Strategic planning is one of the most important responsibilities of senior management as it sets the organizational vision, strategies, and resource deployment to achieve that vision. However, strategic plans are often misunderstood and poorly used, resulting in large documents that are not implemented. There are several common reasons for this, including senior management not following a defined process, the plan being delegated without true endorsement, and lack of communication and implementation guidelines. Properly developing a strategic plan requires involvement from senior leadership, understanding what the plan is designed to provide, and having a defined process and methodology to create the plan in a timely and efficient manner.

1. Strategic Planning

2. Overview
Strategic planning is one of the most important responsibilities of the senior
management of an organization. It is the vehicle that senior management should use to
set the organizational vision, determine the strategies required to achieve that vision,
make the resource deployment decisions to achieve the selected strategies, and build
alignment to the vision and strategic direction throughout all levels of the organization.
Unfortunately, strategic planning is also one of the most misunderstood and poorly used
tools in many organizations. Strategic plans are often large documents with detailed
plans created arduously over months at great effort...only to gather dust and languish
after they have been duly acknowledged and then filed away.

3. Overview
There are several reasons why strategic plans are not developed
properly, or not implemented properly. Among the most common are:
• Senior management does not follow a defined process to
accomplish this task. As a consequence, months of effort are wasted
in creating reams of paper that do not have strategic import.
• The process is delegated to a planning group, or assigned to the
various functional leaders to complete for their respective areas. If
completed in individual functional areas, the plan may work for
individual departments, but is likely to sub-optimize the whole
organization. If assigned to a planning group, the result is often not
truly embraced and endorsed by senior leadership.
• Senior management does not set aside the time to develop the
strategic plan as a collective team work product.

4. Overview
There are several reasons why strategic plans are not developed
properly, or not implemented properly. Among the most common are:
• The organization does not understand what a strategic plan is
actually designed to provide. Therefore, the strategic plan is a
tactical business plan with multiple year extrapolations. There is
very little about it that addresses actual strategic direction.
• Senior management does to follow a defined process or
methodology that will result in a strategic plan in a timely and
efficient yet comprehensive manner.
• The plan is developed but there is no process to communicate it
throughout the organization and build organization-wide alignment
to its implementation.
• The plan is developed with no implementation guidelines at all. At
best, it is implemented in pieces. At worst, it is unfunded and
ignored.

5. Aligning the Strategic Approach
Balanced Scorecard

6. Aligning the Strategic Approach

7. Stakeholder Analysis
Strategic
Clients
Guideline
Identify your stakeholders
Shareholders
Management
Organisation
Strategic
Partners
•
•
•
•
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Are all of our key stakeholders clearly identified?
Who will become key stakeholders in the near
future?
Are their expectations and requirements clearly
understood?
Are they regularly consulted?
Are they kept updated, and involved in those
business decisions that will affect them?
Employees
Name
Job Title
Main
Interest
Influence
Level (HML)

8. Stakeholder Analysis
Guideline
Develop a matrix to measure
Stakeholders
e.g. Interest , Power
Output
Stakeholder plan showing how you engage with your
stakeholders and what your communication strategy is

9. Vision Mission and Objectives
“Strategic planning is worthless—
unless there is first a strategic vision.”
— John Naisbitt, Author of “Megatrends”
A clear vision and mission statement, objectives, and business
description are important points of departure. The vision is what guides
your social enterprise and energizes your stakeholders; it is the “big
picture” illustrating what you expect to achieve.

10. Vision and Mission
The mission statement is the heart of your social enterprise.
It describes its central purpose and the basic principles that guide the actions of employees, partners, and
management. As well, it articulates the strategy you will use to accomplish your goals and objectives. A mission
statement also defines your target population and embodies the organizational values of your social enterprise.
The mission statement also provides direction to your social enterprise. If the business plan can be considered
the road map of your social enterprise and the vision is the direction in which you are going, then the mission
statement consists of the street signs to get there. Your business plan must be consistent with your mission
statement, so use it as an anchoring guide in each step of the planning process.
Guideline
Mission Statement
Use Smart Language
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timeous
To be number 1 catalyst in developing countries for
improving the quantity and quality on social action by
creating a social network that works seamlessly aligning it
to the real needs as identified by the end of 2013

