Simplified Strategic Planning process - value, probability, management effort and financial risk. Recently, I have taken to including a secondary analysis of opportunities by rating resource requirements and strategic impact on the organization. I look forward to your comments on our blog.Sincerely,
Robert W. Bradford
President, Center for Simplified Strategic Planning
Drowning in Strategic Initiatives? Here is a powerful tool for screening them out.
When assessing strategic opportunities, we have for years examined four variables in the Simplified Strategic Planning Process - value, probability, management effort and financial risk. Recently, I have taken to including a secondary analysis of opportunities, undertaken when reviewing opportunity screening worksheets in meeting number two.
Questions & Answers
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This column is intended to answer common questions related to strategic planning and strategy in general. In each issue we will answer questions posed by seminar attendees, our clients and our readers. Please send your questions to - simplifiedstrategicplanning@cssp.com Mail: CSSP, Inc. 2219 Packard Road, Suite 13, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Article Archives
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Help! My Market Doesn't Need My Product Any More!
How to Strategically Position Your Company for Success in the Face of Changing Market Preferences
Is Your Pricing Strategy Right?
Pricing can be very tricky in times like the ones we are going through currently. The key is to strategically determine the pricing band, which is best for your product/service in light of current conditions.
Ways to Estimate the Value When You Just Don't Know How to Price
One of the hardest things to get right, strategically, is the true value of your product or service. This is understandable, since the only true measure of value is what an individual customer will pay at a specific point in time.
Is Your New Product Development Process Complete?
How is your total new product development process performing for your company? There are a number of elements to consider before answering this question including market intelligence, sufficient development capabilities, appropriate production capabilities, marketing and sales as well as distribution/logistics.
Lessons Learned from Boeing's Big Stumble: Risk Assessment is Key to a Successful Strategy
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has not hit its development milestones, causing Boeing to take a $2.5 billion charge against earnings. What happened? Key to Boeing's past success has been its ability to achieve its "big hairy audacious goals or BHAGs" (from Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras). In the 1950s Boeing bet 25% of its net worth on developing the 707 jetliner competing directly with McDonald Douglas the premier manufacturer of commercial aircraft at the time. The Dreamliner, the world's most high tech passenger jet, is another big bet - but what went wrong with its strategy?
Strategic Planning: When Good Goals go Bad
What is the Difference Between A Strategic Plan and A Business Plan
"As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody's Investor Service, whose investment ratings were widely trusted, responded by purging analysts and executives who warned of trouble and promoting those who helped Wall Street plunge the country into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression."
Banks failing, real estate loans made to people who did not have the means to repay them, institutions using derivatives without fully understanding the risk - what happened? Were executives just trying to meet their short-term goals? Did these goals enable them to qualify for significant bonuses? Did this achievement of short-term goals lead to long-term instability?
Acquisitions: Developing A Successful Integration Process
At the conclusion of the due diligence process you should have at your finger tips a great deal of knowledge concerning the acquisition target. At this point you will be making a go/no go decision. If the decision is a "go," you have the information that you need to start your integration process if you decide to move ahead with the acquisition. You now know where the strengths and weaknesses are and where the differences are in policies and procedures. You also have an idea of what the organizational structure will look like once the acquisition is completed. But you can not develop the integration plan in a vacuum; you need the buy-in of the key players of the acquisition target. How do you get their buy-in?
Gaining Strategic Alignment Between Business Units
The other day I was talking with a CEO about building strategic alignment between business units in his organization. I was intrigued, because my questions about the company's strategic competency yielded a history of the company - but no clear sense of strategic competency. In other words, the CEO knew WHY the company had the dozens of different products and markets they had - but not why it made sense to have all of those business units in one company.
How Can Smaller Companies Compete and Win?
Smaller companies often feel dwarfed by the giants in their industry, especially during tough times. Often industry giants are better at weathering economic downturns with their wide array of resources. But Arena Resources' strategy not only allowed the company to survive this economic downturn, but turn in exceptional performance - better than the industry leaders. Arena Resources, a small oil exploration and production company, has less than 2% of the revenue of the industry leaders (Shell, Exxon Mobil). In addition, very few industries have had to endure greater fluctuations than the oil industry with oil price highs of $147 per barrel in July 2008 and lows of $30 per barrel in December, 2008. How did Arena Resources make it onto the Fortune list of fastest growing companies (#8) in spite of this industry turbulence?
Are You Promoting People Wisely?
How many tales are told about people who are very good at a particular job within a company, who are promoted beyond that position and then fail? There must be many examples of this phenomenon that are told time and time again. There is even a descriptor: The Peter Principle, for people who are good at one job and fail miserably at the next higher level.
Co-Branding Tips are Helpful for Acquisition Strategies
At the conclusion of a recent Q&A article in BusinessWeek, David Clanachan (chief operations officer of Tim Hortons) and Dan Beem (president of Cold Stone Creamery) provided some advice concerning their ongoing co-branding effort. The two convenience food companies have co-branded nearly 50 restaurant locations in the U.S. and Canada and are optimistic about the future success of the cooperative effort. Highlights from their advice on co-branding prove to be equally useful for any business considering an acquisition.
Evaluating Acquisitions - Part 2
In my earlier article about evaluating acquisition targets, I discussed four common approaches to evaluation a company: market value, asset value, operating value and strategic value. Today we will look at the exact approaches to market value and asset value, with objective formulae.
