INTRODUCTION

Today’s business is done in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing environment. Product life-cycles are shortening; technology is changing rapidly; markets are opening globally. Companies now need to think faster, develop quicker and often change radically if they are to achieve profitable growth and create tomorrow’s organisation out of today’s organisation.

This highly interactive training course on Strategic Thinking & Decision Making in Competitive Environments has been developed for experienced management team members who now need to step up and take new opportunities and at the same time deal with new threats from existing and emerging competitors.

OBJECTIVES

·         Gain an understanding of the workings of competitive markets

·         Identify the right tools and techniques to use in market analysis

·         Build an effective system for acquiring and processing competitor information

·         Understand the processes and the strategic significance of value migration

·         Manage simultaneous competitive / collaborative business relationships

·         Create sustainable differentiation on the basis of the total business model

OUTLINE

Day 1: Evaluating the Business and its Potential

·         What is the Value Structure of a Business?

·         How and Why is This Changing?

·         The "Value Chain” and "Value Ladder” in Strategic Thinking

·         Financial and Non-Financial Evaluation of the Business

·         Foresight – The Most Important Activity in Strategy

·         The Underlying Concept of Profitable Growth

Day 2: Strategic Analysis in a Competitive Context

·         Learning from Best Practice

·         Introducing a Strategic Mindset

·         Managing Internal and External Relationships in Strategy Development

·         Assessing Risk in Strategic Decisions

·         How to Review and Evaluate Initiatives and Projects

·         Securing the Cohesion of Strategic Programmes and Projects

Day 3: Dealing with Choice and Complexity

·         Strategic Choice 1 – Working Out What to Do and What Not to Do

·         Strategic Choice 2 – Incorporating Agility and Contingency Provision

·         The Economics of the "Make-Versus-Buy” Decision

·         Use of Information Technology to Cope with Increasing Complexity

·         Supply-Demand Chain Optimisation

·         Participating in a Virtual or Extended Organisation

Day 4: Strategic Decision-Making

·         The Membership of an Effective Strategic Planning Team

·         Project Evaluation and Ranking of Opportunities

·         Innovation – Its Place in the Strategic Decision Process

·         Risk Analysis and Risk Management – Tools and Techniques

·         Setting Project Objectives, Milestones and Performance Measures

·         Sustaining Differentiation on the Basis of the Total Business Model

Day 5: Implementing Strategy and Deciding on Long-Term Development

·         Why Do Most Strategic Plans Never Get Implemented?

·         Strategy Implementation – How to Break It Down and Get It Done

·         Implementation as a "Mission Critical” Management Activity

·         Plan Ahead – Only as Far as You Can See

·         Leveraging Experience to Convert Foresight Into Programmes and Projects

·         Discussion of Delegates’ Plans for Follow-Up Action

·         Overview and Summary of the Complete Course