Strategic Businesss Planning

Strategic business planning keeps you competitive. It helps you define or refine your future direction, then develop operational and tactical plans that take the needs of your stakeholders and changing business conditions into account.

Our case studies below provide examples of how we can help.

Our capabilities include

A proven framework for the development of business strategy and plans
An understanding of strategic issues based on first hand industry experience
Insight into market trends, customer satisfaction and organizational performance
Action planning to implement strategy
Alignment of business plans to drive synergy
Comprehensive implementation support to develop organizational capability

Case study #1: Reinventing the business

The issue: This high tech company had just received an injection of venture capital and was moving into recovery mode. The new Board and management knew that changes to the business model were required; at the same time they were faced with an organization that had “always done it this way”, and resisted change.

The solution: Knowing that it was imperative to build organizational support for the changes that were needed, Smith Knox worked with the incoming CEO to convene a three-day strategic planning session. The participants included the existing senior management, senior members of the design and engineering teams, and a cross section of highly respected and influential staffers that represented every organizational function.

Smith Knox facilitated discussions that examined the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and competitive threats. Over the course of the session, a new vision and mission statement were developed, the desired company culture was articulated, the values and behaviours necessary to imbed that culture in the organization were identified, necessary processes and programs were defined, and opportunities for new business lines and business models were identified. As well, to ensure existing revenue opportunities were not compromised, the group identified opportunities to “harvest low-hanging fruit”. On the final day of the planning session, action plans were finalized, project leads for each action item were identified, and time lines for delivery were agreed upon.

Following the planning session, Smith Knox developed an employee presentation for the new CEO to use in a series of employee meetings to inform them about the process and advise them of next steps.

The impact: Due to the nature of the strategic planning process, participants in the planning session 'owned' the new organizational vision, mission and values. As a direct result of this ownership, they held one another accountable for delivery of the action items to which each of them had committed, and acted as ambassadors – selling the new directions to employees. The core business of the company has been strengthened and two of the opportunities for new product lines were supported by sound business cases. One of these lines is currently being developed as part of the company’s base operations. An assigned ‘green field’ team is developing another concept, built on knowledge of the organization’s strengths but representing a departure from its core business.

Case study #2: Making the organization more relevant to stakeholders

The issue: The provincial division of a national non-profit consumer association was experiencing membership growth at a rate considerably lower than growth of the population it represented, particularly among youth and young adults. For some time, there had been a decline in the number of people accepting leadership roles in the association. As well, there was no reliable mechanism in place to determine the needs and expectations of the association's members, or to determine whether the organization's mission or current role reflected the members' expectations.

The solution: With the assistance of Smith Knox, the association undertook a strategic planning process that began with a province-wide consultation of consumers and stakeholders. Smith Knox designed, tested and validated a questionnaire to facilitate the consultation process, then used the questionnaire in conducting 38 public and private consultation meetings.

The findings were analyzed and formed the basis for the development of a new vision, mission and the framework for a strategic plan for the organization. These were presented at the annual general meeting of the organization and unanimously ratified by the membership.

The impact: The process caught stakeholders' attention, generating new interest. The association was re-energized by the consultation process itself and new volunteer leaders for the organization emerged. Implementation of the new strategic plan, based on the needs and expectations of the organization's stakeholders is now in process.

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Last modified September 5, 2007