Planning and Implementing a Business Strategy


Overview/Description
Target Audience
Expected Duration
Lesson Objectives
Course Number



Overview/Description
Operations managers wishing to see their strategy successfully adopted must ensure that they have prepared the groundwork. This involves two key stages: formulation and implementation of strategy. In the first phase, the manager must plan the strategy, build a vision, and communicate it to ensure there are the needed resources and strategic alignment to succeed. The second stage is to bring the team along and create the conditions for the strategy to take hold. This involves being aware of how often strategy fails to make it out of the starting block and succumbs to failure. In addition, managers need to know that the strategy is never static; it changes with the environment it finds itself in. Therefore the strategy implementation must be evaluated and conditions put in place that will facilitate its successful adoption. Finally, any strategy must be renewed in order for it to survive. This course will help operational managers to think like senior strategists, and prepare them to better formulate and implement their strategic plans.

Target Audience
Those in management who are engaged in or preparing for a more strategic role in the business. This includes senior executives, operations managers, consultants, and business people looking to add a more strategic edge to their business activities. Business students and professionals wanting to gain knowledge of how strategy is applied in a business context.

Expected Duration (hours)
2.5

Lesson Objectives

Planning and Implementing a Business Strategy

  • recognize the benefits of having a formal strategy formulation process in place across the organization
  • match each step in a strategic planning process to its end product
  • recognize examples of the characteristics of core strategic planning processes
  • recognize examples of the ways strategic vision sparks successful product strategy
  • take a leadership role in communicating a strategic vision throughout an organization
  • recognize how to apply each of the five principles of the balanced scorecard approach
  • match each perspective in the balanced scorecard approach to its description
  • recognize the benefits of rising to the challenge of strategy implementation
  • recognize examples of organizational and strategic plan characteristics that can impact a strategy deployment
  • take the appropriate actions to ensure the successful implementation of a strategic plan
  • recognize examples of the common pitfalls that can negatively impact strategic implementation
  • identify examples of the questions to ask in monitoring strategic plans
  • Course Number:
    stgy_01_a04_bs_enus