Strategic Planning

STRATEGIC PLANNING
SECTION I
PART 1
There are three types of leaders: Those who make things happen; those who watch
things happen; and those who wonder what happened!”
--An old American military saying
What is “strategy”? What is “planning”?
Strategy is: a careful plan or method devised to achieve a goal.
Planning is: a detailed program of action designed to achieve an overall objective.
So: what is “strategic”? Within a dictionary definition, what does it mean?
• “Of or relating to strategy; important or essential to a plan of action; highly
important to an objective. (The American Hetritage College Dictionary, 3rd
Edition)
• necessary to or important in the initiation, conduct, or completion of a strategic
plan
• of great importance within an integrated whole or to a planned effect (Merriam-
Webster On-Line Dictionary)
Therefore, strategic planning determines:
• where an organization is going over the next year or more;
• how it's going to get there; and
• how it'll know if it got there or not.
A strategic plan focuses on the entire organization.
Questions for consideration:
Why is it important for an organization to know what it wants to do over a period in
the future? Why is it important to know if it accomplished what it set out to do?

PART 2
Prefatory questions:
Who has a strategic plan? Which of you has a strategic plan in place for your
organization? Who has had any experience of developing a strategic plan?
Organizations have strategic plans. They may be for-profit or not-for-profit organizations.
Why is it important to have a strategic plan? What are the benefits of developing a
strategic plan?
These are the Benefits of Strategic Planning.
A strategic plan has many benefits. Many leaders spend a lot of time "fighting fires" in
their organization almost every week. This is not a good or effective use of time and
resources, since it makes it very difficult to be able to stand back and see the big picture
about what they want to accomplish and how they want to do it. It means that the
organization is not being effective at all.

How does strategic planning benefit leaders?
Strategic planning gives leaders:
• the opportunity; and
• the skills
to see the broad perspective and take the long view on what they want to do and how they
will do it. Having a strategic plan can help leaders understand their organization better.
This helps make the organization more effective.
Strategic plan = effective leadership = effective organization.

PART 3
Prefatory question:
In your thinking, what are some other ways in which a strategic plan can benefit an
organization, its leadership and its members?
A strategic plan can:
• Help leaders and members to clearly define the purpose of the organization
• Help leaders establish realistic goals and objectives which the organization can
implement.
• Help leaders to communicate the goals and objectives to the members of the
organization.
• Help everyone in the organization to feel a sense of ownership in the plan.
• Help make sure that the organization’s resources are being used effectively and
efficiently by focusing on the objectives.
• Help to provide a starting point from which you can measure your progress, and
set up a mechanism for making changes to the objectives where needed.
• Help everyone to see where the organization is going; and encourage them to pool
resources and work together.
• Help planners of the strategic plan to obtain great satisfaction when they see the
results of their plan coming to fruition.
• Help planners of the strategic plan to see whether they are making progress or not.
If they are making progress, they can see or understand why. If they are not
making progress, they can discover and examine the causes and make changes.
• Help solve major problems.

PART 4
Prefatory question:
What are some of the factors that can influence a strategic plan?
A strategic plan can be influenced by these factors:
• nature of the organization's leadership;
• culture of the organization;
• complexity of the organization's environment;
• size of the organization;
• expertise of planners.
Some of these factors can promote or frustrate the development and/or implementation of
a strategic plan.

PART 5
When you develop a strategic plan, what are you thinking? Are you thinking about
goals, or are you thinking about issues or problems that your organization is facing?
Your thinking will reflect the various types of strategic plan.
• goals-based models;
• issues-based models;
• organic models.
Goals-based strategic planning starts with focus on the organization's mission (and
vision and/or values), goals to work toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals,
and action planning (who will do what and by when).
Issues-based strategic planning starts by examining problems, challenges or issues
facing the organization, strategies to address them, and action plans.
Organic strategic planning starts by articulating the organization's vision and values
and then develops action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values.
Some plans focus on one year, many focus on three years, and some look five to ten years
into the future.
(GAME?)

PART 6
Prefatory question:
At what point do you think you should develop a strategic plan?
There are 4 occasions when you need to do strategic planning. They are:
• When a new organization is just getting started.
• When a new major venture is being prepared, for example, you may want to
create or develop a new division in your organization whose job it will be to look
for grants and develop applications for grant funding to support some of your
organization’s goals.
• In order to be ready for the coming fiscal year. In this case, strategic planning
should be conducted in time to identify the organizational goals to be achieved at
least over the coming fiscal year, resources needed to achieve those goals, and
funds needed to obtain the resources.
• When an organization has never had a strategic plan before.

PART 7
There are other factors to be considered in the development and implementation of
a strategic plan.
• The strategic plan is not cast in stone – it can be reviewed periodically and
revised.
• Because of this, each year, action plans should be updated.
• During implementation, progress should be reviewed at least every 3 or 6 months.
This can also provide an opportunity to review the plan itself.

SECTION II
PART 1
In preparing for a strategic plan, what do you do? Do you just sit down and write
the first thing that comes to mind?
These guidelines can help you to get develop a quality strategic plan:
• The real benefit of the strategic planning exercise is the process (i.e. how you go
about doing it), not the actual document. This is because the process helps you to
see the big picture and better understand your organization, its potentials and how
it operates within the larger environment.
• There is no "perfect" plan. Just do your best at strategic thinking and
implementation. The rest is a matter of learning from what you’re doing so that
you can improve in the future.
• The strategic planning process is a series of small moves that together keep the
organization doing things right as it heads in the right direction.
• In planning, things usually aren't as bad as you fear. But they’re not usually as
good as you'd like.
• Start simple, but start!
• If your organization has not done a strategic plan before, be prepared to use an
outside facilitator unless there are members in your organization whom other
members feel have the necessary skills.
• Be prepared to hold planning meetings and complete everything within 1 week. 1
week is suggested so that momentum is maintained.

PART 2
Who should take part in developing the strategic plan? Why?
• Start with a Strategic Planning Team (SPT).
• Ensure that the SPT includes members of the organization’s executive level
leadership (e.g. President, Principal, Chairman, etc). The responsibility of
executive leadership is to lead an organization effectively. Therefore it is their job
to implement the strategic plan. That is why it is important to make sure the
executive leadership is involved in the development process.
• Identify other people who will work on the plan; people who will provide
information to enable the plan to be developed; those who will do the paperwork;
those who will review and critique the document; those who will approve it; and
those who will implement it. These can be the same or different people.
• Make sure that the SPT is representative of the organization’s constituency, so
that stakeholders can feel that they are involved in the planning process. This is
because if stakeholders feel they are involved in the planning process, then they
will want to support the implementation process.

SECTION III
PART 1
Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success. - Henry Ford
Prefatory question:
When a strategic plan document is completed, what is the next step?
The next step in the process is implementation.
A strategic plan is not to be produced only to collect dust. Your organization needs to
commit itself to implementing the goals of the strategic plan. A strategic plan that is not
implemented is useless, and a waste of everybody’s time. It may also mean that the
leadership may be weak or not committed and needs to improve in various areas.
Furthermore, it may mean that the plan itself contains goals which the organization is not
capable of implementing.
The part of a strategic plan which deals with implementation is known as the action plan
or implementation plan.

