[STRATEGY PLANNING &

MANAGEMENT]
Strategic Planning

Introduction

The Board of Directors and Staff of The Marish Solutions develop and review their
strategic plan with assistance from their business consultants. The Plan provides Marish
Solutions with a five-year roadmap for supports, services and organization
development. The Board of Directors and staff review the plan’s progress quarterly and
update the plan accordingly as needed.

The below discussed plan was developed with broad involvement and guidance from
the Board of Directors and staff. The Strategic Planning Committee included seven
board members and four staff on the management team. This Committee including
several past presidents of the board met twice to reflect on the mission, vision, core
operating values and assumptions underlying the organization’s approach to its work.
These meetings set the stage for a work session of the full board during which the
organization’s strategic direction was defined. The staff helped coordinate the planning
process and provided important support and analysis to complete this plan.
Our consultants facilitated the planning process using an adaptation of the principles of
the Drucker Foundation Self- Assessment Tool. They conducted an environmental scan
including an internal organization assessment and interviews with several community
stakeholders and a review of demographic and market data. The environmental scan
and organizational assessment helped Marish Solutions assess both the challenges and
opportunities it is likely to face over the next five years and set the context for the
choices reflected in this strategic plan.

History

Marish Solutions is a part of Cabelec Solution, which is Canadian registered company;

CEO & Presidents of Marish Solutions have vast experience in Information technology
and Business fields, for more than two years, Marish Solutions strive to provide the best
business process outsourcing from Finance to Accounts, and from Website
Development to Database management, Marish Solutions’ client are content with the
provided service and support, and during the past years Marish Solutions faced difficult
situations, like the global economic crises, high inflation and under developed human
resource, but still with good management and tough decisions at the right moment,
Marish Solutions helped it way to sustain in the market with good reputation among the
competitors and the clients.
Strategy Management

Marish Solutions provides Business Solution and IT Engineering from small businesses to
Enterprises, considering the increasing trend in consultancy and outsourcing Marish
Solutions developed its policies and strategy in such a way that it would attract the
customers, and comfort its employees. The strategies of Marish Solutions engages in
defining the clear goals and objectives for both internal and external environment, it
helps in overcoming difficult situations that the company encounters, its strategies
makes sure that things are implement in the right way and progress is going on track.
Furthermore it also focuses on the enhancement of the firm, where upgrading of the
firm in a certain regard will help there business progress in the right way or not.
Strategic management of Marish Solutions is categorized in to five phases.

1. Environmental Analysis
2. Establish organizational direction
3. Strategy Formulation
4. Strategy Implementation
5. Strategic Control

1. Environmental Analysis:

Environmental Analysis of Marish Solutions defines what parameter will affect in the
policies and strategies implementation of the organization. Environmental analysis
determines how the organization will mold itself according to the environmental
situations of the region where it has to perform its business. Through environmental
analysis it becomes easy to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of the company
and therefore the decision making can be effective.

a. General Environment:
General environment includes parameters that have little but immediate
effect on the company on its economy, long run and most importantly on its
branding, Marish Solutions divided these parameters into five components to
study their effect on the organization.

i. Economic Component
The Economic Component involves the study and analysis of inflation
rate and market value of the similar offered products and services, what
will be the pay scale of the employees.

ii. Social Component

Since Marish Solutions work in such a country where life style of the
people is high but the literacy rate is low, surviving such social situations
 1. Demographics
After the immense increase in popularity of cellular applications,
Marish Solution got great projects in iPhone & BlackBerry
Applications, thus increasing a trend in customized mobile software.

