Strategic Thinking and Planning - CPE Training Course in Dubai, UAE

Course overview

Effective strategic planning and thinking have become a challenging task in this fast-paced world due to the increased uncertainty and rapid changes. The ability to plan and think strategically is a crucial and in-demand competency for every manager who is involved in business development strategy creating process, more than ever before. Getting a clear understanding of where an organization should be heading and realizing the means which should be used to fulfill the set goals can define the future of an entire enterprise, this defines the crucial importance of strategic planning and thinking process.

This course will show you the best practices of strategic thinking and planning, you will find out and how to use them to achieve higher results for your company when developing corporate-level strategy. Learn how to perform organizational analysis using the SWOT, PESTLE, Risk, and Gap methods to develop organizational insights. All participants will understand the components of corporate thinking and planning. During the strategy development process, you will create strategic objectives, a durable competitive advantage, and learn how to use the ultimate business strategy frameworks, consider some practical examples of that. At the end of the course, you will be acquainted with the best methods of how to implement and monitor the created business strategic plan.

This training is highly recommended for all managers who are responsible for defining a new direction for their company because course participants will be armed with the following competencies:

• Adapt the concept of strategic thinking and understand its importance for business
• Utilize the most essential and useful tools of organizational analysis
• Know how to create a corporate level strategy when you are dealing with an area of uncertainty
• Define strategic objectives and be able to justify them to stakeholders
• Amplify the organizational value chain and develop a competitive advantage
• Know how to communicate and broadcast your business-level strategy for better results

Who Should Attend

• Business Managers
• Team Leaders
• Process Leaders
• Functional Managers
• Project Managers
• C-level Leaders
• Newly-appointed Senior Managers
• Marketing Managers
• HR Managers
• Finance Managers
• Anyone who wants to improve long term planning and strategy development skills

What will you gain

• Become a professional strategist with excellent organizational vision
• Apply strategical tools and practices to leverage the resources of your company
• Know how to assess a proper alignment of purpose and values with analysis
• Get a clear understanding of how to choose the best strategy
• Use data and insights to confirm and verify your strategy
• Become a master of various business strategy frameworks
• Be aware of the concept of action planning and how to implement it efficiently
• Understand the basic principles of KPIs and how to use them in your company
• Deliver your strategical plans and ideas via efficient communication
• Implement and track the efficiency of the chosen strategy
• Create a new path for continuous organizational growth

Course content

• What is Strategic Thinking & Planning?
  • Difference between Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning
  • Importance of thinking and planning strategically
  • Risks of poor strategic planning to an organization
  • How to Think Strategically – practical techniques
• Tools of Organizational Analysis
  • SWOT Analysis
  • PESTLE Analysis
  • Stakeholder Analysis
  • Risk Analysis
  • Gap Analysis
  • Competitor Analysis
• Developing Organizational Insights
  • Developing organizational purpose
  • Developing organizational values
  • Assessing clarity of purpose and values
  • Assessing the alignment of purpose and values with analysis
• Components of a Strategic Plan
  • Developing a vision statement
  • Developing a mission statement
  • Developing strategic objectives
  • Developing strategies
  • Developing action plans
• Strategy Development, Choice, and Translation
  • Levels of Strategy: Corporate, Business and Functional
  • Competitive Strategy
  • Emergent Strategies
  • Uncertainty and Scenarios
  • Process Strategic Choice and how to select the best strategy
  • Developing and Using Strategy Mapping
• Developing Strategic Objectives
  • Process of developing strategic objectives
  • Justifying strategic objectives accurately
  • Ensuring buy-in from stakeholders
• Developing Organizational Strategies
  • Process of creating a high-level strategy
  • Ensuring an agile strategy for changing market dynamics
  • Using data and insights to validate strategy
• Developing a Durable Competitive Advantage
  • Definition of a Durable Competitive Advantage
  • Factors impacting organizational competitive advantage
  • Strengthening the organizational value chain
• Utilizing Business Strategy Frameworks
  • Balanced Scorecard
  • McKinsey Strategic Horizons
  • Lean Methodology
• Action Planning and Goal Setting
  • Developing KPIs
  • The Right KPIs vs. the Wrong KPIs
  • Using the right metrics to measure success
  • SMART goal setting
  • Top-down vs. Bottom-up action planning
• Communicating Action Plans
  • Stakeholder planning
  • Message framing
  • Using feedback to improve action plans
• Implementing Strategy in the Organization
  • Leadership role during strategy implementation
  • How to Manage Strategic Risk
  • Alignment of Operations with Strategy
  • Strategic Performance Measurement
  • Integrating Strategic and Operational Management Processes
• Monitoring and Measuring Success
  • The three-part transition process
  • The Conner model
  • Implementation issues
  • Controlling and monitoring people
  • Defining success indicators and how to measure them
• Problem Analysis Tools to Examine Implementation
  • Strategic Plan Reviews