PART 2
In order to ensure that the implementation part of the strategic plan is successful,
what are the conditions that must exist? Can you think of some helpful guidelines
for successfully implementing your strategic plan?
Guidelines for successful implementation of your strategic plan:
• The people who will be responsible for implementing the strategic plan must be
involved in the planning process.
• Make sure that the goals of your strategic plan are realistic. Ask yourselves if you
can really do this?
• Compartmentalize the overall strategic plan into smaller action plans or tasks
which can be performed by each person or group of persons involved. For
example, if the plan is to submit a grant proposal, it should be broken down into
several small steps:
o identify grant
o develop concept
o draft proposal
o review and revise draft
o complete finished proposal
o obtain approval of final proposal
o submit grant application/proposal
• In the strategic plan document, specify who will be responsible for performing
what task. This is known as the action plan.
• In the action plan, make sure that when you specify who will be responsible for
implementation of each segment of the strategic plan, you include deadlines for
completion of each task.
• It can be helpful if you assign each task in the action plan to 2 people so that they
can support each other.

• Include dates and venues for regular review of the action plan’s implementation.
This is because if the people responsible for tasks know that there will be follow-
ups, they will carry out their assignments.
• Make sure that you identify a person who will be responsible for checking
progress on implementation of each task.
• It is also very helpful to rotate the “checkers” for implementation so that there can
be more than one verification of each task being completed.
• It can be helpful if you review the job descriptions of the people responsible for
parts of the action plan and include their responsibility for the action plan in their
job description.
• Make sure that everybody who is involved in the organization is aware of the
strategic plan and the plan for implementation.
• Make sure that the action plan identifies one or two persons who will have overall
responsibility for overseeing the implementation process.
• Make sure that there is room for the Board or Executive Committee to offer
feedback on implementation.

SECTION IV
PART 1
A successful Team beats with one heart – Zeshan Shafiq
SWOT ANALYSIS
Prefatory question:
What is SWOT?
SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
All good Strategic Plans have a SWOT Analysis.
Strengths: Inherent qualities which make the organization strong.
Weaknesses: Inherent characteristics of the organization that make it weak.
Opportunities: External conditions which can support or benefit the organization.
Threats: External conditions which can hurt or harm the organization.

PART 2
Why is a SWOT analysis done?
A SWOT analysis is conducted to collect data to answer questions about the present and
future of the organization.
• Your SWOT analysis develops a common perception.
• Your SWOT analysis identifies strengths, weaknesses, trends and conditions.
• Your SWOT analysis draws on internal and external information.
• Your SWOT analysis is a key on-going process for internal and external honesty
and openness to changing conditions.

PART 3
Why is a SWOT analysis important in the development of a strategic plan?
Strategic analysis is the heart of the strategic planning process and should not be ignored.
This is because:
Strategic analysis looks at the Organization internally and externally!
It is important for organizations to conduct a thorough SWOT analysis as part of their
strategic planning process because not doing so will make the planning process much less
strategic and a lot more guesswork. There is nothing strategic about guesswork!!
Also, SWOT analysis can assist you to identify areas for development and can be the
basis of your overall strategy for future advancement.
In other words:
Strengths and Weaknesses are internal attributes which we can address by either
changing or maintaining our structure. Opportunities and Threats are external
variables which we may or may not be able to control.
Example:
Strengths are positive aspects internal to Jingo: Jingo's ability to work hard is a strength.
Therefore we can encourage Jingo to continue working hard.
Weaknesses are negative aspects internal to Jingo: Jingo's tendency to procrastinate is a
weakness. Therefore we must encourage Jingo to finish his tasks on time.
Opportunities are positive aspects external to Jingo: Jingo's supervisor rewards those
who satisfactorily complete projects. Therefore we must encourage people to complete
their projects satisfactorily.
Threats are negative aspects external to Jingo: there is often not enough time for Jingo
to complete most projects. Therefore we must look at Jingo’s workload and his habit of
procrastination and try to solve the problem.
Closing Question:

What are some of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats you see as
you examine your organization?
PART 4
What are some tools used for a SWOT analysis?
There are many approaches to SWOT analysis, including:
• Open Forums
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Questionnaires
What is An Open Forum?
A medium of open discussion or voicing of ideas. It can be a newsletter or even a forum
at http://www.yahoogroups.com.
What are Surveys ?
A survey is a system for collecting information to describe, compare, or explain
knowledge, attitudes and behavior. You set objectives for information collection,
designing research, preparing a reliable and valid data collection instrument,
administering and scoring the instrument, analyzing data, and reporting the results.
Surveys are taken on just about everything from a to z.
What are focus groups
These are small groups selected from a broader population and interviewed through
facilitator-led discussions for opinions and emotional responses about a particular
subject. Focus groups are a common market research tool. Results are qualitative and
are not statistically significant.
What is a questionnaire?
A form containing a set of questions, especially one addressed to a statistically significant
These are commonly-used tools for conducting a SWOT analysis.

PART 5.
Prefatory Question:
Now you have completed your SWOT analysis! What next?!
The next step is to ask yourself these questions:
• How can I use my strengths to enable me to take advantage of the opportunities I
have identified?
• How can I use these strengths to overcome the threats I have identified?
• What do I need to do to overcome the identified weaknesses in order to take
advantage of the opportunities?
• How will I minimize my weaknesses to overcome the identified threats?
The answers to these questions will help you to direct your energies more
efficiently. You now have the beginnings of a road map to plan and direct your
work.

PART 6.
Prefatory Question:
When you’re doing a SWOT analysis, what should happen?
o You should identify issues by addressing questions such as:
 “What external changes could effect the organization?” Consider,
e.g.,
• changing demographics of stakeholders, including number,
values, resources, power, etc.;
- changing rules and regulations; expectations and
resources from sponsors, members, etc.;
- expected shifts in needs for products and services;
availability of leadership and staffing; and
- what other current or new organizations provide similar
services?
 “What could be the effects of these changes in terms of threats or
opportunities?”
c) “What changes must we make to address the threats?”
d) “What strengths can we build on to take advantage of the
opportunities?”
o Use a round-robin technique to collect and organize members’ input.
o Decide whether an issue is “important” or “urgent.” Attend only to the
important issues and not the urgent issues.
o Gain consensus on the top three to five issues and goals, and them
prioritize them.
o Issues and goals usually come from:
o strengths to be built on;
o weaknesses to be strengthened;
o opportunities to be taken; and
o threats to be avoided.

o Many issues are based on gut feeling or intuition, rather than on extensive
external and internal assessments.
o Issues that are too narrow do not warrant planning and issues that are too
broad will waste your time.
o Deal with issues that you can do something about.
o Help planners realize they can overcome pending issues. Too often,
because of shortage of resources, planners tend to be highly reactive,
rather than proactive.
o Issues should be clearly articulated so that people outside the organization
can understand it.
o It helps to temper ideas, i.e., verify them against reality by having
someone in the group assigned to be the “devil’s advocate.” Their role is
to ask straightforward questions in an effort to get group members to
adequately examine the current suggestion or idea before accepting it.
o Be careful not to ignore current major issues in the interest of pursuing
more creative and forward-looking goals. Many organizations have
faltered because their planning focused too far down the road and they
ended up falling over their feet.
o Have someone reword issues to goals. Note that goals should be worded
such that, when they are reached, they will have addressed an issue.
Planning members should review wording of the goals to ensure all
members understand the goals and that the goals, when reached, will
address each issue.