11. Business Objectives
Business objectives are a way for an organization to define its goals and direction. A
company uses a combined strategy at every level of its operation to achieve its objective.
It determines how a company will allocate its resources and what strengths, weaknesses
and opportunities it may have. A business objective is usually not altered once
implemented, unless changes in circumstances arise; setting a clear course for the
organization it key to its success
Guideline
The balanced scorecard method
can help define your company
objectives

12. The Balanced Scorecard – Key Benefits
Why should small companies use a Balanced Scorecard Approach
•
A Balanced Scorecard guides managers to dedicate scarce resources such as their
“management focus” and the company’s manpower (and even money!) to achieving the
Paul Bergquist
CEO, Axsellit AS
planned results, as opposed to being distracted by the many “focus thieves” that
constantly try to steal their attention.
•
A Balanced Scorecard makes employees aware of how the various tasks in an organization
are connected—and exactly how their day-to-day operations fit into the big picture. This
knowledge empowers responsible employees to spend their resources in the most
beneficial ways.
•
A Balanced Scorecard introduces a result-focused sense of urgency and peer pressure in
the organization, prompting the employees to pull together and concentrate on the vital
issues.
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Better Strategic Planning
Improved Strategy Communication
Better Management Information
Improved Performance Reporting

13. Planning the Company Scorecard
What is our purpose
What is our picture of the future
What are our main focus areas
How do we know we are
achieving our results
What projects will be
rolled out to meet
our goals and
targets

14. The Scorecard as a Measuring System
Financial
Customer
Relations
Internal Service
Process
Learning and
Growth

15. The Financial Scorecard
Identifying the areas to define your objectives
Guideline
You can add additional topics for your
brainstorming session
Market
share
Brainstorming topics
 What financial steps are necessary to ensure
Profitability
Revenue
growth
the execution of our strategy/goals?
 Are we meeting our bottom line?
 Are we meeting operational and financial
targets?
Return on
investment
Categorised into
Profit ratio
 Strategy and goals
 Performance Measures/Targets
 Strategic Initiatives
How do we measure quality in our financial scorecard
• Efficiency
• Meeting our targets

16. The Customer Relations Scorecard
Identifying the areas to define your objectives
You can add additional topics for your
brainstorming session
On time
deliveries
Value for
money
Guideline
Market
share
Brainstorming Topics
Who are our target customers?
How do our customers see us?
How do customers rate our performance?
Average
time to
process
orders
Reliability
Response
time
Categorised into
 Strategy and goals
 Performance Measures/Targets
 Strategic Initiatives
How do we measure quality in our customer relations scorecard?
 Accessibility
 Acceptability
 Continuity

17. The Process Management Scorecard
Guideline
Procurement
Productivity
You can add additional topics for your
brainstorming session
Quality
Brainstorming Topics
What critical processes must we excel at to satisfy
our customers and stakeholders
What must be done internally to meet customer
expectations
Operations
Workforce
Categorised into
 Strategy and goals
 Performance Measures/Targets
Technology
 Strategic Initiatives
How do we measure quality in our process management
scorecard
• Efficiency
• Reduction of rework
• Increased productivity

18. The Learning and Growth Scorecard
Guideline
Career paths
You can add additional topics for your
brainstorming session
Being
competitive
Continuous
Improvement
Brainstorming Topics
How can we continue to improve?
What capabilities and tools do our employees
need to execute our strategy/goals?
Categorised into
Process
alignment
Technological
Leadership
 Strategy and goals
 Performance Measures/Targets
HR
Management
 Strategic Initiatives
How do we measure quality in our learning and growth
scorecard
• Level of skilled employees
• Increase in productivity
• Allowing for employee assisting company to grow

19. Analysis
 SWOT Analysis
 Brainstorming
 Decision Tree Mapping
Guideline
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Involve as many people as possible during the analysis phase
Ensure that all ideas are documented
Have frequent breaks in the analysis process
Ensure that you identify the final document to be used for the
business plan

