sm5_rpl

Assignment Details:

1. What competencies were you able to develop in researching and writing the course Comprehensive Project? How did you leverage knowledge gained in the intellipath assignments (Units 1- 4) in completing the Comprehensive Project? How will these competencies and knowledge support your career advancement in management? 

2. What are the important elements of strategy? Why?

3. What issues may arise if your do not identify all the potential disadvantages of your plan?

4. Why is it crucial to provide both proactive (during the implementation) and reactive (after completing the implementation) feedback to management?

· Please reply to the presented statement(s) below.

Deliverable Length: 250 words (minimum) per reply

ONE:

I was able to develop and enhance many competencies while researching the comprehensive project.  The most common was teamwork, communication, and responsibility. The most notable were the dynamics and all the components of a business plan.  I was able to comprehend the importance of every element that makes up the business plan.  I have a much clearer view of developing a business plan for a start-up company versus a company that is already established. Intellipath provided a much-needed base of information to enhance my learning curve of strategic management. Intellipath introduced much knowledge as it applies to business, whether it's domestic or on the international platform.  The information I gained from intellipath help me prepare and apply the information needed for the comprehensive project. The competencies acquired throughout the course to include intellipath and the discussion board, will help enhance my abilities in dynamic climate and provide a better path to success in management. Competencies such as a SWOT analysis will help me understand internal and external variables as they apply; this will make me a more productive manager.   The competencies acquired will help me remain relevant in an ever-changing business world. 

Essential elements of Strategy include but are not limited to vision, mission, core value, SWOT analysis, long-term objectives, forecasted yearly targets, and plan of action, to name a few.  These elements are essential because it gives direction and a base to the organization by providing clear goals and guidance on how the organization is performing. For example, forecasted targets should include targets that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-based. The Strategy will help gain a competitive advantage for identifying trends and position an organization to stay relevant.  

By not identifying the potential disadvantages of a plan, the company may suffer future setbacks that will impact its ability to compete in an industry. Overlooking any disadvantage prevents a business from attaining a competitive advantage. A company's goals are to make money or save money; not identifying disadvantages can be costly and time-consuming to an organization. 

By providing proactive feedback, many companies can remain relevant by keeping or gaining a competitive advantage. Reactive feedback after the implementation gives an organization a better view of its current position in the market. It allows the organization to adjust and/or improve in deficient areas.

References:

       7 Elements for Building a Successful Strategy. 22 Mar. 2020, https://morethandigital.info/en/7-elements-for-building-a-successful-strategy/.

       “Why Business Strategy Is Important?” Evolve, https://evolve.ie/q-and-a/business-strategy-important/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2021.

TWO:

1. The competencies that I was able to develop in researching and writing the assignment was to look at the assignment ahead of time and start my research early. I created an outline of all the things we were asked to do. Once I did that, I looked at different websites and used course material and copied and pasted to a word document. I pasted all the research under each headline that it belonged to do. I reached out to my teammates and broke up the work and we conversed with each other by asking for advice or direction on our rough drafts. I went back and looked at the information given from Intellipath and used my knowledge to put into my research. These competencies helped me realize that asking for help for revisions, break up the work, and working as a team will help me support my career advancement in management since this was a group project.

2. The important elements of strategy are: vision, mission, objectives, strategy, approach, and tactics. They are important because having a strong strategy makes the organization get set-up for success. Having a plan will help employees understand what the key components are in a plan and how the employees can contribute to the goals.  

3. Issues may arise in a plan if management is not careful, such as failure to coordinate, failure to keep employees, failure to understand customers, inability to predict what resources to use next, failure to create better changes, and overall failure to follow plan.

4. The proactive feedback is crucial to give to management because that is the start of a plan. Management needs to know what is going on and be included. It is crucial to have reactive feedback or a plan B, because if something does not go right or need to make tweaks in the plan, it is smart to be flexible and be ready for whatever is thrown at you or the management. It is important to let the management know, as well, that something is wrong and need to make better decisions or another route.

Resources:

Aileron. (2011). 10 Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail. Forbes. Retrieved from  https://www.forbes.com/sites/aileron/2011/11/30/10-reasons-why-strategic-plans-fail/?sh=22b5bced86a8

Khan, Salman. (2018). Proactive Vs Reactive Risk Management - An important concept but at times not well understood. Linkedin. Linkedin Corporation. Retrieved from  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/proactive-vs-reactive-risk-management-important-concept-khan/  

Vo, Eric. (2019). What Are The Key Components of a Strategic Plan?  The Hartford. Retrieved from  https://sba.thehartford.com/business-management/key-components-of-strategic-plan/

THREE:

       The major parts of a standard strategic plan are vision,mission statement. core values and SWOT. 

          A mission statement is a sentence or short paragraph that defines the existence of a business, nonprofit, government organization, or any other entity. Mission statements get at the heart of why a company exists, rather than mouth it exists. In other words, a mission statement isn't a business plan that explains how the entity will turn a profit; it's a statement that defines the motivation for trying to turn a profit in the first place. It's also important to avoid confusing a mission statement with a vision statement. The difference is that a mission statement focuses on a company’s present state while a vision statement focuses on a company’s future. A mission statement answers the question "Who are we?" and the vision statement answers the question "where are we going?".

    Similar to mission statements, vision statements help to describe the organization's purpose. Vision statements give direction for employee behavior and help provide inspiration. Strategic plans may require a marketing strategy, which could include the vision statement to also help inspire consumers to work with the organization. A vision statement is a view into the future with hope and a positive outlook. It describes a company's inspirational, long-term plan for what they'll be able to accomplish, who they will help, and how the company will then be perceived. It's often out of reach for now, but not so far out of reach as to be unattainable. The vision statement gives everyone a description of what they're working towards. 

   With your mission and vision statements in place, you will next typically focus on crafting statements of core values. Your core values state the central “musts” and “must nots” of your company — the vital principles that need to guide leaders and employees in their day-to-day and long-range decision-making. Experts generally don’t recommend imposing these values from the top downward onto a company. Instead, seek to hone the values that already exist as part of your company’s culture. You probably already know what these core values are. Adding the important component of articulating them on paper helps to solidify them in the minds of all stakeholders.

  A SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is a rundown of your company’s current situation, from these four key perspectives. It represents a snapshot of the pathways open to you and the pitfalls you may encounter, as well as the assets you can draw on to help you along the way.

  Reference - Keith Krach (2016) 5 Key Components of a Powerful Strategic Plan , retrieved from medium.com/@KeithKrach/5-key-components-of-a-powerful-strategic-plan-4fbb6f15eae3