EXAMPLE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS I
SOURCE: Lakehead University – Faculty of Business Administration – 2014 Marketing Management I
Source: Bplan.com 1
The Implications
The internal strengths and weaknesses, compared to the external opportunities and
threats, can offer additional insight into the condition and potential of the business. How
can you use the strengths to better take advantage of the opportunities ahead and
minimize the harm that threats may introduce if they become a reality? How can
weaknesses be minimized or eliminated? The true value of the SWOT analysis is in
bringing this information together, to assess the most promising opportunities, and the
most crucial issues.
An Example
AMT is a computer store in a medium-sized market in the United States. Lately it has
suffered through a steady business decline, caused mainly by increasing competition from
larger office products stores with national brand names. The following is the SWOT
analysis included in its marketing plan.
Strengths
• Knowledge. Our competitors are retailers, pushing boxes. We know systems, networks,
connectivity, programming and data management.
• Relationship selling. We get to know our customers, one by one. Our direct sales force
maintains a relationship.
• History. We've been in our town forever. We have the loyalty of customers and
vendors. We are local.
Weaknesses
• Costs. The chain stores have better economics. Their per-unit costs of selling are quite
low. They aren't offering what we offer in terms of knowledgeable selling, but their cost
per square foot and per dollar of sales are much lower.
• Price and volume. The major stores pushing boxes can afford to sell for less. Their
component costs are less and they benefit from volume buying with the main vendors.
• Brand power. Take one look at their full-page advertising, in color, in the Sunday
paper. We can't match that. We don't have the national name that flows into national
advertising.
Opportunities
• Local area networks. LANs are becoming commonplace in small businesses, and even
in home offices. Businesses today assume LANs are part of normal office work. This is
an opportunity for us because LANs are much more knowledge and service intensive
than the standard off-the-shelf PC.

Lakehead University – Faculty of Business Administration – 2014 Marketing Management I
Source: Bplan.com 2
• The Internet. The increasing opportunities of the Internet offer us another area of
strength in comparison to the box-on-the-shelf major chain stores. Our customers want
more help with the Internet and we are in a better position to give it to them.
• Training. The major stores don't provide training, but as systems become more
complicated with LAN and Internet usage, training is more in demand. This is
particularly true of our main target markets.
• Service. As our target market needs more service, our competitors are less likely than
ever to provide it. Their business model doesn't include service, just selling the boxes.
Threats
• The computer as appliance. Volume buying and selling of computers as products in
boxes, supposedly not needing support, training, connectivity services, etc. As people
think of the computer in those terms, they think they need our service orientation less.
• The larger price-oriented store. When they have huge advertisements of low prices in
the newspaper, our customers think we are not giving them good value.

EXAMPLE OF A SWOT ANALYSIS II
SOURCE: Gallaudet University – OIPS Marketing Plan 2003-06
2.2 SWOT Analysis.
The SWOT analysis will cover Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Strengths and Weaknesses are internal attributes which we can address by either
changing or maintaining our structure. Opportunities and threats are external
variables which we may or may not be able to control.
2.2.1 Strengths
1. True expertise. All of our employees know their respective areas of endeavor
thoroughly. Combined, each employee brings a total of more than 100 years’
niche experience into OIPS operations.
2. Staff dedication. OIPS has a dedicated corps of staff persons whom espouse
progressive ideas and enjoy being entrusted with responsibility and ownership of
their ideas and projects.
3. Cultural sensitivity. All of our employees are attuned to the varying nuances
involved with working with a diverse constituency.
4. Contacts. Due to the volume of satisfied individuals whom have benefited from
OIPS programs and services over the past decade or more, there is a treasure trove
of word-of-hand and word-of-mouth marketing, networking and contacts
available to OIPS.
5. Nationwide network. OIPS benefits from being a member of NAFSA (National
Association of Foreign Student Advisors), the official body representing
international student advisors in colleges and universities nationwide. The official
name is Association of International Educators, but the acronym is NAFSA.
6. Revenue-generation. OIPS generates revenue through the ELI and CGE arms,
and can look to earning a minimum of $250,000 per annum from both programs
combined.
7. Internet availability. The proliferation of the internet is a boon to marketing our
programs and services internationally. The opportunities that arise from an
internet presence go without saying.
8. Uniqueness. There is no other established program designed to serve Deaf and
Hard-of-Hearing individuals similar to OIPS worldwide.
9. The Gallaudet brand. “Think Deaf; think Gallaudet” is a growing theme. Deaf
persons worldwide would love to taste the Gallaudet experience, and OIPS
programs make that possible.
2.2.2 Weaknesses
1. Marketing. As a unit of CAPSS, OIPS does not have the resources or expertise
required for direct marketing and massive recruitment to its programs.

SOURCE: Gallaudet University – OIPS Marketing Plan 2003-06
Accordingly, the most important marketing conduit is the long line of persons
who express satisfaction with our services.
2. Staff. OIPS is heavily short-staffed within the CGE and IS areas. This can
compromise the quality of output in a way that might be fatal to Gallaudet’s
continued admission of international students for a period of time. This can have
an impact on jobs in every area of OIPS. In the ELI area, OIPS relies on part-time
employees, which is not ideal because they are graduate students with their own
academic responsibilities to contend with.
3. Staffing levels. NAFSA best practices rules state that there should be one Primary
Designated School Officer (PDSO) and Designated School Officer (DSO) to
every 70 international students on a University campus. We have one PDSO and
DSO each, which given those guidelines, means we are equipped to serve 140
international students. The actual number of 350+ served is above and beyond
this. This crisis situation has led to some students falling out of status.
4. Staffing levels. J-1 visa operations have consistently failed to meet Federal
regulations governing program administration and staffing/support services. The
regulations (62.9 and 62.72) provide that there shall be a ratio of 1 Responsible
Officer (RO) to 10 Alternate Responsible Officers (ARO’s). The current crisis
position is 1 RO and 1 ARO.
5. Revenue generation. As a result of limited revenue base which hampers its
ability to actively recruit, there may be years of revenue shortfall which can hurt
OIPS programs.
6. Limited budget. The IS sub-unit shares a common budget with the CGE, which
means that the considerable demands of IS for student workers will eat heavily
into the CGE budget.
2.2.3 Opportunities
1. Internet availability. The proliferation of the internet is a boon to marketing our
programs and services internationally. The opportunities that arise from an
internet presence go without saying.
2. DV Immigrants. DV immigrants who benefit from VR support for their
education at OIPS programs.
3. New markets. Potential markets exist in the affluent Middle East, Far East and
economically growing China.
4. Technology. Distance learning technology can open up new vistas which will
enable international students to earn a Gallaudet degree while still physically
resident in their home countries.
5. Grant opportunities. There are private and public grant opportunities available
which can support many of the programs we develop.
2.2.4 Threats
1. Internet availability. The internet is a threat in terms of the ease of access it
provides to free ESL learning.