2. Social Values
Country like Pakistan, where social values has a large impact on
market, we observe that more and more people are joining in their
outsourcing business, firms attempt to provide flawless and friendly
support to the customers Marish Solutions, here have planned to
provide the competitive support.

iii. Political Component

Political scenario changes within days in this country, therefore Marish
Solutions’ plan has always made with backups and recoveries since,
work strikes are often due to political scenes, and then the backup plans
specially to transfer the workload of projects to employees home are
very effective.

iv. Legal Component

Legally Marish Solutions plan to fulfill all of the documents and
government policies so that we should work as a legal firm, maintaining
all of the rules and regulations stated by the government.

v. Technology Component
Technology is the prior note for Marish Solutions, up gradation of
technology although is planned on quarterly basis, but whenever a
technology boom comes Marish Solutions takes a rapid step to upgrade
since its brand setup is based on providing with the latest technology

b. Operating Environment

Marish Solutions’ mostly deal with corporate clients hence operating in

corporate environment becomes easier than dealing with general
consumers, technology consultancy and business consultancy are often dealt
with knowledgeable people therefore the dealing becomes easier since the
customers realize what technical backgrounds platforms are, and what
feasibility already exists.

i. Customer Component
Marish Solutions mostly deal with customers in corporate sectors, there
are a few who run their own office, but the customers are mostly
corporate therefore dealing with them is an easy task, considering the
service we provide.
 ii. Competition Component
Business Process Outsourcing and Software development field in this
region has great competitors to match up with, Marish Solutions keep
their strategy of quickest delivery time to the customer, which makes it
superior than others, the quickest time includes high professional
standards of final product as well.

Labor Component
Marish Solutions have a different kindly of payment schedule to its
employees, it is based on a fixed amount of salary and with that the
contractual employees are paid on per project basis, this keeps the
employees motivated and work harder to achieve more, since they do
not have a specific cap over their salary, the more they product, the
more they are paid.

iii. Supplier Component

Marish Solutions although do not have much suppliers but then small
office requirements that come up usually, suppliers are not on contract
and are contacted as per need.

iv. International Component

Marish Solutions’ client are overseas as well, therefore we focus on
providing the international standards with least turnaround time, so that
the international customers are all satisfied as well.

2. Internal Environment

Employees of Marish Solutions work with their colleagues and supervisors as a

family, and at Marish Solutions environment is such that it builds up a culture
that everyone attacks and merge into.

Establishing Organizational Direction

a. Determining the Organizational Mission

The mission of Marish solution is to serve business and IT sector locally
and internationally through providing consultancy in this regard. Fulfilling
customer need to its most and satisfying their demands is the basic of the
company. Maintaining standards and giving quality product to the market
are the key factors of success for the company.

b. Developing a Mission Statement

We envisage ourselves as a company that is capable of providing world-
class project outsourcing across industry verticals. We endeavor to
 maximize value for our customers by offering them efficient and cost
effective solutions for achieving product innovation and profitability.

c. Importance of Organizational Mission

The mission makes explicit the major targets the organization is trying to
reach and helps manager keep these targets as they make decision. An
organizational mission serves as a rationale for allocating resources.
Marish solution has also designed its mission by giving mangers general
but useful guidelines about how resources should be used to best
organizational purpose.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
 Strong patronage
 Good reputation among customers
 Cost advantages from proprietary know-how
 Favorable access to distribution networks

Weaknesses

 Lack of patent protection

 A weak brand name
 High cost structure
 Lack of local experience
 Lack of access to key distribution channels

Opportunities

 An unfulfilled customer need

 Arrival of new technologies
 Loosening of regulations
 Removal of international trade barriers

Threats

 Shifts in consumer demands away from the firm's production

 Emergence of substitute products
 New regulations
 Increased trade barriers
Business Portfolio Analysis

BCG Growth Share Matrix

Question Mark
Stars

II Marish Solutions

Cash Cow Dogs

III IV

Presently, Marish Solutions occupies Quadrant I of the BCG Matrix. Marish Solutions is
operating in a high growth industry where the industry growth rate is 20 percent. The
relative market share of Marish Solutions as compared to the biggest rival in the
industry is 0.2. Based on these two factors, Marish Solutions’ consultancy and IT Support
service is presently a Question Mark brand.