20. Analysis
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•
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Analysis of the firm
Marketing and Competitor Analysis
Industry and Competitor Analysis
Environmental Analysis
Portfolio and Program Analysis
The process
The objective
Analysis of the Firm
We will understand our core values and where
we are going with the direction of the company
Marketing and Competitor Analysis
We will clearly understand our competitors and
ensure our marketing strategy is aligned to meet
our targets and objectives
Understanding the environmental impact
We will have a clear idea of the possible or
probable effects of external forces and conditions
on our organisations growth strategies
Defining your product
Our products will meet our customer’s
expectations and will be delivered in line with
the agreed roadmap

21. Selecting the strategy - Marketing
Our Customer
We will ensure that we have a clear picture of our target
customer using market research and analysis.
Our Market
Our analysis will provide the correct data of our market and
what the successful trends are to ensure that we have
market growth
Our Competition
We will have a clear idea of our competition and their
strategies within our market range
Our Distribution Channels
We will endeavour to distribute our product effectively to
our target customers?
Our Marketing Mix
Our marketing plan will correctly position Product, Price,
Place and Promotion.
Our Financials
We will ensure that our marketing budget is aligned to our
overall financial strategy

22. Selecting your strategy - Product

23. Understanding the Product Life Cycle
The objectives will outline
Who we are as a company
What do we want to achieve
How do we want to achieve this
The timeline to meet these objectives
Planning the
Product
Roadmap
These objectives
are communicated
to the business
units
Results
in
Teams
Managers
Customers
It begins with defining the
company’s vision and
mission
Defining the
concept
Defining the
Marketing Plan
Defining the business
rules and product
specifications
Identify concept
for production
Conduct Analysis and
Research
Concept is aligned to the
marketing strategy and
financial planning for
calendar year
Hold workshops to define
the business rules and
userability of the product
to be launched
Findings are documented
Document is reviewed by
nominated stakeholders
Document is reviewed by
nominated stakeholders
Findings are documented
Document is reviewed by
nominated stakeholders
Findings are documented
Project Initiation
Project Planning
Team is appointed
to proceed with
the marketing plan
Stakeholders approve
and sign off concept
Business rules and
product specifications
commence
The Marketing strategy and financial
planning for the concept are approved
by the Business Owners and
nominated stakeholders
The business rules and product
specifications are approved by
the Business Owners and
nominated stakeholders
Document distributed to
Development team
Product Life Cycle
Develop the Product
Developing and
Launching the
Product
Business
Roadmap for
calendar year
Introductory
stage
S
Project Execution
Project Closeout
Growth
Stage
Maturity
Stage
A
L
E
S
Launch the final product
TIME
End of Product Lifecycle
Decline
Stage

24. Defining the Product Process
Why this is important
We will:
• offer the right product or service for the market;
• charge the right price for it; and
• sell enough to achieve our strategic and financial goals
Guideline
Ask the right questions
What is our business product?
Who are our customers?
What is the demand for our product?
How will we sell and distribute our product?
What is the timeline for selling our product?
What price will we charge for our product?

25. Aligning your project approach

26. Define your portfolio
Project
Management
Project
Initiation
Project
Planning
Project
Execution
and Control
Project
Close Out
Analysis
Product
Development
Deploy
Design
Test
Development

27. Operations – a proposed approach

28. Understanding what our options are
Begin to
document each
focus area
Set a timeline
to define your
key focus areas
analysis and
Collate all of results
the info and
document
Ensure that all
documents are
approved and
reviewed
Present the final
plan to your
company

29. Documenting the Business Plan
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Confirm the template and table of contents
Setup a timeline to complete the document
Confirm who will compile the document
Confirm the signatories
Confirm who will view the document
Create a folder on your server to store the documents

30. Conclusions
• It is important to keep in mind that this presentation is a
generic and high level approach to develop and document
your business plan. You will go through various versions until
you have reach the correct amount of detail and content that
works for your company
• You can add or subtract where required from this presentation
to align to your own individual approach for presenting to
your audience
• The ultimate and key goal for this presentation is to have a
business plan that will allow your business to grow and
advance
• You should use the business process in this presentation as a
roadmap to ensure that you cover all your business areas,
goals and vision for your company