SOURCE: Gallaude tUniversity – OIPS Marketing Plan 2003-06
2. Barriers to VR support. Certain state VR agencies will not support applicants to
ELI unless those students can obtain Pell grants; VR agencies consider ELI tuition
levels to be prohibitive.
3. Strict Immigration regulation enforcement. The BCIS has imposed stricter
regulations on the admission of international students into the United States and
maintenance by them of their immigration status, and is very keen to enforce
these regulations. Among the BCIS’s penalties for infractions of its rules
(irrespective of the infractions being inadvertent or deliberate) is the wholesale
dismissal of current international students at a University and the total ban on that
University from accepting any international student of any description for a 2-
year period.
4. Global Terrorism. The threat of global terrorism has not abated. The continuing
threat means that immigration controls will remain tighter than ever, and there is
the possibility of future increases in the strictness of these control measures,
which are bound to negatively impact the numbers of international students who
benefit from our programs and services.
5. Poverty. We receive a lot of applications from qualified applicants worldwide
who however cannot afford the cost of our program. It is hoped the number of
applicants hampered by poverty will not increase.

SECTION V
PART 1
It's possible to achieve almost anything as long as you are not worried about who gets
the credit." – Harry S. Truman
Strategic Directions
Prefatory Question:
What are strategic directions?
Strategies are broad, overall priorities or directions adopted by an organization on how
best to accomplish an organization’s mission. Therefore, strategic directions are the
methods or strategies you intend to use to achieve the goals you outline in your
strategic plan.
Examples:
• The mission of the National Museum of Art is to increase opportunities to
experience world class art. They decided to rent a collection, rather than buy one.
• The local hospital provided treatment services for HIV/AIDS victims. After many
years spent caring for HIV/AIDS victims, the hospital shifted its strategy towards
prevention. To implement its strategy of prevention, an education component was
added to their services, and the staff worked to help promulgate new law designed
to emphasis HIV/AIDS education.
Lesson from the examples?
Each organization has made a clear choice among various options about how best to
pursue its mission. It is easy to see how each of these core strategies might be
translated into specific goals and objectives over a period of several years. What is
not easy to see is how much effort, experimentation, and discussion were required to
find these successful strategies. The strategic planning process helps organizations
identify various strategic options and to make intelligent choices in developing
strategic directions and plans.

PART 2
Prefatory Question:
How do I identify strategic issues and goals from my strategic plan?
Conduct a solid strategic analysis that includes assessment of the external environment
of the organization and feedback from stakeholders.
This will enable you to avoid looking only at what the organization is internally doing
now and how they might do it a little bit better. Then you can better shore up weaknesses
to avoid oncoming threats and use strengths to take advantage of new opportunities.
This is why an effective SWOT analysis is important!

PART 3
Prefatory Question:
So how do I develop genuine strategic issues and goals for my strategic plan?!
• Recognize strategies you need to be associated with, e.g., resolving major issues,
developing new methods of delivery, servicing additional or smaller groups of
members, or collaborations for survival or efficiency.
• Strategies should focus on structural changes as much as possible. These changes
are more likely to direct and sustain changes in the organization.
• In general, strategies deal with the question, “How do we position ourselves if the
future changes, and if it is not what we expected?”
• Use a brainstorming technique to collect all ideas from planning members.
• During strategy development, continue to ask, “Is this really a strategic activity?
Will it lead to positive change in your organization?”
• Reconsider strategies that have worked or haven’t in the past.
• Ensure strategies don’t conflict with each other. In other words, make sure that if
you implement one strategy, it will not prevent you from implementing another
strategy.

PART 4
Prefatory Question:
Are there more issues that I should consider?
YES.
For further consideration:
• The top issues usually produce the most complex and difficult strategies to deal
with the issues and reach each goal. Therefore, meetings to identify strategies may
be the most troublesome.
• To ensure effective communication, revisit what the term “strategic” means to the
planners.
• While facilitating the meetings, use brainstorming to collect all ideas and process
them. Use notes to organize your ideas.
• To help refine and clarify ideas, consider asking “Why” five times to each idea.
• To further explore a suggestion or an idea, ask the speaker if his or her statement
is based on an assumption, solid data, and whether it is a conclusion?
• Each strategy or groups of strategies might be associated with new or current
programs.
• Each major function should eventually have its own specific strategies,
measurable objectives, resource needs, financial need specification and budgets,
and plans to evaluate results.

PART 5
Prefatory Question:
Is there a tool I can use to clarify my goals and objectives?!
YES!
The GOALS Grid.
To construct the “goals grid”, begin with these 4 questions:
1. What do you want that you don't have? (Achieve)
2. What do you want that you already have? (Preserve)
3. What don't you have that you don't want? (Avoid)
4. What do you have now that you don't want? (Eliminate)

SECTION VI
PART 1
Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves — Dale Carnegie
Your Mission Statement
Prefatory Question:
Why is it important to have a mission statement?
It is important to have a mission statement because:
• it addresses our basic need for definition and direction;
• it defines the purpose of the organization and the values and ethical principles by
which members aspire to live; and
• it provides a foundation by which the organization should operate and create
goals.
In other words, your mission statement will help you to create goals for your strategic
plan.

PART 2
Prefatory Question:
So how do I go about creating a mission statement?

SECTION VII
PART 1
My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the
work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group. There is
much less competition— Indira Gandhi
Your Action Plan
Prefatory Questions:
Why must my strategic plan have an action plan? What is involved in developing
my action plan?
Strategic planning is an exhilarating and exciting process. You come up with new ideas,
mission, vision, and talk about issues and opportunities. But if your strategic plan lacks
an action plan, and if you do not make sure that the action plan is carried out, then your
strategic plan is wasted.
When you develop your action plan, you will decide who is going to do what, by when,
and in what order so that your organization can accomplish its strategic goals.

PART 2
Prefatory Question:
So how do I go about developing my action plan?
• Your action plan needs to show how you will accomplish each strategic goal.
• You should have an action plan for each area of your organization, e.g.,
marketing, development, finance, personnel, and for each program/service, etc.
These plans should show how the overall action plan will be implemented.
• Ensure each officer or employee has an action plan that contributes to the overall
action plan.
• The plan for the organization, each major function, each officer or staff, might
specify:
 The goal(s) that are to be accomplished
 How each goal contributes to the organization's overall strategic goals
 What specific results (or objectives) much be accomplished
 How those results will be achieved
 When the results will be achieved
Is that all?
NO! There’s more!
You must develop your objectives and timelines.
• Objectives are specific, measurable results produced while implementing
strategies.
• While identifying objectives, keep asking “Are you sure you can do this?”
• Add the current year’s objectives as performance criteria in each “implementer’s”
job description and performance review.
• Remember that objectives and their timelines are only guidelines, not rules set in
stone. They can be deviated from, but deviations should be understood and
explained.