How Does Strategic Planning Deal With Seismic Changes in an Industry?
It is often argued that strategic planning processes miss industry shifts due to a myopic focus on existing customers and market segments, as well as existing products and product lines - but is this correct? NO! While market analysis and customer segmentation are important to any strategic plan, it is paramount for the process to look outside the existing business for opportunities and changes that will have significant impact on your business.
Evaluating Acquisition Targets - Part 1
Even with a strategically appropriate acquisition, price is an issue. In the end, one could argue there are only two prices that matter in an acquisition offer: the price offered by the buyer, and the price that the seller is willing to accept. Reality is a bit more complicated than this, but we should always have an idea of several different approaches to pricing an acquisition.
The two simplest approaches to valuation are market value and asset value.
Getting Ready for the Recovery
The recovery will come. Regardless of whatever pain and turmoil you may have been through during the last year, you have managed to survive. It's time to begin thinking about what you need to do in order to be ready for better times ahead. While you cannot be sure of the timing, you can prudently prepare yourself for the upswing. Here are three important actions that you should be taking right now:
- Sustain your Marketing Message
- Align your Supply Chain
- Assess your Human Capital
Is Your Company Taking Advantage of the Slow Economy?
In this economy, doing things right is only good if you are doing the right things! What are some of the right things to do?
- Make your company valuable to your key customers
- Get rid of those things that are no longer necessary to the mission of your company
- Look to the future
Use the Recession to Trigger Rejuvenation: Develop a Strategy to Revitalize Your Company
Rejuvenation linked with recession? During the 17th century Dutch economy collapsed - the tulip bubble burst - this was when a tulip bulb could cost as much as a house. But rather than resulting in Holland's demise, the crash ushered in the Golden Age where this tiny country became the wealthiest nation in Europe. Why do turbulent times generate growth and rebirth?
Building Better Value Signals for Your Customers
Your first-time buyers bring a lot of uncertainty about the value they will receive to a transaction. Clearly, it is the function of your marketing as to how to signal value. Learn how to build better value signals for your customers.
Three Strategic Tips for Your Recession Survival Kit
These tips can help you plan how to survive the economic downturn and emerge a stronger company.
Board Involvement in Strategic Planning
Boards can offer valuable insight to the strategic planning process. Knowing how best to involve them is the key to success!
What is your company doing to keep your customers in these difficult times?
Four Steps to Improving Human Capital
Four Steps to help you upgrade talent and improve corporate culture.
Three Recession Strategies for a Strong Business
Even during slow business cycles the world does not come to a screeching halt. Three things you should do to keep your business strong!
Follow-through -- the Key to Strategic Planning Success
Dana Baldwin describes how important follow-through is to the success of your strategic planning efforts.
Acquisitions: 8 Steps to Success
When evaluating an acquisition, thoughtful consideration of these 8 steps can lead your company to success!
Is Your Marketing Working for You?
Good marketing helps pave the way for good sales. Effective marketing can be one of the leading factors in successful innovations and product or service enhancements. Marketing can also be one of the first expenditures cut when times get tough. Here is a strategic approach to evaluating your marketing efforts.
Fixing Your Balanced Scorecard
Are you dissatisfied with your Balanced Scorecard program? Balanced Scorecard is just one part of the Strategic Planning process. Here are several reasons why you might not be getting the results you desire and what you can change.
The traditional SWOT analysis might not give your company the information it needs to develop a truly distinct competitive advantage.
Simplified Strategic Planning for Small to Mid-Sized Companies
A Two-Day Interactive Seminar Specifically for Executives of Independent Companies and Subsidiaries of Larger Companies Who Want to Achieve Better Results Faster
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April 8-9, 2010
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April 29-30, 2010
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May 6-7, 2010
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May 13-14, 2010
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May 20-21, 2010
Traverse City, Michigan
June 24-25, 2010
Company Presidents and CEOs attend free of charge when accompanied by one or more additional paid attendees.
Poor strategic planning is worse than no strategic planning. It can be a big waste of time and money. Even worse, it can lead to disaster. Avoid all this with Simplified Strategic Planning - a proven process to focus for superior performance without straining your resources.
Whether you've been doing strategic planning for years or starting from scratch, you can acquire a streamlined process for developing and implementing your strategy. In just two days, you will have learned this time-tested methodology, which has produced outstanding results for thousands of companies from a wide variety of business types.
Strategy Resources
Visit www.CSSP.com for complete resources for all your strategic planning needs.
Use the links below:
Frequently asked questions about strategic planning
Strategies for Turbulent Times
Acquisition Strategy Planning Workshop
Strategic management self-assessment
Our best-selling book, Simplified Strategic Planning - for Busy People Who Want Results Fast!
Simplified Strategic Planning in Action
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About Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.
Strategic Thinking
Success in today's business environment requires that a company's leaders have the ability to create a vision of the organization's future direction as well as the course it needs to get there.
While various business improvement techniques such as Total Quality Management and Re-engineering are often extremely beneficial to the ongoing progress of a business, correct Strategic Focus remains the single most important element in a company's success.
Since 1981, Center for Simplified Strategic Planning has provided client companies with the strategic planning tools and leadership required to obtain superior strategy results.
We understand the challenges typically faced by our clients in installing systems and practices necessary to support growth, while maintaining day to day operations.
Call today for more information! 1-734-995-3465
Robert Bradford, CEO
Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.
2219 Packard Road, #13
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-665-2971
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