Porter’s Model for Industry Analysis

Applying Porter’s five forces to Business Process Outsourcing industry allows us to

garner a retrospective view of the potential attractiveness in terms of profitability of the
industry. We first must analyze the industry through the five-force template, which will
allow us to more accurately gauge the industry in terms of its potential.
 YES DON’T NO
COMPETITORS THREAT
(+) KNOW (–)

Do large firms have a cost or performance advantage in your segment of the

1.
industry?

2. Are there any established brand identities in your industry?

3. Do your customers incur any significant costs in switching suppliers?

4. Is a lot of capital needed to enter your industry?

5. Is serviceable used equipment expensive?

Does the newcomer to your industry face difficulty in accessing distribution

6.
channels?

7. Does experience help you to continuously lower costs?

Does the newcomer have any problems in obtaining the necessary skilled
8.
people, materials or supplies?

9. Are there any licenses, insurance or qualifications that are difficult to obtain?

10. Can the newcomer expect strong retaliation on entering the market?

YES DON’T NO
THE BUYERS
(+) KNOW (–)

Are there a large number of buyers relative to the number of firms in the
1.
business?

Do you have a large number of customers, each with relatively small

2.
purchases?
3. Does the customer face any significant costs in switching suppliers?

4. Does the buyer need a lot of important information?

5. Is the buyer aware of the need for additional information?

6. Your customers are not highly sensitive to price.

7. Your product is unique to some degree or has accepted branding.

8. You provide incentives to the decision makers.

ALTERNATIVES THREAT YES DON’T NO

(+) KNOW (–)

1. Substitutes have performance limitations that do not completely offset their

lowest price. Or, their performance is not justified by their higher price.

2. The customer will incur costs in switching to a substitute.

3. Your customer has no real substitute.

4. Your customer is not likely to substitute.

BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS YES DON’T NO

(+) KNOW (–)

1. My inputs (materials, labor, supplies, services, etc.) are standard rather than

unique or differentiated

2. I can switch between suppliers quickly and cheaply.

3. My suppliers would find it difficult to enter my business or my customers

 would find it difficult to perform my function in-house.

4. I can substitute inputs readily.

5. I have many potential suppliers.

6. My business is important to my suppliers.

7. My cost of purchases has no significant influence on my overall costs.

 YES DON’T NO
RIVALRY AMONG COMPETITION
(+) KNOW (–)

1. The industry is growing rapidly.

2. The fixed costs of the business are a relatively low portion of total costs.

There are significant product differences and brand identities between the
3.
competitors.

4. The competitors are diversified rather than specialized.

It would not be hard to get out of this business because there are no
5.
specialized skills and facilities or long-term contract commitments, etc.

6. My customers would incur significant costs in switching to a competitor.

My product is complex and requires a detailed understanding on the part of

7.
my customer.

8. My competitors are all of approximately the same size as I am.

OVERALL INDUSTRY Un-

Favorable Moderate Implications
RATING favorable

Threat of new entrants is very

1. Threat of new entrants. 8 1 1
low

Bargaining power of Bargaining power of buyers is

2. 3 2 3
buyers. mediocre
 Threat of substitutes is very
3. Threat of substitutes. 2 2 0
low

Bargaining power of Bargaining power of suppliers

4.
suppliers. 2 1 4 is considerably high

Intensity of rivalry Intensity or rivalry is extremely

5. 2 1 5
among competitors. high

3. Strategy Formulation Types

Understanding the forces that determine competitiveness within an industry help

managers develop strategies that will make Marish Solutions more competitive
within the industry.
According to Porter’s model 3 generic strategies to illustrate the kind of strategies
managers might develop to make their organizations more competitive:
1. Differentiation
2. Cost Leadership
3. Focus

Differentiation

Through the differentiation, the first of Porter’s Strategies, that focuses on making
an organization more competitive by developing a product or products that
consumers perceive as being different from products offered by competitors. Marish
Solutions takes help of it to develop the differentiation or BRANDING of the firm
through it.
Differentiation includes uniqueness in such areas as product quality, design and level
of after sales service.

