To be successful in the long-run, organizations need to define a mission and a vision, that can be cascaded down into SMART strategic and operational objectives, at all hierarchical levels. The course offers an algorithm on how this can be done, with a focus on creating strategies that are internally consistent and aligned for optimal performance. At the same time, the course offers tools for both internal and external environment scanning, that will alow companies to build strategies that are flexible and shock-absorbent, adapted to a business world that is rapidly changing. Last but not least, the course focuses on how departments can set their own strategies and action plans, that are ready-for-execution and support the overall corporate strategy.

The course aims to offer participants a chance to:

• Build up a strategic mind-frame
• Understand key strategy planning concepts
• Use strategy planning tools, in individual and team exercises
• Reflect on the best practices in the field, through case studies and debates

Business owners and top management

• Business owners and top management professionals will acquire the knowledge and competences needed to design a strategy at the corporate level, thus increasing the performance of their organization in terms of relevant financial indicators, operational indicators, customer satisfaction indicators and employee satisfaction indicators.

Middle management professionals

• Professionals from different fields, such as finance, human resources, production, logistics, marketing & sales and others, will acquire the knowledge and competences to design and implement a strategy for their department that supports and is aligned to the organizational strategy

Day ONE

Key concepts

• Strategy planning defined
• Assumptions for strategy planning
• The process of strategy planning – an overview

Corporate Identity

• Impact
• Mission
• Corporate values
• Capabilities

Day TWO:

Choice of a competitive strategy

• Low cost, low price
• Differentiation
• Customer relationship
• Network effect

Strategic Internal Environmental Scanning

• Assessing existing processes
• Assessing existing resources
• Assessing existing procedures
• Competitive benchmarking

Day THREE

Strategic External Environmental Scanning

• PESTEL analysis
• Porter’s 5 forces
• SWOT Analysis
• Scenario Planning

Case Study

• Definition of corporate identity
• Internal environment scanning
• External environment scanning
• SWOT analysis

Day FOUR

Vision & Choice of Growth Strategy

• Defining the vision in the context of the chosen planning scenario
• Intensive growth
• Internationalization strategies
• Integrative growth
• Diversification strategies

SMART Objectives at Corporate Level

• Long-term vs. strategic objectives
• SMART strategic objectives
• The strategy tree

Day FIVE

Case Study

• Vision
• Choice of a growth strategy
• The strategy tree

Planning at Departmental Level

• An overview of the planning process at department level
• The algorithm of cascading the corporate strategy
• Planning “business as usual” vs. identifying new projects at department level

Review and Q&A

• Course review
• Q&A