eCompetitors

1. Holistic Corporate Planning:  The Big View

2. Industry Analysis & Industry Segmentation

3. Scenario Planning - What If Discussions using current events like economic crisis, mergers, or potential disruptive IT trends / inventions

     (And for this discussion, it helpful to ask:

           “What might your competitors do?” rather than asking executives

           “What could you do” because it makes people more free to think boldly. 

      Asking an executive what they would do is often viewed by their peers as a power grab, no matter how innocent the comments might be.)

Corporate Planning

The most important question that needs to be addressed when starting or revisiting corporate (or group) strategy is: “What businesses are you in?” Or, the same question expressed in a different manner, “What industries do you compete in?”

Identifying the portfolio of industries your firm competes in is a vital first step for successful corporate planning; and, in our opinion, not doing this first step well is the number one reason why many corporate planning efforts are unsuccessful.

In practice, it is emotionally difficult for many CEOs and other executives to accept the fact that they and/or other executives might not instantly know the answer to a question that appears so simple. To many executives the question is not simple because the words business and industry are not always clearly defined, including some who confuse their internal organizational departments, including cost centers, with businesses or industries.

The Global Industry Dashboard provides an objective viewpoint that leverages the ideas of Michael E. Porter.

Once a company accurately defines the list of industries it competes in, and optionally some industries it may want to enter, corporate planning becomes a useful, exciting and thought-provoking activity much more likely to lead to increasing shareholder value.

Sample corporate planning document table of contents:

Corporate Planning Document

            Table of Contents                   

Executive Summary
Vital Statistics
Mission Statement and Supporting Information
Business Mix Summary
Resource Allocation by Business
Multipoint Competitor Analysis
Corporate Planning (Group) Strategy Summary
Interrelationships between Corporate Business Units
Existing Customer List, by SBU
Potential Customers Requiring Coordinated Activities, Across SBUs
Major Programs and Action Plans
Opportunity Identification
Critical Success Factors
Organization Chart
Consolidated Financial Analyses & Strategic Health
 > Consolidated Income Statement Analysis & Reporting
 > Consolidated Balance Sheet
 > Shareholder Value Analysis
 > Human & Financial Resource Allocation by SBU and by Activity
 > Supplier Analysis
 > Consolidated Strategic Balance Sheet
Tactical Business Opportunities & What-If Analysis
Corporate Planning Glossary & Abbreviations

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