The Basic Terms of Strategic Planning

The Milwaukee BizTimes dedicated its January 22nd issue to “Positioning your company for THE REBOUND”. Several CEO’s were contributors, namely Bob Arzbaecher of Actuant. Although the consensus was not all hearts & flowers, there was agreement that what we do in the next several months is critical to our organization’s long term goals.

With our business cycle entering a slow, though steady improvement, there is some guarded optimism. The rationale appears to be, & rightfully so, preparing to capture market share while growing in a planned, profitable way.

History also shows that major opportunities abound in times of economic recovery. As Bob says, “Manufacture a rebound. Strategic Planning (SP) is the natural process to “discover” and create your future success.

Because SP is a major focus of my consulting business, to add value to those considering the process, I decided to put together a brief synopsis of SP and a typical meeting schedule. In preparation for that, this first posting will be one of commonly used terms.


Glossary

Benchmarking: normalizing results from competitors & other representative companies to compare performance and create a standard.

Core Competencies: areas of expertise found in the members of an organization that make it unique.

Customer Intimate: a value discipline satisfying special customer needs through specific knowledge of the customer.

External Scanning: gathering data & taking stock of the environment outside the company.

Facilitator: a neutral party without an agenda experienced in leading a group process to discover a successful course of action.

Fierce Conversations: speaking & listening honestly, as though each conversation is the most important you will ever have.

Goals: specific levels of accomplishment necessary to achieving some larger result.

Internal Scanning; same as external, except within the company.

Mission: why the organization exists.

Objectives: specific accomplishments that must be completed to achieve the goals of the plan.

Operational Excellence: middle market products at the best price with the least hassle.

Organizational Assessments: methods used to rate the organization, often with internal scanning.

Process: involving others with varied skills, viewpoints, & experiences in decision making.

Product Leadership: offering products that push performance boundaries.

Resources: people, money, equipment, technology, and materials needed to implement the strategies.

Smarter Objectives: specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, time frame, extending, rewarding.

Strategies: processes/methods pursued to achieve goals.

SWOT: strengths weaknesses, opportunities, threats; a method of evaluation to help discover the most effective course of action.

Tasks: activities needed to implement the plan.

Value Disciplines: three desirable ways in which companies can combine operating models & value systems to be the best in their market.

Value Proposition: the promise to deliver a particular combination of price, quality, selection, convenience, etc.

Values: inherent in everything you do and how you do it.

Vision: the passion that motivates us to strive for success.

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