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Strategic Planning A Pragmatic Approach J Blair, ConsultingCounsel to Management
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THE RIGHT IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURE
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Before you planBefore beginning, figure out what "done" is. Not in detail, that comes from the planning work itself. But it is important to have a general understanding of what type of changes are expected from the planning work, when defined and implemented. For instance: Case 1: Your enterprise is doing "OK." The product quality is good, the costs are within historical averages, Revenue growth is slowing a bit but it had been so large in the past that everyone anticipated an eventual slowing. The margins, cash flow and profits are good. The Human Resource issues are not large or many. Life is generally "OK." But . . . Several of your competitors have been notified that the federal and/or state regulators plan to review their operations this year. What used to be a single market is, as it has grown, becoming several markets, each of these markets may different distribution, sales and customer services approaches. On the horizon, some say not yet really to the horizon, are technologies which might be, if combined creatively, very disruptive to your whole industry. Case 2: Your enterprise is struggling to maintain a position in the top three companies in your market. From a product standpoint you should be #1 but from a cost and client services perspective you are back in the pack. The numbers show this uneven performance. Each product upgrade allows your enterprise to rise in industry standings. As time passes after each upgrade, the competitors erase your early lead and price pressures increase. In Case 1 the desired outcome should focus on a number of external factors such as regulatory environment and fundamental business strategies. In addition, a search for any factors that are hiding in the slowing growth and other performance numbers would be important. Also in this assessment should be a look at the emerging technology environment and in the plan should be actions to address probably technology changes. In Case 2 the focus of the planning efforts should be much more inwardly directed and operational. What will it take to improve client services, lower product and distribution costs? What steps need to be taken to shorten internal cycle times so as to exploit the technology lead apparently enjoyed by this enterprise? So many planning "methodologies" assume a set issues and consequently produce a predictable set of outcomes. Some cynics have written that there is a near universal planning report including:
The good news is that many organizations could benefit from an improvement in any five of the topics noted. The bad news is that work on these areas may drain energy from fixing the life-threatening issues the enterprise faces. Don't "plan" if there is a life threatening crisisIf there is a crisis environment, plan to resolve it, quickly, then plan for the future Assure there is a tolerance for planning, work to increase it Planning is a team sport, get the right people on the team Set a schedule, announce the process Keep focused on the four planning questions:
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