, conducting situational analyses, and establishing objectives. It provides step-by-step instructions on preparing for strategic planning, implementing a governance structure, and presenting the business plan to stakeholders. Utilizing various tools and methods, the guide aims to help organizations achieve growth and align on strategic goals over the next 12-24 months.

1. How To Guide
Generating Business Strategy Plans
Executive Summary:
This report has been designed to provide practical advice for building a
comprehensive, business strategy plan. Learn how to benchmark your
core competencies, implement a strategic decision-making framework,
and prepare your organization for growth over the next 12-24 months.
Read this brief 6-page How-To Guide to:
 Prepare for the Planning Process
 Conduct a Situational Analysis
 Establish Objectives, Initiatives, Metrics, & Targets
 GAP Analysis & Program Prioritization
 Implement a Corporate Governance Structure
 Present Business Plan to Key Stakeholders
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2. 2
Table of Contents Page
Prepare for the Planning Process 3
Conduct a Situational Analysis 3
Establish Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives 4
GAP Analysis & Program Prioritization 4
Implement a Corporate Governance Structure 6
Present Business Plan to Key Stakeholders 6
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3. 3
Prepare for the Planning Process
1. Build a Strategic Planning Team - engage a cross-functional
planning team to represent each department‟s needs. Hold a
kick-off meeting to set strategic planning goals, schedule
meeting times, and get organized for the planning process.
2. Introduce the Balanced Scorecard Approach - review and
distribute our Executive Summary “Map Strategy with
Balanced Scorecard” to provide a framework to work from.
3. Organize your Business Strategy Plan - use our Business
Strategy Plan template to pull together all of the analyses,
assessments, and other materials you have used to complete
your business strategy plan.
Conduct a Situational Analysis
1. Benchmark Core Competencies - use Demand Metric‟s Core
Competencies Assessment Tool to benchmark your corporate
capabilities and identify areas for improvement.
2. Define Market Segments & Profile Customers - use our
Market Segmentation Tool to define and size key market
segments and develop customer profiles to personify „ideal‟
customers. For background information review our How To Guide
“Market Segmentation, Targeting, & Positioning”.
3. Perform a Competitive Positioning Analysis - use our
Competitive Analysis & Positioning Map to evaluate your
competitors and assess the market positioning for each of your
industry‟s key players.
4. Complete an Industry Analysis - use our STEP Industry
Analysis Tool to evaluate the Social, Technological, Economic,
and Political conditions of your market segments.
5. Summarize the Situational Analysis - based on your analysis
document INTERNAL strengths & weaknesses and EXTERNAL
opportunities & threats with our SWOT Analysis Tool.
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4. 4
Establish Objectives, Initiatives, Metrics, & Targets
1. Determine Business Objectives for Next 12-36 Months -
Use our Business Objectives Matrix to brainstorm and achieve
consensus on which objectives are of highest priority.
2. Establish/Update Key Performance Indicators - use our Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) Worksheet to select or revisit
metrics that are critical for monitoring performance.
3. Build a Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map – commence by
refining your corporate Mission & Vision Statements. Next,
develop a Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map that sets
objectives, initiatives, metrics, and targets for each of the
Customer, Financial, Learning & Growth, and Business Processes
perspectives.
GAP Analysis & Program Prioritization
1. Audit the Current Business Environment by Function – use our
GAP Analysis Tool to help you brainstorm ideas for Goals,
Targets, Timeframes, and Action Items for each core business
function. These GAPS will evolve into programs & projects for
each department/functional area of your organization.
Document and resolve GAPS for the following:
Strategic Planning
Business Data
Customer Relationship Management
Demand Generation
Sales Effectiveness
Performance Measurement
Market Research
Organizational Development
Human Resources
Information Systems
Product/Service Development
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5. 5
2. Review New Investment Opportunities - gather all
Business Cases for new program investments. If you haven‟t
already, strongly consider making formal business cases a
requirement for any recommendation to spend over $10,000.
3. Prioritize Current & Proposed Programs and Projects -
based on your high-level business objectives; assess each
current and proposed program in terms of strategic fit,
economic impact, and feasibility. Use our Business Strategy
Prioritization Tool to document each project and evaluate its
business value.
4. Prepare to Manage Change - For large enterprise level
programs, you may need to implement a formal change
management strategy. To refresh on best practices review our
How To Guide, Enabling Enterprise Change Management.
To improve your chances for success, use our Change
Management Readiness Assessment to ensure you have the
resources you require for implementing a Change
Management Plan.
5. Identify Key Success Factors for Execution – review each
program and determine Key Success Factors (KSF) to
highlight any key risks. The senior management team is
responsible for mitigating these risks, evaluating contingency
plans, and ensuring that each KSF has adequate resources
behind it. For more help in the risk management area, use our
Risk Analysis Tool, Risk Assessment Tool, and Risk
Mitigation Checklist.
6. Assign Programs to Department Leaders - delegate
responsibility for key programs to the appropriate executives.
Make it clear that the success or failure of these programs will
have a direct impact on their performance review. Now may
be a good time to evaluate Project Management Maturity to
determine if the right tools and process are in place to facilitate
program planning, execution, control, and closure.
7. Build Tactical Program Plans & Schedule Work - use our
Management topic area for help with implementing programs
and managing the activities of staff.
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6. 6
Implement a Governance Structure
1. Establish a Steering Committee - the role of the steering
committee is to review investment & business decisions, prioritize
programs, manage resource allocation, align departmental
activities, and monitor performance. Read our Executive
Summary “Steering Committees Improve Program Success”
and develop a Steering Committee Charter.
2. Create a Business Strategy Dashboard - monitor your
progress on each strategic initiative by tracking key metrics. Use
our Business Strategy Metrics Dashboard to create a
customized dashboard of your key metrics and provide visibility
to all steering committee members.
Present Business Strategy to Key Stakeholders
1. Communicate with Key Stakeholders - develop a Business
Strategy Presentation to communicate the highlights of your
strategic plan to the key stakeholders in your organization.
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