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Are You Ready for Strategic Planning?

June 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

A carefully thought-out strategy should be at the foundation of your company’s road map to sustainable, profitable growth. However, to make the strategic planning effort pay off you need to have a company culture that’s open to exploration and reasoned debate, and the executives need to have the right mindset. Are you ready for Strategic Planning?

Creating a sound Strategic Plan takes time, a lot of hard work and an open mind.  Gathering market intelligence, analyzing this information, figuring out what it all means, evaluating your options, and so on.  These are all important components of the planning process.

The key obstacles to successful Strategic Planning have little to do with market data or analysis.  The main roadblocks to creating your company’s road map to the future are corporate culture, and people’s attitudes and mindsets. [Read more...]

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Don’t Wait for Better Times, Make It Happen

October 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

According to leading economists the recession ended in June of 2009.  Has your company noticed any improvement yet?

These are tough times, in particular here in the Midwest.  To get your business back on track you can’t afford to sit back hoping for good old times to return.  You have to take charge and start working on the future of your business.  Expecting different results from the same old approach to business does not work.  You have to embrace change, fundamentally rethink your business, and set a new course.

Too many companies dependent on the automotive industry failed to see the fundamental, structural changes taking place in their industry.  GM’s market share has been declining for more than twenty years.  Suppliers that are only now beginning to think about diversification and reducing their dependence on the automotive industry are far behind the curve.  Why couldn’t they see the trend earlier?  Why didn’t they change before it was too late? [Read more...]

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What is Strategy, Anyway?

July 26, 2010 by 2 Comments

The term ‘strategy’ is often misused, in particular in business.  Someone may say “What’s our strategy for solving that problem?”, or “Let’s strategize to win that account.”  In reality, these are tactical, operational issues, not strategic.  The term ‘Strategy’ is often applied to any kind of planning activity, whether it’s really strategic or not.

A company that does not understand the essence of strategy and that has not adopted a strategic mindset is most likely a laggard in their market.  Companies that fail to embrace strategic thinking are narrowly focused on the short-term and are reactionary in their actions.  These firms neglect to take a longer-term perspective of the business.  They find themselves at the mercy of the competition, customers and the economy, rather than taking the initiative and creating their own path. [Read more...]

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Company Culture Determines the Success of Strategic Planning – Part 2

June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

This is the sequel to an earlier blog post about how company culture can impact not only management’s attitudes about Strategic Planning, the effort that goes into creating the strategic plan, and ultimately, whether they’ll be successful.

Here are a few more examples of different company cultures and their effect on Strategic Planning:

Group Think

In a company where Group Think is the norm decisions are made with an uncritical acceptance of the common point of view.  Different opinions or concerns are not considered or downplayed.  Challenging the status-quo and asking tough questions are frowned upon.

Group Think happens when people of similar experiences work together on developing a company’s strategy. They tend to agree quickly, avoiding conflict and downplaying dissent.  The result is a weak, poorly thought-out strategic plan that will likely fail to be successful. [Read more...]

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