Strategic Thinking Training for Operational Management

Strategic Thinking Course Outline

• Introduction

  • Strategy: everyone's concern
  • Identifying the strategic challenges facing operational managers
  • What strategy means to operational managers

• Defining Strategic Thinking

  The key aspects of strategic thinking

  • Distinguishing between strategic thinking and planning
  • Identifying the impact of strategy on operational activity
  • Aligning the organization's vision with reality
  • Creating sustainable competitive advantage

  Creating value for stakeholders

  • Recognizing the importance of stakeholders in the strategy process
  • Satisfying the needs of the stakeholders

  Applying strategic-thinking tools

  • Positioning yourself within the four cycles of operational effectiveness
  • Decoding your environment with PESTLE
  • Analyzing the ecosystem with Porter's Five Forces

• Leveraging Operational Strengths

  Evaluating operational capabilities

  • Differentiating between organizational and operational competencies
  • Taking inventory of the key strengths within your operation
  • Rating competencies against strategic goals

  Maximizing your unique operational strengths to deliver stakeholder value

  • Optimizing internal processes
  • Shaping opportunities by scanning the external environment

• Executing Strategy at the Operational Level

  Getting real about the vision

  • Qualifying the gaps between operational and organizational vision
  • Establishing the foundation for realizing goals

  Bridging the strategic gap

  • Questioning assumptions to uncover new solutions and drive new discoveries
  • Managing operational strategic assets
  • Rigorous planning through scenario assessment
  • Quantifying the impact of proposed solutions

• Creating an Innovative Culture

  Employing an innovation framework

  • The importance of innovation in strategic thinking
  • Promoting nonlinear thinking
  • Generating solutions through value engineering
  • Optimizing solutions by challenging the status quo

  Adapting your culture to satisfy strategic demands

  • Meeting the five preconditions for an innovative culture
  • Facilitating team innovation

  Innovating to create competitive success

  • Qualifying innovation traits
  • Benchmarking objectives against actual performance

  Quantifying the financial metrics

  • Verifying decisions through financial analysis
  • Incorporating a stakeholder perspective

• Planning for Operational Change

  Weaving change into the fabric of the culture

  • Being proactive in a reactive environment
  • Implementing operational change through people, processes and culture
  • Motivating the team to adopt the change

  Constructing a change process

  • Configuring your resources to encompass change
  • Measuring results through balanced scorecards

• Securing Stakeholder Commitment

  Communicating for buy-in

  • Applying influencing techniques to overcome resistance
  • Negotiating for resources using win-win approaches

  Maximizing your impact

  • Earning support with entrepreneurial techniques
  • Articulating an elevator pitch that secures commitment