Strategy Revisited - A New Start in 2009
Coming into the New Year, it may be the perfect time to review your strategic plan and see if you have the right people making the right decisions.
Toronto (PRWEB) January 8, 2009
Coming into the New Year, it may be the perfect time to review your strategic plan and see if you have the right people making the right decisions.
There’s no doubt 2009 is going to be a tough year. Is your organization on track to get through and take advantage of a growing economy in the future?
Constantly reviewing your strategic plan is essential – even in good times. We’re still hearing a lot about the bailout for the Big 3 auto companies in the US. There’s one automaker that stands out from the bunch: Ford. Ford is the only automaker that has sufficient cash on hand to survive in the near-term without bailout money. Arguably they are the best positioned of the Big 3.
Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally made the right strategic decisions more than a year before the current economic crisis. By continuously reviewing his company’s decisions he saw that adjustments needed to be made to the plan.
The Beacon Group, a leading Toronto-based Leadership Development firm at the forefront of strategic planning highlights the important of revisiting your strategic plan regularly.
The Beacon Group believes that nothing is more important to business than a coherent strategy that is flexible enough to survive the bad times and take advantage of opportunities in the good times. That being said, nothing is more important to strategy than the strategic thinking process that is used to shape it.
The Beacon Group has a number of tools to help organizations craft, monitor, and if necessary modify their strategic plan:
The Beacon Group’s, computer-based Electronic Decision Support technology (EDS) provides a progressive, efficient and sophisticated methodology to engage a planning team – regardless of the size or level of that team – during the crucial and sometimes sensitive dialogue that underpins a healthy strategic thinking and planning process.
The EDS system used by The Beacon Group features proprietary software that allows individuals to be linked together electronically in a manner that accelerates dialogue, enriches deliberation and helps focus the decision making process to create action-based results.
The Beacon group also uses PDR planning methodology to structure the design of a strategic plan. The planning structure is based on methods that emphasize clarity, action, execution and rigorous measurement of results.
“The most important part of developing any strategic plan is confronting the issues and getting a sense of where people stand on those issues,” says Kyle Couch Vice President Client Learning Experience at The Beacon Group.
The Beacon Group uses wireless Audience Response Technology to obtain instant feedback in all its strategic planning sessions. Participants can be asked point-blank questions on major aspects of a business plan and provide their input anonymously. Leaders have the opportunity to immediately view group results and understand the state of the organization as colleagues see it.
“Every week, there is a different set of issues, a different challenge, something new to think about,” argues Meg Whitman, President & CEO of eBay, which revisits its strategic plan weekly.
“I cannot overstate the importance of following Meg Whitman’s philosophy,” says Couch. “Companies like Ford stand out when they’re nimble enough to realize a strategic plan needs tuning”.
“The Beacon Group’s tools make it easy to get a pulse on the business and make those necessary changes”.
The Beacon Group is a leading advising firm in the field of organizational development. Companies across various industries have used The Beacon Group’s assessment products and advising services to leverage their investment in Human Capital. The Beacon Group specializes in Employee Surveys, 360 Feedback Assessments, Early Talent Identification (ETI), Management Training, and Performance Management Systems. Clients including Mercedes-Benz, McDonald’s, Xerox, Sony and SAP have used The Beacon Group’s services to grow their thriving businesses. For more information visit www. thebeacongroup. ca
For media inquiries please speak to Michael Sitayeb at 1-866-240-3948 or email at michaels@thebeacongroup. ca
This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www. HRmarketer. com) on behalf of the company listed above.
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