Designing a Strategy (What)

Strategy is developed through a strategic planning process. Strategic planning helps to ensure that:

• The correct and appropriate strategic decision is taken
• All functional departments, teams, and business units are aligned with the strategy
• Strategy implementation is executed in accordance with the road map contained in the actual strategic plan

The result of the planning process is a strategic plan.

Strategic plans vary, but they usually contain:

• A Winning Aspiration:  It contains a summary of the organisation’s vision, mission, and values that guide the strategy (Refer to The Five Defining Decisions of Strategy Framework – Decision 1.)
• Strategic Objectives: Goals and objectives that represent achievement of a strategic vision. (Refer to The Five Defining Decisions of Strategy Framework – Decision 2 and 3.)
• Identifying Strategic Issues of Higher Priority: This is achieved through performing a SWOT analysis, which will be discussed in Lesson 2.
• Implementation: Specific activities and processes the organisation performs within a designed orgnisational structure (Refer to The Five Defining Decisions of Strategy Framework – Decision 4.)
• Resource Allocation: Allocating people, finance, infrastructural, and information resources required. (Refer to The Five Defining Decisions of Strategy Framework – Decision 5.)

The Expert Says:

A comprehensive plan—with goals, initiatives, and budgets–is comforting. But starting with a plan is a terrible way to make strategy. Roger Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s leading thinkers on strategy, says developing strategy means going outside an organisation’s comfort zone and escaping the common traps of strategic planning.