EXAMPLE OF AN ACTION PLAN I
SOURCE: Recreation Facility Association of Nova Scotia (RFANS)
Goal 2 – To develop and implement a promotional communication strategy directed to
existing members, potential future members, three levels of government and business
emphasizing the existing and future importance of RFANS by May 2004 AGM.
Success Measures – greater recognition, increased government and private sector
support, increased membership and membership involvement leading to a greater sense
of stability.
Objective – to perform a communication audit to determine effectiveness of current
communications utilized by RFANS and to provide recommendations for improvements
and development of a promotional communication strategy.
Action Steps –
1) Establish a committee to provide leadership and oversee the audit. Bill and Chuck
will take a lead in identifying committee members by November 2003.
2) The committee will explore availability of grants and financial resources to hire or
contract with a professional communications planner by December 2003.
3) Dave M. will check with NSSR regarding available funding. ASAP
4) Hire or contract the services of a professional communications / public relations
planner to complete the above mentioned study and present findings to the committee /
board by May 2004.
Objective – to collect data on facility usage from provincial recreation facilities
including but not limited to pools, arenas, outdoor facilities, skate parks and playgrounds.
Action Steps –
1) Develop and provide a formula and/or process for collecting attendance usage numbers
2) Bill and Chuck will develop an on-line form for facilities to feed the data to RFANS
3) Promote the project to all facilities
4) Explore grant availability to perform analysis
5) Provide results to RFANS members
6) Prepare a presentation on RFANS role to present to OHP at January meeting.
This will be prepared by Bill, Dave and Chuck by December 2003.
Achievements – Due to the restructuring of Sport Nova Scotia the committee
recommended in the first objective was not established. A presentation was made to the
Office of Health Promotion which will assist in establishing strong ties to the new
office

EXAMPLE OF AN ACTION PLAN II
Strategic Goal
Strategy Objective
Responsibility
Timeline
1. To increase
public
awareness of
Deafness.
1. Work closely
with media and
government.
2. Implement
publicity
campaigns.
3. Host a Deaf
Awareness
Month.
1. Media
publicizes
Deaf-related
issues in a
positive way.
2. Publicity
campaign
results in
increased
contacts with
the public,
NGO’s and
other entities.
3. Deaf
Awareness
Month
receives
attention in
media.
Public Relations
Officer and a
committee made
up of Jingo,
Bongo, Jango and
Bingo.
December 2006.

SECTION VIII
PART 1
A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share
of the credit — Arnold H. Glasgow
Writing and Organizing your Strategic Plan
Prefatory Question:
Now I have developed my strategic plan. How do I write and organize it?
Start with an initial draft. A small group of people should write it. The writers should be
members of your organization.
The initial draft does not need to contain every detail.
The draft should then be presented to the Board of Directors or Executive Council for
review and approval. You can also present the draft to selected members of the
organization for their input.
Make sure that the strategic plan, if it is read by people outside the organization, can be
understood by them. This will help to sell your organization to outsiders.
Organize your strategic plan into sections so that outside bodies which get a copy of the
plan can follow it. These sections should be as follows:
1. Executive Summary -- This is written to the scope and level of content
that an “outsider” can read the summary and grasp the mission of the
organization, its overall major issues and goals, and key strategies to reach
the goals
2. Authorization -- This page includes all of the necessary signatures from
the board of directors (if applicable) and other top management
designating that they approve the contents of, and support implementation
of, the plan
3. Organizational Description -- This section describes, for example, the
beginnings and history of the organization, its major products and
services, highlights and accomplishments during the history of
organization, etc.
4. Mission, Vision and Values Statements -- These statements describe the
strategic "philosophy" of the organization

5. Goals and Strategies -- Lists all of the major strategic goals and
associated strategies identified during the strategic planning process.
PART 2
Communicating your Strategic Plan
Prefatory Question:
How do I communicate my strategic plan?
• Every board member and member of the executive or management should get a
copy of the plan.
• Consider distributing all or some of the plan to everyone in the organization. This
will enable staff members to gain quick context, appreciation, and meaning from
review of the strategic plan.
• Post your mission and vision and values statements on the walls of your main
offices. Consider giving each employee a card with the statements on the card.
• Publish portions of your plan in your regular newsletter, and advertising and
marketing materials (brochures, ads, etc.).
• Train members on portions of the plan during orientations.
• Include portions of the plan in policies and procedures, including your operating
manual.
• Consider copies of the plan for major stakeholders, for example, supporters,
donors, potential collaborators, etc.

SECTION VIII
PART 1
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions —Harold S.
Geneen
Monitoring and Evaluating Your Plan
Prefatory Question:
Why do I need to monitor and evaluate my strategic plan?
You need to monitor and evaluate your strategic plan continuously during
implementation, to make sure that you are on track. If you are not on track, then you can
be able to examine why. Monitoring your plan can also help you to learn a great deal
about the organization and how to manage it by continuing to monitor and evaluate the
planning activities and the status of the implementation of the plan.
Your strategic plans are not rules, but guidelines. Accordingly, it's OK to deviate from a
plan. But planners should understand the reason for the deviations and update the plan to
reflect the new direction.
Responsibilities for Monitoring and Evaluation
The strategic plan should specify who is responsible:
• for the overall implementation of the plan;
• for achieving each goal and objective;
• to monitor the implementation of the plan and make decisions based on the
results.
For example, the board might expect the President to regularly report to the full board
about the status of implementation, including progress toward each of the overall
strategic goals. In turn, the President might expect regular status reports from Zonal
Coordinators regarding the status toward their achieving the goals and objectives
assigned to them.

PART 2
Prefatory Question:
What must I look out for during the implementation of my strategic plan?
You may want to monitor your goals on a monthly basis. If you cannot do so, then you
may set up regular monitoring periods such as quarterly, or every 2 months. During
monitoring and evaluation, you want to find out if your goals and objectives are being
achieved or not. If they are, then acknowledge, reward and communicate the
progress. If not, then find out why not, and also consider the following questions:
• Will the goals be achieved according to the timelines specified in the plan? If not,
then why?
• Should the deadlines for completion be changed?
• Do our people have adequate resources (money, equipment, facilities, training,
etc.) to achieve the goals?
• Are the goals and objectives still realistic?
• Should priorities be changed to put more focus on achieving the goals?
• Should the goals be changed?
• What can be learned from our monitoring and evaluation in order to improve
future planning activities and also to improve future monitoring and evaluation
efforts?

PART 2
Prefatory Questions:
How do I report the results from monitoring my strategic plan? Can I change my
plan?
• Always write down the status reports. In the reports, describe:
• Answers to the above key questions while monitoring implementation.
• Trends regarding the progress (or lack thereof) toward goals, including which
goals and objectives
• Recommendations about the status
• Any actions needed by management
You can change your action plan. Make sure that you put in place a proper mechanism
for changing the plan, such as agreement by the Chairman/President or Board of
Directors. When you make changes, write down the following:
• What is causing changes to be made.
• Why the changes should be made.
• The changes to make, including goals, objectives, responsibilities and timelines.
• Manage the various versions of the plan (including by putting a new date on each
new version of the plan).
Don’t throw away old copies of the plan. And try to write down what you have learned
from recent planning activity. This will make the next strategic planning activity easier
and more efficient.

