Shared experience, organizational pride, and/or conflict avoidance can diminish the criticality of data and conclusion assessment; leading to exaggerated optimism and resulting in an organizational pursuit of unrealistic goals. Inflated expectations may drive investment in projects well outside of the organization’s risk tolerance. In today’s aggressive marketplace and under intense shareholder scrutiny, missteps like these can be disastrous for a company and its executive team.
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Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/elti-meshau-208526-unsplash.jpg40006016StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2007-08-07 15:34:312018-09-16 16:33:31Strategic Analysis Best Practice 2 – advocatus diaboli, The Devil’s Advocate
Strategic analysis is a critical component of the strategic planning process. An integral part of a company’s evaluation and control program, it provides managers with a comprehensive assessment of the organization’s capabilities and market factors; revealing growth opportunities and vulnerabilities. Armed with this information, managers can more effectively choose from among today’s strategic alternatives to create the greatest future reward potential.
Strategic analysis combines in-depth information from a number of internal and external sources to create a picture of the subject company’s current health and future viability. A multi-phased approach to data acquisition and analysis includes:
Strategic Posture and Performance Analysis
Internal Capabilities Assessment
External Environment Assessment
Analysis of Strategic Factors
Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Actions
Execution of these iterative processes takes place throughout the year with a frequency dictated by the pace of both internal and external environmental change.
Focus of the Strategic Analysis Forum
Materials in this forum are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that successfully execute strategic analysis processes to support the ongoing strategic planning process. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to a superior strategic analysis program.
The Essentials of Strategic Management (4th Edition) by J. David Hunger and Thomas L. Wheelen focuses on the founding principles and methods employed in both strategic planning and execution. Topics include strategy formulation, implementation, and control.
Benefits of Using this Reference
StrategyDriven contributors like this reference because its presentation is concise and direct while at the same time providing the detail needed to give the reader a fundamental understanding of strategic planning and execution. This book provides a full array of easy to follow tools and instructions that are ready for use by organizations of any size.
https://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.png00StrategyDrivenhttps://www.strategydriven.com/wp-content/uploads/SDELogo5-300x70-300x70.pngStrategyDriven2007-07-15 17:55:222016-05-13 18:16:05Recommended Resource – Essentials of Strategic Management