Leveraging Strategic Change Cycle In Business

Understanding Strategic Planning In Contemporary Times
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The strategy change cycle is a five-step process that enables an organisation to determine the type of leadership preparation needed and plan staff training activities. The cycle consists of five steps: needs assessment, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and adjustment actions. When used in conjunction with other strategies, it can help organisations prepare for future strategic changes and respond effectively when they occur.

Step 1: Needs assessment

This step is critical because it determines the type of strategy change required by an organisation. For example, the focus should be on the design phase if the goal is to start new leadership development programs or make the ones that are already in place better. If, however, the need is to revamp all aspects of the organisation’s culture or management structure, the focus will shift to the implementation stage.

Step 2: Design

In this step, the design team takes the results of the needs assessment and uses them to develop a prototype of what the program would look like. The goal is to create a program that fits best with the existing organisational culture. But the way things are done here needs to be realistic for the strategy as a whole to work. It is important to identify any potential problems before implementing the strategy so that they can be resolved. This also provides the opportunity to test the effectiveness of the program.

Step 3: Implementation

When the design has been approved, it is time for the implementation stage. A good leader should have full knowledge of his or her role in leading the organization during this stage. While it may seem as though there are many tasks at hand, each one is unique. For example, if new leadership development programs need to be made, making a good curriculum should come before making a mentoring program for the whole company.

Step 4: Monitoring and Evaluation

Once the implementation is complete, it is necessary to monitor its progress. This ensures that the strategy change is working according to expectations. There will always be surprises along the way, but they can be managed and worked around by using the same steps as in the design and implementation phases. There will always be surprises along the way, but they can be managed and worked around by using the same steps as in the design and implementation phases. It is also imperative that you know when to stop evaluating. Once the strategy is set in motion, it is difficult to make changes without affecting the outcome.

Step 5: Adjustments

The last step in the cycle is to adjust your strategy if necessary. Although the initial plan was created based on research and experience, things can happen along the way that require a change. For example, some of the original participants in the mentorship program may not work out as expected. In this case, you could either eliminate the program altogether or tweak it to suit the needs of the remaining participants. It is important to remember that if you feel that something is not working, you must act quickly to prevent the situation from getting worse.

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Strategy Change Cycle

According to Prof. MarkAnthony Nze, the strategy change cycle is a strategic management process that integrates planning and execution and ensures that strategic management is a continuous process. It also lets you make course corrections early, before they become problems or chances for your competitors. The main objective of this process is to ensure that strategies are implemented effectively.

A strategy change cycle is a framework that helps organisations figure out if they are ready to put a new strategy into action.  This process begins with a needs assessment and ends with an analysis of the results.

The strategy change cycle is a tool that helps an organisation determine what type of leadership development is needed.

 

Key Points

A leader should never assume that everyone in an organization understands the vision, mission, values, and goals of the business.

Leaders should use the strategy change cycle to evaluate and analyse their own performance, as well as that of their subordinates.

 

Case Study

Mr. Okechukwu Amadi is the manager of a small hotel in a tropical country. He has been in his position for many years and has built up a solid reputation in the local community. His expertise is recognised by both staff and customers, but he feels that it is time to implement changes in order to take the hotel to the next level. With the support of his family, Mr. Amadi decides to start a business in neighboring countries where there is more demand for tourism. As part of the expansion plans, the company will open up an additional four hotels in these regions. Before starting the venture, Mr. Amadi realises that he needs to train several members of his staff to run the new properties. However, rather than having them attend management courses in another country, he decides to stay behind and work alongside them.

Mr. Amadi believes that there is no better place to learn how to manage a new property than from someone who is already doing so. He will be able to observe what works and what does not, and he can then replicate this in the new locations. In addition, this ensures that the company retains a strong connection to the local community, which is important to the success of the business.

Mr. Amadi decides to consult with his senior management team to discuss his plans. They agree that the right people for the job should be selected, and they decide to hold interviews to find suitable candidates. Each candidate will be asked to present a plan that shows what they would do if they got the job. The team decides that two employees are the best fit for the roles after looking at the plans. Both people have worked together before, and that experience showed that they had the skills needed to reach the plan’s goals.