FINALLY!!!!
The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming
back with excuses — Napoleon Hill
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit
for doing it — Andrew Carnegie
No executive has ever suffered because his subordinates were strong and effective —
Peter Drucker
Leadership is action, not position — Donald H. McGannon
The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive — Joe Batten
Strategic Plan Sample from the Internet.
http://www.planware.org/strategicsample.htm
When you have accomplished the objectives set out
in your strategic plan, you need to celebrate.
PARTY! Reward your people for their efforts!
Acknowledge them for a job well done!
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way —John C.
Maxwell

PROBLEM SOLVING
Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything—Billy Graham
Focus on remedies, not faults – Jack Nicklaus
If you want to make progress, you need to have an organized approach to solving
problem and making decisions. Of course, not all problems can be solved, and not all
decisions that are made can be the right decisions. But the steps below will help you to
see your way clear to solving problems and making decisions that are based on well-
considered judgments.
STEP 1: DEFINE THE PROBLEM
A problem well stated is a problem half solved—John Dewey
Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your
energies on moving forward toward finding the answer –Dennis Waitley
Try to understand more about why you think there's a problem. You can do this more
effectively with input from yourself and others.
Ask yourself and others, the following 6 questions:
• What can you see that causes you to think there's a problem?
• Where is it happening?
• How is it happening?
• Why is it happening?
• When is it happening?
• With whom is it happening? (NOTE WELL: Don’t say "Who is causing the
problem?" This is blaming. It will result in defensiveness, and the problem will
not go away.)
Now that you have critically answered the 6 questions, the next step will be to write
down a description of the problem. You can begin like this:
• The following should be happening, but isn't ... or
• The following is not happening and should be ...

Make your description clear. Say, what, where, how, why, when and with whom it is
happening.
Complex Problems
If there is more than one problem, or if the problem is complex, then break it down by
asking yourself those 6 questions again until you have descriptions of the problems.
Make sure you understand the problem
In order to do this, you can verify your analysis of the problem by conferring with a
colleague. If you have a team dedicated to analyzing the problem, it can be helpful if the
team’s analysis can be verified with someone else.
Prioritize
If you find that there are several related problems, prioritize which ones you should
address first.
Understand your role in the problem
Your role in the problem can greatly influence how you perceive the role of others. For
example, if you are feeling guilty about your role in the problem, you may ignore the
accountabilities of others.
Don't find fault. Find a remedy – Henry Ford
When a problem comes along, study it until you are completely knowledgeable. Then
find that weak spot, break the problem apart, and the rest will be easy – Norman
Vincent Peale
STEP 2: LOOK AT POTENTIAL CAUSES FOR THE PROBLEM
How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself - so always
think positively – Norman Vincent Peale
When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail –
Abraham Maslow
• It is always important to get input from other people who notice the same problem
that you do, and who are affected by it.
• When you do this, make sure you meet with people one at a time at first. This will
allow them to speak freely. Later you can meet with people as a group.
• Write down your opinion, and also write down what you have heard from others.

The "how" thinker gets problems solved effectively because he wastes no time with
futile "ifs" but goes right to work on the creative "how"– Norman Vincent Peale
A problem is a chance for you to do your best – Duke Ellington
STEP 3 IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO RESOLVE THE
PROBLEM
You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created – Albert Einstein
Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain, forever a
barrier to the growth and development of the spirit – Scott Peck
When you reach this stage, it is helpful to make sure that other people who are affected
by the problem are involved in developing a solution.
Brainstorm for solutions to the problem.
What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is collecting as many ideas as possible, and then screening them to find the
best idea. So during brainstorming, do not reject any ideas because they sound silly or
unrealistic or impractical. Write down all the ideas that are suggested to you.
The majority of our society's problems are man-made, leaving the power of solution in
our hands. – Johnnie E. Williams III
Believe it is possible to solve your problem. Tremendous things happen to the believer.
So believe the answer will come. It will. – Norman Vincent Peale
STEP 4 SELECT AN APPROACH TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. No problem of
human destiny is beyond human beings – John F. Kennedy
Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood – Marie Curie
When you get to the point of selecting an approach, think about these questions:
• Which approach is most suitable to solve the problem over the long term?
• Which approach is most realistic for now?
• Do you have the resources? If you don’t have the resources, can you afford the
resources?

• Do you have enough time to implement the tasks needed to solve the problem?
• What kind of risk is involved with the approach you want to use?
"I must do something" always solves more problems than "Something must be done."
– Unknown
Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscles, they toughen and make
strong – Norman Vincent Peale
STEP 5 PLAN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE APPROACH
When I dig another out of trouble, the hole from which I lift him is the place where I
bury my own – Norman Vincent Peale
It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer – Albert Einstein
Note that this is your action plan!
• Write down what you think the situation will look like after the problem is solved.
• Decide what steps should be taken to implement the problem-solving approach.
Maybe system or process should be changed in your organization. For example,
you may want to start with a new policy or procedure. Don't talk about a need for
someone to “work harder".
• Establish a process that will allow you to know that the steps are being followed.
This will tell you whether the problem-solving plan is working or not.
• Decide what resources you will need to solve the problem (time, money, people,
facilities)
• For time, make sure that you include timelines.
• Make sure you identify who will be responsible for implementation.
When you have written all these down, you have an action plan for solving the problem!
Communicate the action plan to those who will be involved in implementing it and also
to the people who are affected by the problem.
Ensure that you keep an eye on the implementation process.

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and
thinking that having problems is a problem – Theodore Rubin
For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When
you come to a roadblock, take a detour – Mary Kay Ash
STEP 6 MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN
It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers – James Thurber
Do not think of your faults; still less of others' faults. Look for what is good and strong
and try to imitate it. Your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes –
John Ruskin
• Are you seeing what you would expect from the indicators?
• Will the plan be done according to schedule?
• If the plan is not being followed as expected, then:
 Was the plan realistic?
 Are there sufficient resources to accomplish the plan on schedule?
 Should more priority be placed on various aspects of the plan?
 Should the plan be changed?
The important thing is not to stop questioning – Albert Einstein
There are no big problems, there are just a lot of little problems – Henry Ford
STEP 7 VERIFY IF THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN RESOLVED OR NOT
A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them,
and strong enough to correct them – John C. Maxwell
To discover if a problem has been solved or not, resume normal business. Also consider:
What changes should be made to avoid this type of problem in the future? Maybe new
policies and procedures, more training, more team-building activities, etc

FINALLY!!!!
At the end of each problem-solving exercise, ask yourself the question:
What did you learn from this problem solving activity? Do you think you have gained
new knowledge, new understanding and new skills? Write a brief memo that highlights
the success of the problem solving effort, and what you learned as a result. Share it!
Learn to adjust yourself to the conditions you have to endure, but make a point of
trying to alter or correct conditions so that they are most favorable to you – William
Frederick Book
A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another
mistake – Confucius
STRATEGIC
LEADERSHIP
"For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
----Rudyard Kipling (author of The Jungle Book)
7 FUNCTIONS OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP:
1. Purpose / Vision: to provide direction for the organization as a whole
2. Strategic Thinking and Planning: to get strategy and policy right
3. Operational / Administration: making it happen (overall executive
responsibility)
4. Organization Fitness to Situational Requirement: organizing or reorganizing
(balance of whole and parts)
5. Energy, Morale, Confidence, Espirit de corps: releasing the corporate spirit

