In building a Corporate Strategy, there should be processes that need to be done to come up in much more strategic planning. There should be a gathering of information from the industry, checking the capabilities of the company and also the consideration of reaching the desired objectives in a much broader way. It is also important to analyze the gap between the current state and the future desired state of the company and of course the systems. While I tried to look for the most critical parameters to be considered in developing a strategic IS planning, I find the best areas to get more focused during analyzing. These are plan, people, operation and implementation and technology.
Here are the questions I tried to develop out of those areas in making a Strategic Planning:
1. What are the issues outside your organization? And how it affects your organization?
Explanation: Before getting on what is inside, let’s try to look on what is outside the organization. Having an environmental scan can help us analyze on the issues that we are going to address.
2. Is your organization ready for Strategic Planning?
Explanation: This question will assess the level of readiness of the organization to conduct a strategic planning while there are number of issues that must be addressed. This will determine whether the top management down to the lowest level is willing to participate and committed to do the effort until the results will be known. In order to have an organized process, readiness should be determined by answering these issues below:
a. Specific issues must be identified/ choices that the planning process should address
b. Organizational profile should be developed
c. There should be a creation of Planning committee
d. Individual roles should be clarified (like who does what during the process)
e. Information that must be collected to help make sound decisions must be identified
3. What business is in your company?
Explanation: In developing a strategic planning, it is very much important to define the business clearly. There should be a clear definition of the business in terms of their responsibility in their customers, on what they really do in their customers or in their company. Try to see the things that the company needs to reduce, stop or avoid based on the current state of the organization.
4. What are the basic Plans of the company?
Explanation: It is important to realize that a basic plan is basically required in line with the budget and the organization’s strategic objectives. The said plan should summarize the details of a coordinated approach within the organization to reaching the envisioned state. It is like setting a goal and objectives for the organization and asking the question “What do you want to achieve?” and “What are your specific, measurable targets?”
5. What are the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats inside your organization?
Explanation: After wide look on external issues, let’s take a hard look on the internal issues. Having the S.W.O.T analysis will help you find and create much more strategic plans.
6. Assuming that things will be the same they are today, what business will be in?
Explanation: It is important to look at the possibility of changes. Will you like to continue the line of business that you have now or you would like to change it? Based on the performance that your organization had during the past years, is it an intelligent decision to pursue on the same strategy or it is better to change the way it used to be.
7. What are the capabilities of the IT department?
Explanation: This is the people issues where it represents the readiness of the organization to absorb and use technology and the awareness factors. Knowing the organizations capability in this area will help to develop a much more strategic planning and effective results.
8. What is the status of your customers or the industry itself?
Explanation: The success of the operation and implementation will define the capability of the organization to handle projects in information technology. This will evaluate the readiness of the organization on implementing complex IT projects and then how will they managed it afterwards. Therefore, status can help in adjusting strategic planning.
9. What are their technologies?
Explanation: This will help in the study of their existing technology platforms, the infrastructure, the state and format of the data and information present. Along with this is the governance of their technology. Many technologies present in the company will sometimes result to difficulties management. There should be clear and specific choice in the standards, responsibility and approval structure in selecting and implementing technology to avoid difficulty of integration.
References:
http://www.allianceonline.org/content/index.php?pid=172
http://managementhelp.org/fp_progs/sp_mod/str_plan.htm
Here are the questions I tried to develop out of those areas in making a Strategic Planning:
1. What are the issues outside your organization? And how it affects your organization?
Explanation: Before getting on what is inside, let’s try to look on what is outside the organization. Having an environmental scan can help us analyze on the issues that we are going to address.
2. Is your organization ready for Strategic Planning?
Explanation: This question will assess the level of readiness of the organization to conduct a strategic planning while there are number of issues that must be addressed. This will determine whether the top management down to the lowest level is willing to participate and committed to do the effort until the results will be known. In order to have an organized process, readiness should be determined by answering these issues below:
a. Specific issues must be identified/ choices that the planning process should address
b. Organizational profile should be developed
c. There should be a creation of Planning committee
d. Individual roles should be clarified (like who does what during the process)
e. Information that must be collected to help make sound decisions must be identified
3. What business is in your company?
Explanation: In developing a strategic planning, it is very much important to define the business clearly. There should be a clear definition of the business in terms of their responsibility in their customers, on what they really do in their customers or in their company. Try to see the things that the company needs to reduce, stop or avoid based on the current state of the organization.
4. What are the basic Plans of the company?
Explanation: It is important to realize that a basic plan is basically required in line with the budget and the organization’s strategic objectives. The said plan should summarize the details of a coordinated approach within the organization to reaching the envisioned state. It is like setting a goal and objectives for the organization and asking the question “What do you want to achieve?” and “What are your specific, measurable targets?”
5. What are the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats inside your organization?
Explanation: After wide look on external issues, let’s take a hard look on the internal issues. Having the S.W.O.T analysis will help you find and create much more strategic plans.
6. Assuming that things will be the same they are today, what business will be in?
Explanation: It is important to look at the possibility of changes. Will you like to continue the line of business that you have now or you would like to change it? Based on the performance that your organization had during the past years, is it an intelligent decision to pursue on the same strategy or it is better to change the way it used to be.
7. What are the capabilities of the IT department?
Explanation: This is the people issues where it represents the readiness of the organization to absorb and use technology and the awareness factors. Knowing the organizations capability in this area will help to develop a much more strategic planning and effective results.
8. What is the status of your customers or the industry itself?
Explanation: The success of the operation and implementation will define the capability of the organization to handle projects in information technology. This will evaluate the readiness of the organization on implementing complex IT projects and then how will they managed it afterwards. Therefore, status can help in adjusting strategic planning.
9. What are their technologies?
Explanation: This will help in the study of their existing technology platforms, the infrastructure, the state and format of the data and information present. Along with this is the governance of their technology. Many technologies present in the company will sometimes result to difficulties management. There should be clear and specific choice in the standards, responsibility and approval structure in selecting and implementing technology to avoid difficulty of integration.
References:
http://www.allianceonline.org/content/index.php?pid=172
http://managementhelp.org/fp_progs/sp_mod/str_plan.htm
