Module 2: Diagnosis, Identifying capabilities, resources and processes
Topic 2.5: Strategy Effectiveness: Putting it all together
What does it all mean? How does strategy work to deliver outcomes, and how do we decide that overall our strategies are effective? Clearly long-term results are crucial here. Is our organisation achieving the results and outcomes that are promised and expected? We would call this a Key Performance Indicator approach to strategy evaluation. Please explore your agency’s KPIs. These clearly are essential to your exploration of this topic. Here however is another lens through which to examine the relevance and appropriateness of an organisation’s strategies, partly with an anticipatory mindset.
Now that you have explored diagnostic techniques, you will continue on your ‘Strategy Journey’ in the next section, where you will begin to ‘build the case for action’ by applying the outcomes of your diagnoses, and your other observations, as you examine decision making processes, build support for your proposals, and then create the ‘call to action!’
Conclusion
Throughout Module 2, we encouraged you to develop your capabilities in ‘temperature taking’ in relation to the external environment in which your organisation operates, and in relation to its internal strengths, weaknesses and processes. We specifically highlighted:
- The 5 Forces Framework, the OT sections of the SWOT, and the PESTEL tool, as a means of exploring and gauging the ‘outside’.
- The SW sections of the SWOT analysis, with the aim of understanding what you have to work with to leverage for success.
- Tools such as stakeholder analysis to help you better understand and understand key clients.
- The importance of developing a measurement system, and finding ways to continue to validate the application and direction of the organisation’s strategy.
Continue to examine your organisation’s strengths, what it can improve, and how these interact, in relation to creating and delivering public value. The temptation often in the execution of strategy is to focus alone on the organisation and its objectives. In this module we provided you with a possible strategy journey map as a guide, with the suggestion that you adapt and enhance it over time, to make it your own.
Required
Working towards your Workplace Project
Start to flesh out your Workshop Project Proposal. Consider what strategy tools you have learnt so far in this Unit will help you to gather data in relation to your topic.
Deeper Learning
30 mins
Scenario Planning and Analysis
Scenario planning is a free flowing, brainstorming way of thinking about the organisation, which works in the more turbulent and unpredictable environment in which all organisations now operate. Planning five years out is often not feasible hence the need for flexibility and tools such as scenario planning.
Scenario planning involves constructing multiple frames of future states of the external world, only some of which may be aligned with current strategy. Because it advocates contingency planning for unfavourable as well as favourable futures, it ties in well with risk management approaches which require us to at least think about what is the worst thing that could happen even if we hope it doesn’t. Scenario planning could also be used to deliver a wicked-problem-solving strategy.
The general steps of scenario planning are:
- structuring the scenario process
- exploring the scenario context
- building the scenarios
- identifying the driving forces in the environment
- undertaking a stakeholder analysis
- understanding the impact on organisational thinking and action.
Scenario planning may be uncomfortable because it is based on the premise that the way managers normally work may be wrong (Van der Heijden et al. 2002, p.63)[1].
Many see scenario planning as a ‘what if’ activity. It is also very useful as an analysis and strategy evaluation tool. Using multiple scenarios, strategists and operations managers can test potential outcomes against desired outcomes and look for challenges, viability and the robustness of the strategy.
Activity
Consider a current highly relevant initiative in which you are involved.
Revisit the various analyses you have conducted – SWOT, PESTEL etc. Choose the trends and factors that you think are ‘most likely to’ change and impact your operations.
Develop some scenarios. Perhaps includes events such as a change of government, Minister, or Director General. Then also perhaps other changes such as budget cuts, significant departure of internal expertise, etc.
How ‘robust’ and relevant is the strategy? How might it change?
- Van der Heijden, K., Bradfield, R., George Burt, G., George Cairns, G. & Wright, G. (2002). The Sixth Sense: Accelerating Organizational Learning with Scenarios. Wiley and Sons. ↵