6. Allies and Partners, Stakeholders, Political: relating the organization to other
organizations and society as a whole
7. Teaching and Leading the Learning by Example: choosing today's leaders and
developing tomorrow's leaders
Vision
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." –
Japanese proverb
Vision is a short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and to
achieve at some point in the future, often stated in competitive terms. Vision refers to the category of
intentions that are broad, all-intrusive and forward-thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its
goals before it sets out to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means
that will be used to achieve those desired ends.
The corporate success depends on the vision articulated by the chief executive or the top management.
For a vision to have any impact of the employees of an organization it has to be conveyed in a dramatic
and enduring way. The most effective visions are those that inspire, usually asking employees for the best,
the most or the greatest. Make sure you keep stretch in your vision, communicate it constantly, and keep
linking the events of today to your vision, underscoring the relationship between the two.
Warren Bennis, a noted writer on leadership, says: "To choose a direction, an executive must have
developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which
we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or a mission statement."
At General Electric (GE) the vision is 'We bring good things to life'.
Objectives of Strategic Leadership
Strategic leadership provides the vision, direction, the purpose for growth, and context for the success of
the corporation. It also initiates "outside-the-box" thinking to generate future growth. Strategic leadership
is not about micromanaging business strategies. Rather, it provides the umbrella under which businesses
devise appropriate strategies and create value.2
In short, strategic leadership answers two questions:
• What - by providing the vision and direction, creating the context for growth, and
• How - by sketching out a road map for the organization that will allow it to unleash its full
potential; by crafting the corporation's portfolio, determining what businesses should be there,
what the performance requirements of the business are, and what types of alliances make sense;
and by defining the the means (the culture, values, and way of working together) needed to
achieve corporate goals.
The Distinguishing Characteristic
The distinguishing characteristic of the strategic leadership level - as compared with team-level and
operational-level leadership - is that it implies responsibility for achieving the right balance between the
whole, i.e. organizational needs, and the parts, be they large (functions) or small (teams or individuals).
Setting the Right Direction
Organizations that are devoted to short-term, bottom-line, hard-data orientations usually neglect strategic
leadership development and therefore breed executive who seldom find time to "communicate vision and
direction, build teams, develop people, or plan meeting, except in a kind of crisis way. No wonder many
individuals and institutions are caught going in the wrong direction, being in the wrong jungle, or leaning
against the wrong wall. Strategic leadership can eliminate such misdirection and make things right
again."3
As a strategic leader responsible for the enterprise strategy development and implementation your prime
responsibility is to ensure that your organization is going in the right direction. A strategic leader can

provide vision and direction, motivate through love and passion, and build a complementary team based
on mutual respect if he or she is "more effectiveness-minded than efficiency-minded, more concerned
with direction and results than with methods, systems, and procedures."3
Why Teambuilding?
Teamwork is essential for competing in today's global arena, where individual perfection is not as
desirable as a high level of collective performance. In knowledge based enterprises, teams are the norm
rather than the exception. A critical feature of these team is that they have a significant degree of
empowerment, or decision-making authority. There are many different kinds of teams: top management
teams, focused task forces, self-directed teams, concurrent engineering teams, product/service
development and/or launch teams, quality improvement teams, and so on.
Team vs. Group
Not all groups in organizations are teams, but all teams are groups. The difference between a team and a
group is that a team is interdependent for overall performance. A group qualifies as a team only if its
members focus on helping one another to accomplish organizational objectives. In today's quickly changing
business environment, teams have emerged as a requirement for business success. Therefore you should
constantly try to help groups become teams and facilitate the evolution of groups into teams... The purpose
of assembling a team is to accomplish bigger goals than any that would be possible for the
individual working alone. The aim and purpose of a team is to perform, get results and achieve
victory in the workplace and marketplace. The very best managers are those who can gather
together a group of individuals and mould them into a team. Here are ten key differentials to help
you mould your people into a pro-active and productive team.
1. Understandings. In a group, members think they are grouped together for administrative
purposes only. Individuals sometimes cross purpose with others. In a team, members recognise
their independence and understand both personal and team goals are best accomplished with
mutual support. Time is not wasted struggling over "Turf" or attempting personal gain at the
expense of others.
2. Ownership. In a group, members tend to focus on themselves because they are not
sufficiently involved in planning the unit's objectives. They approach their job simply as a hired
hand. "Castle Building" is common. In a team, members feel a sense of ownership for their jobs
and unit, because they are committed to values based common goals that they helped establish.
3. Creativity and Contribution. In a group, members are told what to do rather than being
asked what the best approach would be. Suggestions and creativity are not encouraged. In a
team, members contribute to the organisation's success by applying their unique talents,
knowledge and creativity to team objectives.
4. Trust. In a group, members distrust the motives of colleagues because they do not
understand the role of other members. Expressions of opinion or disagreement are considered
divisive or non-supportive. In a team, members work in a climate of trust and are encouraged to
openly express ideas, opinions, disagreements and feelings. Questions are welcomed.
5. Common Understandings. In a group, members are so cautious about what they say, that
real understanding is not possible. Game playing may occur and communication traps be set to
catch the unwary. In a team, members practice open and honest communication. They make an
effort to understand each other's point of view.
6. Personal Development. In a group, members receive good training but are limited in
applying it to the job by the manager or other group members. In a team, members are
encouraged to continually develop skills and apply what they learn on the job. They perceive
they have the support of the team.
7. Conflict Resolution. In a group, members find themselves in conflict situations they do not
know how to resolve. Their supervisor/leader may put off intervention until serious damage is
done, i.e. a crisis situation. In a team, members realise conflict is a normal aspect of human

interaction but they view such situations as an opportunity for new ideas and creativity. They work
to resolve conflict quickly and constructively.
8. Participative Decision Making. In a group, members may or may not participate in
decisions affecting the team. Conformity often appears more important than positive results.
Win/lose situations are common. In a team, members participate in decisions affecting the team
but understand their leader must make a final ruling whenever the team cannot decide, or an
emergency exists. Positive win/win results are the goal at all times.
9. Clear Leadership. In a group, members tend to work in an unstructured environment with
undetermined standards of performance. Leaders do not walk the talk and tend to lead from
behind a desk. In a team, members work in a structured environment, they know what
boundaries exist and who has final authority. The leader sets agreed high standards of
performance and he/she is respected via active, willing participation.
10. Commitment. In a group, members are uncommitted towards excellence and personal
pride. Performance levels tend to be mediocre. Staff turnover is high because talented
individuals quickly recognise that
(a) personal expectations are not being fulfilled
(b) they are not learning and growing from others and
(c) they are not working with the best people.
In a team, only those committed to excellence are hired. Prospective team members are queuing
at the door to be recruited on the basis of their high levels of hard and soft skill sets. Everyone
works together in a harmonious environment.
Building Your Management Team
The necessity of building a management team is central in the concept of leader effectiveness. The
management team is the entire work group as an integral unit (rather than an aggregate of individuals),
governing itself within the area of freedom allowed by its position in the organizational hierarchy.... More
Managing Cross-Cultural Differences
Cultural differences in multicultural teams can create misunderstandings between team members before they have
had a chance to establish any credibility with each other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and
development of such teams. As a manager of a multicultural team, you need to recognize that building trust between
different people is a complex process, since each culture has its own way of building trust and its own interpretation
of what trust is.... More
Cross-Functional Teams
To face today's complex challenges, you need to incorporate a wide range of styles, skills, and
perspectives... More
Managing Systemic Innovation by Cross-Functional Teams
In the new era of systemic innovation, it is more important for an organization to be cross-functionally
excellent than functionally excellent. Firms which are successful in realizing the full returns from their
technologies and innovations are able to match their technological developments with complementary
expertise in other areas of their business, such as manufacturing, distribution, human resources,
marketing, and customer relationships. To lead these expertise development efforts, cross-functional
teams, either formal or informal, need to be formed. These teams can also find new businesses in white
spaces between existing business units... More
Cases in Point: General Electric (GE)
At General Electric (GE), Jack Welch required all managers should learn to become team players and coaches. He
also took steps against those managers who wouldn't learn to become team players by cutting the bottom 10% every
year. "One of the surest ways to raise the level of a team is to cut from the bottom and add to the top,"3
advised
Welch.
Enterprise strategy