 

Strategy development

Prof. MarkAnthony Nze, the academic director of New York Learning Hub defines strategy development as, ‘the process of saliently researching and discovering strategic choices, selecting the most promising, and determining how organisational resources will be deployed to effectively, and efficiently achieve goals.’

Success depends on strategy

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. A strategy can be used by an organization as a whole, or it can be a part of the business strategy as a whole. A company’s success depends on its strategies.

Companies use their strategies as guidelines for making decisions about how they will compete in specific markets and how they will respond to changes in the environment. The process of developing a strategy involves answering several questions, including:

  • What are you trying to accomplish? (Outcome)
  • Why do your customers want what you offer? (Value proposition)
  • How will customers get value from your products or services? (Unique selling proposition)

The process of strategy development must be strategic

  • Strategy development is the process of thinking, planning and acting to achieve a success.

The four stages of the process are envision, examine, design, and implement

To develop a strategy, you will follow this process:

1. Envision: You will envision your ideal future state.

2. Examine: You will examine why things are the way they are and how they can be different in the future.

3. Design: You will design a solution that takes into account all of the problems you identified in step 2 and meets your vision for what you want to create in step 1.

4. Implement your plan: You put your plan into action by acting on it until it comes true (or as close as possible).

Goal setting and analysis are essential at the beginning of the process

Once goals have been identified, they should be broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces. This is a critical step in strategic planning because it helps you stay focused on what’s most important and avoid getting distracted by other tasks that aren’t as critical to your success. The goal-setting process should also include creating a timeline for when each goal will be reached or completed.

Additionally, it’s important to keep track of how much progress has been made towards achieving each goal throughout the strategic planning process so that you can evaluate whether or not your strategies are working as expected. To facilitate this tracking process, use whatever tools that work best for you, whether they’re software programs like Excel or Google Sheets or paper-based systems such as notebooks and calendars.

Strategising should be proactive, not reactive

It is important to note that strategy is about the future. Strategy is not just about reacting to current events or trends; rather, it’s about proactively shaping your organisation’s direction for the future. A good strategy involves taking a step back from the day-to-day business of your company and creating a plan of action for achieving goals in the short and long term.

It’s this strategic thinking that makes Apple such an impressive company. For example, Apple didn’t invent smartphones. Instead, it used its knowledge of computers to improve mobile technology, which was previously dominated by Microsoft Windows on PCs. Besides being able to keep up with consumer demand for smartphones, Apple has also been able to stay ahead of its competitors by continuously innovating new features within their phones (e.g., Siri).

Setting short-, mid-, and long-term goals is an important part of the process

When developing a strategy, it’s important to have short-, mid-, and long-term goals. Short-term goals should be achievable within three to six months; mid-term goals are more difficult and may take you one to two years to achieve; and long-term goals are still difficult but may take two years or more.

Mid-term goals should tie in with your short-term ones, so that your overall plan remains realistic and doable over time.

For each goal, there should be a corresponding strategy for accomplishing that goal

To accomplish a goal, you need a strategy. Strategy development is an in-depth process that is necessary for success. It should take into account the company’s goals and resources as well as its competitors’ strategies.

The first step in developing a solid strategy is goal setting and analysis. This can be done by asking questions such as: “Who are my customers?” What do they want? How can I serve them better than my competition does? What do I want to accomplish as a company? Once these questions have been answered, it’s time for the actual work of strategic thinking, or “strategy development.”

A good way to begin this process is by asking yourself what you think about when someone mentions the word “strategy.” You might find that your initial thoughts revolve around military terms like “attack” or “defend.” However, those aren’t necessarily bad ideas when used appropriately within the context of business (though they definitely don’t apply here!). In general, though, most people associate strategic thinking with being able to make decisions quickly while still taking into account every possible outcome before doing so—and that sounds pretty good!

Strategy development is an in-depth process that is necessary for success

Strategy development is an in-depth process that is necessary for success. It’s about setting goals and figuring out how to achieve them. As earlier posited, strategy development is about being proactive, not reactive, so you have to think about your goals before someone else does.

Strategy development requires planning, which means setting short-, mid-, and long-term goals. You should also consider who your competition is and what they are doing in order to stay ahead of them.

New York Learning Hub

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