Course Overview

Jumping the gun in a business scenario can prove to be fatal. Economic landscape in which businesses operate, modifies rapidly. This makes taking corporate decisions a risky affair. The entity and its management are burdened with the responsibility to take successful decisions while taking the following into account: – Changing technology, emerging trends, regulatory environment, competitive standpoint and several other critical factors. This calls for rational and deliberate processing of information to anticipate opportunities that can be tapped as well as vulnerabilities to ward off.

What is strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking involves identification of key variables that can have an effect on the business- whether favourable or unfavourable- in the long run.

How do businesses use strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking when coupled with Business Planning allows the business to function with a clarified set of strategies and actions to achieve pre-determined goals decided by the top management and other key stakeholders. Strategic Thinking and Business Planning if done correctly ensures business’s survival.

How will the organisation cope with emerging trends in the industry? What markets will the firm be serving? Where will the facilities be located? How is the company going to maintain growth in a declining market? How is the firm going to maintain its competitive advantage in a scenario of aggressive competition? The top management faces numerous challenges in the form of these strategic issues. Clarity is sought on these questions which requires skill and deep environmental scan. The strategic thinking and business planning process is aimed at producing realistic and rewarding plants for the organisation.

Zoe has introduced this Strategic Thinking and Business Planning Course aimed at specifically developing strategic finesse in the participants. The course is relevant not just for top management of large corporations but also for leaders and managers looking to provide guidance to their respective teams, projects or businesses.

The purpose of the course is to transform candidates into professionals who are adept at corporate decision-making and successfully expand their analytical thinking mindset, problem solving approach and leadership skills. The Zoe course deals with training the participants to make sound decisions along with discussing relevant techniques such as information gathering, brainstorming solutions, strategically defining problems, developing business plans and many others.

Course Objectives

The course is aimed at fulfilling following objectives:

• Develop analytical skills within participants to timely identify opportunities and vulnerabilities
• Prepare participants to take research backed decisions
• To develop managerial awareness within the participants by sharpening their future oriented approach
• To equip the participants with various managerial tools that will help them review different business functions
• To help develop insights for strategic decisions such as identifying cost drivers, focusing on differentiation, etc.
• To inculcate competitive intelligence with the participants

Training Methodology

This collaborative Strategic Thinking and Business Planning Course will comprise the following training methods:

• Interactive sessions and lectures
• Presentations
• Management games
• Role playing/modelling
• Case studies
• Group discussions
• Problem solving sessions

Like all our acclaimed courses, this program also follows the ‘Do-Review-Learn-Apply’ model.

Organisational Benefits

The Strategic Thinking and Business Planning course will benefit an organisation in following ways:

• The organisation will be able to identify opportunities in time and get first mover advantage
• With trained leader the business will gain proactive proclivities instead of being reactive
• Organisation will gain better sense of direction with clarified set of goals and objectives
• Organisation will be able to formulate improved strategies by following the rational and systematic approach of strategic thinking
• Organisations’ operations and effort will be streamlined in a common direction by creating less stress
• Timely identify key critical factors affecting the functioning and success of the firm

Personal Benefits

The Strategic Thinking and Business Planning course will benefit the participants at a personal level in the following manner:

• Perform better as a leader and manager with enhanced skill set
• Gain a deeper understanding and awareness of the dynamic business environment and how to cope with it at an individual level
• Get accustomed better with organisation’s culture
• Gain analytical and decision-making skills
• Learn to set ambitious and realistic objectives
• Gain exposure to practical aspects, common tools and their applications with regard to business planning
• Develop business wavelength in leadership competency, change management and team management
• Develop communication and negotiation skills required to navigate challenges, settle deals and craft strategies

Who Should Attend?

• Chief executive officers, Chief Operating officers
• Departmental heads
• General managers
• Strategic managers
• Business Analysts
• Business policy makers
• Entrepreneurs
• Start-up founders

Course Outline

Module 1: Fundamentals of Strategic Thinking

• Why is strategic thinking important?
• Role of strategic thinking in business
• Components of strategic thinking
• Strategic thinking competencies: intent focused, intelligent opportunism
• Ways to improve strategic thinking skills

Module 2: Introduction to Business Planning

• Strategic thinking versus strategic planning
• Role of strategic thinking in business planning
• Types of business planning
• Steps in business planning
• Drafting a business plan
• Genesis of business policy

Module 3: Establishing strategic intent

• Understanding stretch, leverage and fit
• Developing vision and mission statement
• Dimensions of business definition
• Business model
• Objective setting

Module 4: Strategy formulation

• Environmental scanning
• Sources of information
• Organisation appraisal

Module 5: Corporate level strategies

• Concentration, integration and diversification
• Expansion, stability, retrenchment strategies
• Integration strategies: horizontal and vertical
• Diversification strategies-concentric or related

Module 6: Business level strategies

• Positioning of firm in industry
• General business strategy- differentiation and cost leadership
• Tactics for business strategy- timing tactics, location tactics
• Business strategy for different industry stages

Module 7: Strategic analysis

• Tools and techniques for strategic analysis
• Corporate portfolio analysis
• Experience curve analysis
• Strategic group analysis
• Competitor analysis

Module 8: Strategic choice

• Process of strategic choice
• Strategic alternatives
• Analysing and evaluating strategic alternatives

Module 9: Basics of problem-solving and negotiation skills

• Tools for understanding problems
• Cause and effect analysis
• Use of brainstorming
• Critical thinking in decision making
• Techniques of negotiation
• Dynamics of negotiation
• Role of communication in negotiation