Of all the things managers do, planning the long term future of the business is most important. Today, organizations need to establish clear goals to help them set the rules of competition. Good strategy and good implementation are the trustworthy signs of good management. This seminar will challenge you to:

• Identify alternative strategy perspectives, definitions, and operationalizations
• Clarify a coherent view of strategy formulation and strategy implementation
• Understand the role of leadership in strategy formulation and implementation
• Integrate people, profits, and productivity in a meaningful way

• Staff who are seeking to guide their business to plan and achieve long term superior performance.
• Staff in any functional area who are seeking to improve the operational performance of their units.

• To introduce the concept of strategy making and its benefits.
• To understand the role of leadership in strategy making
• To understand the link between involvement and accountability.
• To provide insights into developing implementation plans.
• To develop an actionable strategic plan that will be of direct use in participants’ businesses.
• To understand the pitfalls of strategic planning.

This workshop will be highly participatory and your seminar leader will present, guide and facilitate learning, using a range of methods including discussions, case studies and exercises. Where appropriate, these will include real issues brought to the workshop by delegates

You will experience first hand in a complex environment the application and the value of concepts that underpin translating strategy formulation into implementation and into results. The simulation, Balancing the Corporate Scorecard, is the platform for this unique learning experience. Participants are divided into teams each managing a company in an intensely competitive market environment. Lagging, current, and leading indicators will be identified and used to succeed.

Lessons learned from the simulation will be applied to the strategic plans of your own organization. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the critical success factors (CSFs) will focus attention on high priority action plans for taking back to your organization.

Module 1 - What is Strategy?

• The role of strategy in business and why it matters
• The ingredients of a good strategy
• Customer analysis and market segmentation
• Effective strategy making processes
• Tools for understanding industry developments
• The core strategic choices for a business
• Who is responsible for strategy making and who should be held accountable?
• Lessons Learned

Module 2 - Strategic Leadership

• Contrasting management with strategic leadership
• The competencies of strategic leadership
• The top manager as strategist
• The senior manager as strategist
• Using Scenario analysis and environmental scanning
• SWOT and other acronyms
• Corporate Culture
• The operational manager’s role in strategy
• Lessons Learned

Module 3 - Setting the Strategy

• Analysing the market and the customers
• Understanding the competition
• Financial analysis: past, present, and future
• Knowing the core strengths and weaknesses of your business
• Identifying your core competitive advantage
• Developing mission statements that make a difference
• Examining alternative strategies
• Creating the strategic plan
• Lessons Learned

Module 4 - Implementing the Strategy

• Preparing the ground for change in the business
• Communicating the strategy
• Overcoming internal political resistance
• Reviewing and measuring progress
• Turnaround and corrective measures
• Mergers and Acquisitions that work
• Managing implementation as a continuous process
• Lessons Learned

Module 5 - Becoming a Strategic Leader

• Building strategy making and implementation into the role of managers at all levels
• Developing strategic leadership capability
• Creating organisational commitment to the business strategy
• Leading strategy making teams effectively
• Incentive systems
• Balanced Scorecard and other performance management systems
• Realistic action planning
• Lessons Learned