Strategic Thinking & Business Planning (Half Day)

‍Course Code: STRATEG

Duration: Half Day

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COURSE AIMS:

Combining knowledge and foresight.

Strategic thinking is more than carefully planning your organisation's work.  It encompasses both knowledge about the present and foresight about the future, an approach that gives you flexibility in times of sudden market changes and the current pandemic challenges.

COURSE PRE-REQUISITES

This programme is for you if you want business planning with built-in agility, flexibility, and ability to respond quickly and effectively to market fluctuations. Attending will give you a practical opportunity to use tried and tested formal planning processes together with strategy development techniques, either to assess your current business strategy or plan new ones for the future. Using formal analysis techniques, you will assess internal business environments, the external marketplace, and corporate missions, objectives, and strategy.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

On completion of this course delegates will be able to:

• Analyse your current business strategy and recommend changes and improvements
• Review your business and understand its strengths and weaknesses
• Understand the external business environment in which your business operates
• Review your corporate mission, objectives, strategy, and tactics
• Know where strategic planning stops, and tactical operations begin
• Apply formal and semi-formal techniques to your business after the workshop

COURSE CONTENT:

Introduction and Objectives

Mission, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics

• What they are and how they relate to each other
• Entrepreneurship and leadership input to planning
• Using strategy and tactics with planning and operations

External Analysis

• Applying analytical techniques
• Market analysis using PESTLE and its applications
• Competitor analysis and benchmarking
• Porter's 5-Forces model and how to use it
• Market segmentation and differentiation methods

Internal Analysis

• Exploring ways of analysing the business
• Porter's Value Chain as an analytical technique
• Product portfolio analysis and marketing analysis

Pulling it all Together

• Creating a SWOT matrix - the current strategic position
• Scenario planning and alternatives - 'what ifs'
• Strategy versus Planning
• Options and implementation

Strategic Leadership and Entrepreneurship

• Leaders and entrepreneurs
• Vision
• Issues in strategic leadership

Action planning

Review of Programme

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