Cost leadership

Cost Leadership is a strategy that focuses on making an organization more

competitive by producing products more cheaply than Marish Solutions’
competitors can.
 According to the logic behind this strategy, by producing products more cheaply
than its competitors do, Marish Solutions will be able to offer products to customers
at lower prices than competitors can, and thereby increase its market share.

Examples of tactics managers might use to gain cost leadership are obtaining lower
prices for product parts purchased from suppliers and using technology to increase
organizational productivity.

Similar strategies are also used in the service industry.

Focus

Focus is a strategy that emphasizes making Marish Solutions more competitive by

targeting a particular customer segment.

4. Strategy Implementation
Marish Solutions at strategy implementation effectively manage six key supporting
factors:

Action Planning

First, Marish Solutions at implementing strategy develop detailed action plans...

chronological lists of action steps (tactics) which add the necessary detail to their
strategies. And assign responsibility to a specific individual for accomplishing each of
those action steps. Also, they set a due date and estimate the resources required to
accomplish each of their action steps. Thus they translate their broad strategy
statement into a number of specific work assignments.

Organizational Structure

Next, Marish Solutions at implementing strategy give thought to their organizational

structure. They ask if their intended strategy fits their current structure. And they
ask a deeper question as well... "Is the organization's current structure appropriate
to the intended strategy?"

We're reminded of a client we worked with some years ago. The company was
experiencing problems implementing its strategy calling for the development of two
new products.

The reason the firm had been unable to develop those products was simple... they
had never organized to do so. Lacking the necessary commitment for new product
development, management didn't establish an R&D group. Rather, it assigned its
manufacturing engineering group the job of new product development... and hired
two junior engineers for the task. Since the primary function of the manufacturing
engineering group was to keep the factory humming, those engineers kept getting
pulled off their "new product" projects and into the role of the manufacturing
support. Result – no new products.

Human Resource Factors

Marish Solutions at strategy implementation consider the human resource factor in

making strategies happen. Further, they realize that the human resource issue is
really a two part story. First, consideration of human resources requires that
management think about the organization's communication needs. That they
articulate the strategies so that those charged with developing the corresponding
action steps (tactics) fully understand the strategy they're to implement.

Second, managers successful at implementation are aware of the effects each new
strategy will have on their human resource needs. They ask themselves the
questions... "How much change does this strategy call for?" And, "How quickly must
we provide for that change?" And, "What are the human resource implications of
our answers to those two questions?"

In answering these questions, they'll decide whether to allow time for employees to
grow through experience, to introduce training, or to hire new employees.

The Annual Business Plan

Marish Solutions at implementation are aware of their need to fund their intended
strategies. And they begin to think about that necessary financial commitment early
in the planning process. First, they "ballpark" the financial requirements when they
first develop their strategy. Later when developing their action plans, they "firm up"
that commitment. As a client of ours explains, they "dollarize" their strategy. That
way, they link their strategic plan to their annual business plan (and their budget).
And they eliminate the "surprises" they might otherwise receive at budgeting time.

Monitoring & Control

Monitoring and controlling the plan includes a periodic look to see if you're on
course. It also includes consideration of options to get a strategy once derailed back
on track. Those options (listed in order of increasing seriousness) include changing
the schedule, changing the action steps (tactics), changing the strategy or (as a last
resort) changing the objective. (For more on this point, see "Monitoring
Implementation of Your Strategic Plan.")

5. Strategic Control
Marish Solution has setup a committee for monitoring that all the strategies are
being followed and implemented. In this regards managers in IT and business sectors
are assigned jobs for checking the management process its compatibility and
functionality. Managers also guide their team mates so the strategy the company
wanted to pursue is easily implemented and the organizational direction is properly
followed. Marish Solutions also conducts timely reviews to check

if plans, strategies, and objectives are being achieved, with the resulting information
being used to solve problems or take corrective actions.