TACA Conveyor - Spring 2008 - (Page 9)

These days many companies have powerful vision statements that are engraved on plaques, printed on stationary and included in advertisements. This is not enough to ensure the organization’s success. Along with a vision you must have a plan of how you are going to reach your vision. If the vision is the destination, then the plan is the road map that will lead you to that destination. Without the map, you can wander around for years only to discover that you are no closer to your vision. So how do you develop a plan to achieve your vision? Three Simple Questions A plan, sometimes called a strategic plan, can take many forms. Some companies have very detailed strategic plans that ﬁll up three-ring binders and sit on bookshelves collecting dust. Other organizations have plans that are only known by the president and a chosen few. They falsely believe that the power of the plan is its secrecy. So what is a strategic plan? A plan is any document that answers three basic questions about the organization. 1. Where does the organization want to be in the future? 2. Where is the organization at present? 3. What actions must the organization take to close the gap between where it is and where it wants to be? Any document that addresses these three questions is a strategic plan. How these questions are answered varies dramatically from one organization to the next. Although these three questions are simple to ask, they are usually very difﬁcult to answer. That is why each of these questions is broken into smaller, more speciﬁc questions, which are referred to as the components of the plan. Some of the most common components of a strategic plan, shown in the Strategy Pyramid below, are familiar to most managers and include goals, objectives, mission, strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities, critical issues and action plans. Each of these components is used to answer one of the three basic questions. The Present A current situation analysis is used to deﬁne the present operating environment of an organization. This analysis includes internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. This is sometimes also referred to as a S.W.O.T. analysis and requires a critical review by management of the organization’s internal operations and external environment. Assumptions are also used to deﬁne the current situation. These are statements that reﬂect management’s current expectations about the future. Assumptions are limited to those factors that would have an impact on the success of the organization. Assumptions might include statements about inﬂ ation or the Some companies have very detailed strategic plans that fill up three-ring binders and sit on bookshelves collecting dust. Other organizations have plans that are only known by the president and a chosen few. The Future I have already mentioned that the vision of an organization states where the organization is going. The vision is a general statement that is helpful in communication to both internal and external groups. Goals are used to state more speciﬁcally what the organization will achieve in particular areas. Goals are usually developed to recognize constituent groups such as employees and customers. Objectives are also used to deﬁne the future of the organization. Objectives are different from goals in that they quantify speciﬁc performance levels in the future. Examples would include a proﬁt level or number of employees in a given year. Objectives with a one-year time frame are considered short-term, while long-term objectives have a time frame that exceeds one year. demand for the organization’s products or services. The Gap Critical issues and action plans describe how the organization will close the gap between where the organization is and where it wants to be in the future. A critical issue is deﬁned as any barrier that must be overcome in order to achieve the objectives. Each critical issue is addressed by one or more action plans that identify what will be done, who will do it and when it will be completed. These components provide an outline for a strategic plan. This plan becomes the road map of how the organization will achieve its vision. The power of the plan is in the process used to communicate the issues, generate TACA Conveyor • Spring 2008 9 THE PLANNING PYR AMID VISION MISSION VALUES CONSTITUENTS GOALS ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN ASSUMPTIONS SITUATION ANALYSIS STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, THREATS & OPPORTUNITIES OBJECTIVES (SHORT & LONG-TERM)/STRATEGIES CRITICAL ISSUES/ACTION PLANS

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TACA Conveyor - Spring 2008

TACA Conveyor - Spring 2008 Contents Transforming Vision Into Action TACA Members Tee Off 2007 Environmental Seminar Get Ready for Los Cabos TACA Position Paper Solomon Colors Expansion J. D. Power Award CHRYSO and Promix J. Irwin Miller Winner TXI Concrete Group Developing Effective Concrete TACA Members Index of Advertisers

TACA Conveyor - Spring 2008

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