Plans Executive Summary: This report has been designed to provide practical advice for building acomprehensive, business

strategy plan. Learn how to benchmark yourcore competencies, implement a strategic decision-making framework,and prepare your organization for growth over the next 12-24 months. Read this brief 6-page How-To Guide to: Prepare for the Planning Process Conduct a Situational Analysis Establish Objectives, Initiatives, Metrics, & Targets GAP Analysis & Program Prioritization Implement a Corporate Governance Structure Present Business Plan to Key Stakeholders

Table of Contents Prepare for the Planning Process Conduct a Situational Analysis Establish Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives GAP Analysis & Program Prioritization Implement a Corporate Governance Structure Present Business Plan to Key Stakeholders

Page 3 3 4 4 6 6

Prepare for the Planning Process Conduct a Situational Analysis 1.Build a Strategic Planning Team - engage a cross-functional planning team to represent each departments needs. Hold a kick-off meeting to set strategic planning goals, schedule meeting times, and get organized for the planning process. 2.Introduce the Balanced Scorecard Approach - review and distribute our Executive SummaryMap Strategy with Balanced Scorecard to provide a framework to work from. 3.Organize your Business Strategy Plan - use ourBu sin es s Strategy Plan template to pull together all of the analyses, assessments, and other materials you have used to complete your business strategy plan. Conduct A situational analysis 1.Benchmark Core Competencies - use Demand MetricsCore Competencies Assessment Tool to benchmark your corporate capabilities and identify areas for improvement.

2. Define Market Segments & Profile Customers - use our Market Segmentation Tool to define and size key market segments and develop customer profiles to personify ideal customers. For background information review our How To Guide Market Segmentation, Targeting, & Positioning. 3. Perform a Competitive Positioning Analysis - use our Competitive Analysis & Positioning Map to evaluate your competitors and assess the market positioning for each of your industrys key players. 4.Complete an Industry Analysis - use our STEP Industry Analysis Tool to evaluate the Social, Technological, Economic, and Political conditions of your market segments. 5.Summarize the Situational Analysis - based on your analysisdocument INTERNAL strengths & weaknesses and EXTERNALopportunities & threats with our SWOT Analysis Tool. Establish objectives metrices and targets 1. Determine Business Objectives for Next 12-36 Months -Use our Business Objectives Matrix to brainstorm and achieveconsensus on which objectives are of highest priority. 2.Establish/Update Key Performance Indicators - use ourKey Performance Indicators (KPI) Worksheet to select or revisit metrics that are critical for monitoring performance. 3.Build a Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map commence byrefining your corporate Mission & Vision Statements.Next,develop a Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map that setsobjectives, initiatives, metrics, and targets for each of theCustomer, Financial, Learning & Growth, and Business Processesperspectives.

Gap analysis and program implementation 1.Audit the Current Business Environment by Function use our GAP Analysis Tool to help you brainstorm ideas for Goals, Targets, Timeframes, and Action Items for each core businessfunction. These GAPS will evolve into programs & projects foreach department/functional area of your organization. Document and resolve GAPS for the following: Strategic Planning Business Data Customer Relationship Management Demand Generation Sales Effectiveness Performance Measurement Market Research Organizational Development Human Resources

Information Systems Product/Service Development www.demandmetric.com Call a Principal Analyst: (866) 947-7744 5 2. Review New Investment Opportunities - gather all Business Cases for new program investments. If you havent already, strongly consider making formal business cases a requirement for any recommendation to spend over $10,000. 3.Prioritize Current & Proposed Programs and Projects -based on your high-level business objectives; assess eachcurrent and proposed program in terms of strategic fit,economic impact, and feasibility. Use our Business Strategy Prioritization Tool to document each project and evaluate its business value. 4. Prepare to Manage Change - For large enterprise level programs, you may need to implement a formal changemanagement strategy. To refresh on best practices review ourHow To Guide, Enabling Enterprise Change Management.To improve your chances for success, use ourC hange Management Readiness Assessment to ensure you have the resources you require for implementing a Change Management Plan. 5.Identify Key Success Factors for Execution review eachprogram and determine Key Success Factors (KSF) tohighlight any key risks. The senior management team isresponsible for mitigating these risks, evaluating contingencyplans, and ensuring that each KSF has adequate resourcesbehind it.For more help in the risk management area, use our Risk Analysis Tool, Risk Assessment Tool, and Risk Mitigation Checklist. 6. Assign Programs to Department Leaders - delegateresponsibility for key programs to the appropriate executives.Make it clear that the success or failure of these programs willhave a direct impact on their performance review. Now maybe a good time to evaluate Project Management Maturity todetermine if the right tools and process are in place to facilitateprogram planning, execution, control, and closure. 7.Build Tactical Program Plans & Schedule Work - use our Management topic area for help with implementing programs and managing the activities of st

Implement a governance structure

Establish a Steering Committee - the role of the steeringcommittee is to review investment & business decisions, prioritizeprograms, manage resource allocation, align departmentalactivities, and monitor performance. Read our ExecutiveSummarySteering Committees Improve Program Success and develop a Steering Committee Charter. 2. Create a Business Strategy Dashboard - monitor yourprogress on each strategic initiative by tracking key metrics.Useour Business Strategy Metrics Dashboard to create acustomized dashboard of your key metrics and provide visibilityto all steering committee members. Present biz plan to key stake holders Communicate with Key Stakeholders - develop aBu sines s Strategy Presentation to communicate the highlights of your strategic plan to the key stakeholders in your organization