Role of Enterprise Strategy
Successful companies are those that focus their efforts strategically. Strategy should be a stretch exercise, not
a fit exercise. To meet and exceed customer satisfaction, the business team needs to follow an overall
organizational strategy. A successful strategy adds value for the targeted customers over the long run by
consistently meeting their needs better than the competition does.
Strategy is the way in which a company orients itself towards the market in which it operates and towards
the other companies in the marketplace against which it competes. It is a plan an organization formulates
to gain a sustainable advantage over the competition. The central strategic issue: why different
companies, facing the same environment, perform differently.
Strategy answers the following questions:
• what are the sources of the company's sustainable competitive advantage?
• how a company will position itself against competition in the market over the long run to secure a
sustainable competitive advantage?
• what are the key strategic priorities?
Strategy is an agreed-on guide to action that should lead business to success in the marketplace by
satisfying customer needs better than the competition does. Strategy formulation is the major task for the
company entrepreneur and CEO, but it is the task of middle managers and project managers to carry this
strategy out and turn it into results.
Your Strategic Intent
Strategic intent is a high-level statement of the means by which your organization will achieve its vision. It is a core
component of your dynamic strategy. Strategic intent cannot be planned all in advance. It must evolve on the basis of
experience during its implementation... More
Ten Major Schools of Strategic Management
Ten deeply embedded, though quite narrow, concepts typically dominate current thinking on strategy. These range
from the early Design and Planning schools to the more recent Learning, Cultural and Environmental Schools8
...
More
Strategic Leadership
As a strategic leader your prime responsibility is to ensure that your organization is going in the right direction. To
be able to identify the right strategy and pursue it to the desired result, you need to master two important functions:
strategic thinking and strategic planning.
Entrepreneurial Leadership
Leading in the age of rampant change!
New Approaches to Strategy Formulation
The currently dominant view of strategy is the resource-based theory. Traditional strategy models, such as Michael
Porter's five forces model, focus on the company's external competitive environment. Most of them do not attempt to
look inside the company. In contrast, the resource-based perspective highlights the need for a fit between the
external market context in which a company operates and its internal capabilities. According to this view, a
company's competitive advantage derives from its ability to assemble and exploit an appropriate combination of
resources. Sustainable competitive advantage is achieved by continuously developing existing and creating new
resources and capabilities in response to rapidly changing market conditions... More
In relation to the 10 traditional approaches, today, strategy formulation should also be a combination of them -
judgmental designing, intuitive visioning, and emergent learning; it should be about transformation as well as
perpetuation; it has to involve individual cognition and social interaction, co-operative as well as conflictive; it must
include analyzing before and programming after as well as negotiating during; and all of this must be in response to
what can be a demanding environment.8
Your Innovation Strategy

The innovation portfolio provides visibility that allows your firm pace the introduction of new products and services.
You should balance the introduction of revolutionary products with incremental improvements in others so as to
maintain a steady flow. By having a comprehensive view of your initiatives over time, you can avoid either
overwhelming or underwhelming the marketplace.
Innovation Strategies
How to innovate continuously and fast!
New Goals for Strategic Planning
In a business environment of rapid changes, heightened risk and uncertainty, developing effective strategies is
critical. They prepare executives to face the strategic uncertainties ahead and serve as the focal point for creative
thinking about a company's vision and direction.
Many companies get little value from their annual strategic-planning process however. To meet the new challenges,
this process should be redesigned to support real-time strategy making and to encourage 'creative accidents'1
... More
Practicing Balanced Approach to Achieve Strategy
Organizations prosper by achieving strategy, and they achieve strategy through balancing four factors or
perspectives:
1. The customer perspective (addresses the customers, competitors, market segments, and
marketing strategy)
2. The learning and growth perspective (concerns the human side of the organization)
3. The internal process perspective (identifies processes that are most critical to achieving customer
and financial objectives), and
4.The financial perspective (links together the other three perspectives)... More
Jokes: The Owl and the Field Mouse Story
A little field-mouse was lost in a dense wood, unable to find his way out. He came upon a wise old owl sitting in a
tree. "Please help me, wise old owl, how can I get out of this wood?" said the field-mouse.
"Easy," said the owl, "Grow wings and fly out, as I do."
"But how can I grow wings?" asked the mouse.
The owl looked at him haughtily, sniffed disdainfully, and said, "Don't bother me with the details, I only advise on
strategy."

Why OFP?
Even the best leaders can be blind to core personal and organizational weaknesses that are
hidden within the business structure and create obstacles and barriers that prevent their
business units from achieving optimal performance. Harvard Business School professor Michael
Beer and consultant Russel A. Eisenstat developed and innovative process, the Organizational
Fitness Profile (OFP), that can help corporate renewal, X-ray your organization, identify its
weaknesses, and take corrective action.
The Road Map for Conducting the OFP Process
1. Orientation and Planning
During a one-day meeting led by a consultant or facilitator, the top management team develops
a "Statement of Strategic and Organizational Direction" that is used both to communicate and
explain the logic behind the strategy and as a stimulus to collect organizational information on
barriers to implementation.
2. Data Collection
While interviewing top customers and employees, the task force members ask the basic
question: "What do you perceive as the strengths and/or barriers to implement our strategy and
accomplish our goals?" Consultants conduct interviews with members of the top management
team about their role and management style that help or impede top team effectiveness.
3. Meeting
The task force completes and analyzes the feedback gained from the interviews during a tree-
day OFP meeting. It begins by reporting what it has found in its interviews, using a set of pre-
arranged topics as its anchor.
Why MBS in Strategic Partnerships?
Meaningful partnerships are the foundation for success. External forces operating outside your
vertical position in one way or another have a major impact on your business. Partnerships is
what enables many companies to make continuous improvements.

Focus your firm's resources on what you do best and what creates sustainable competitive
advantage and tap to the resources of others for the rest. To decide why, when and how to
partner with others for complementary resources, weight the small amount of cost savings that
doing non-core-competence tasks might bring against the distraction and investment that will be
required to stay up to date over time.
Growing Role of Partnership in the New Economy
"Iconoclasm and creativity are now the keys to success", writes Mark Stevens. "For generations
companies built moats between themselves and their competitors. Today the most successful
companies build bridges. And that's only the beginning".
Increasingly corporate leaders must adopt, practice, and orchestrate what appears to be
conflicting policies, such as joint-venturing with competitors. "More and more, those who can
examine the code, challenge it, and rewrite it for success in their companies, fields, and
industries will be the leaders and role models".

Strategic Planning

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