Strategic Business Planning Methodology

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved.
The guide serves as a framework for conducting a strategic business
planning study and to map out an actionable plan for the business.
Strategic Business Planning
Methodology
Step by step approach to strategic business
planning

© Operational Excellence Consulting. All rights reserved. 3
Introduction to Strategic Business Planning
Methodology
• The pace of change has accelerated considerably as
organizations enter the electronic age of the new
economy. And because the world changes constantly at
a “click” rate, strategic planning is the most essential and
important part of a business cycle.
• Strategic business planning is the process by which the
guiding members of an organization envision its future
and develop the necessary processes and operations to
achieve that future.
• The model of strategic business planning presented in
this methodology will help the organization to plan and
create its future.

Overview of the Strategic Business Planning
Methodology
Implementation
Formulation
Business
Strategy
Development
Business
Visioning
Strategic
Business
Review

The strategic business planning methodology
provides a blueprint for achieving the organization’s
future state vision
Strategic Business Planning Methodology
Strategic
Business
Review
Business
Visioning
Business
Strategy
Development
Implementation
Formulation
• Review current
state
• Identify areas of
competitive
advantage
• Analyze industry
trends and
competition
• Envision desired
state
• Identify and screen
opportunities
• Analyze
opportunity gaps
• Benchmark and
make
recommendations
• Define blueprint
• Identify programs
• Define
implementation
plan

Implementation
Formulation
Business
Strategy
Development
Business
Visioning
Strategic
Business
Review
• Review current
state
• Identify areas of
competitive
advantage
• Analyze industry
trends and
competition

1.1 Review Current State
• Review the organization’s current vision and mission.
The primary questions to answer are:
 Why does the organization exist?
 What function does the organization perform? (What products or
services does it offer?)
 For whom does the organization perform this function?
 How does the organization go about fulfilling this function?
• Identify the major forces driving the organization.
Examples of driving forces are products and services
being offered, methods of distribution, the market being
served, growth, etc.

 Organizational values
 Does the organization value profit more than growth, or how strongly
is customer and quality valued?
 Operating philosophy
 What are the published and unwritten operating philosophies that
employees understand? Are the assumptions in the operating
philosophy valid and relevant?
 Organizational culture
 Organization culture is made up of the personal values, the
organization values, the operating philosophies and the organization’s
assumptions about the way the world works. What is the assumption
upon which the organization culture is based and how has the
assumption determined its values and norms?

• Understand the organization’s current business model.
(a) Customers/Market
 Which markets are the organization targeting?
 How are they segmented?
 What are the key requirements for the various segments?
(b) Alliances
 Who are the organization’s alliances and partners?
 How committed and reliable are they?
(c) Products & Services
 What are the organization’s ranges of product and service offerings for
the various segments?

• Conduct an organizational audit of the organization’s IT
capabilities. Review the existing processes, application
systems and the IT infrastructure. Take inventory of the
organization’s existing hardware and software.

1.2 Identify Areas of Competitive Advantage
 Who are the indirect competitors outside of the industry (i.e. those
providing totally different alternative products or services which
provide the same or similar benefits)?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of these competitors?
 How does the organization compare on in terms of
features/benefits of importance to the target market?

1.3 Analyze Industry Trends & Competition
• Determine the sources of data/information collection for
monitoring purposes, e.g.:
 Employees with outside contacts
 Suppliers and distributors
 Vendors and suppliers of technology
 Customers (current customers, former customers, competitors’
customers, prospective customers)
 External consultants
 Research organizations
 Internet
• Collect and analyze industry data/information to
determine industry trends and competition.

Records – Phase 1
• Record of review of current state
• Record of competitive assessment and analysis

Implementation
Formulation
Business
Strategy
Development
Business
Visioning
Strategic
Business
Review
• Envision desired
state

2.1 Envision Future State
• Define the organization’s desired future vision and
mission. The primary questions to address are:
 Why should the organization exist?
 What function should the organization perform? (What products
or services should it offer?)
 For whom should the organization perform this function?
 How should the organization go about fulfilling this function?

2.1 Envision Future State
• Define the organization’s future business model.
Consider the following:
 People
 Process
 Products and services
 Technology (including IT)

Deliverables – Phase 2
• Definition of desired state
• Future business model documentation
• Definition of critical success factors

Phase 3:
Business Strategy
Development

Objective – Phase 3
• To formulate business strategies to realize the business
vision.

3.1 Identify & Screen Opportunities
 Areas that would give the organization a competitive advantage
over its competitors, e.g. e-business, POS systems, personalized
customer service
 Availability of resources
• Screen the opportunities according to the defined
criteria. Analyze and prioritize the screened
opportunities.

3.3 Benchmark & Make Recommendations
• Benchmark the industries for various business
excellence models and best/leading practices in the
market and incorporate good ideas into the
recommendations.
• Formulate strategies and make recommendations for
bridging the gaps.
• Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for tracking
and ensure alignment to the organization’s strategies
and objectives.

Records – Phase 3
• Organization’s confirmation of strategies

Implementation
Formulation
Business
Strategy
Development
Business
Visioning
Strategic
Business
Review
• Define blueprint
• Identify programs
• Define
implementation
plan

4.1 Define Blueprint
• Define blueprint for implementation. Consider the
following:
 People
 Process
 Products and services
 Technology (including IT architecture)
 Consulting support
 Outsourcing of IT development
• Define the new organization structure, roles and
responsibilities to support the implementation plan.

4.2 Identify Programs
• Estimate the benefits and costs of implementing the
proposed programs and the IT architecture. The costs
should cover hardware cost, software cost, installation
cost, maintenance cost and organizational change
management cost. For the IT architecture, the cost can
be estimated by:
 Soliciting inputs from various vendors
 Compare with other projects of similar size and functionality for
application systems

4.3 Define Implementation Plan
• Develop an implementation plan taking into
consideration the impact on the business environment,
encompassing all key activities and schedule.
• Make contingency plans based on some possible
internal and external scenarios.
• Communicate the implementation plan to the functional
units (department, section, etc.).
• Consolidate and review the Strategic Business Planning
Study Report to ensure completeness.

Deliverables – Phase 4
• Strategic Business Planning Study Report (refer to Word
document template)

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A.1 Information Architecture
• Define the major data entities that are required to make
business decisions. Consider the following:
 Input and output of the key business processes
 Information required to monitor the CSFs and the KPIs
• Identify the relationship and dependencies among the
data entities, including interfaces with external
organizations and customers.

A.3 Technology Architecture
• Review the following infrastructure for the development
of the IT architecture for the organization:
(a) Desktop architecture
 Analyze and summarize the technologies required for operating the
desktop based on the application architecture. This should include
office systems, user interface devices, user access methods and
query/report services.
 Determine quantitative information of the desktops and the services
that each category of desktop should provide.

A.3 Technology Architecture
 (c) Server/Host architecture
 Determine the technological platform, including hardware and system
software, required for operating the application architecture.
 (d) Information system policies, standards and processes
 Determine the adequacy of the existing information system policies,
standards and processes to support the proposed IT architecture.
 Determine to what extent the IT architecture components support the
detailed business transactions, i.e. review adequacy by mapping the
IT architecture against the business processes.
• Review the IT architectural design and approaches with
relevant technology specialists and refine the design if
necessary.

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