Introduction, Marketing, and Organizational Vision

Page 1

Week One

Corporate Strategy and Market Strategy

Organizations

must continually assess their position in the marketplace. In an effort to summarize the short-term and

long-term goals of the organization, the Executive Team comes together for a

strategic planning session. During the

strategic planning meeting or retreat, the following business elements are

examined:

Changes in regulations

Technological advances

Fiscal resources

Personnel resources

Assessment of current programs and services

Assessment of opportunities for new programs and services

Strategic

goals are both short and long range in nature.

They offer a roadmap to provide quality, cutting edge healthcare

services to the community while supporting the margin of the organization.

Industries

must change their strategies as the environment changes. During and after the economic collapse of

2008, companies were forced to examine their strategic initiatives and make

significant changes in their forecasts.

Changes have come from a shift in consumer expenditures and demand for

products and economic and finance reform with associated regulatory changes.

While these changes were sudden, it is predicted that the next ten years will

see as many environmental changes. As

such, the Senior Leadership Teams will need to establish fluid goals for their

organizations.

Mission and Vision

An

organization’s strategic initiatives should always reflect back to the Mission

and Vision statements. The Mission leads

an organization, keeping it focused and on course. Eric Berkowitz describes

Mission as “a statement about why the organization exists”. Berkowitz also describes Vision as an

“exciting look into the future of an organization.” It is the strategic initiatives or strategic

“baby steps” an organization takes that move it from a reality of mission to an

eventual reality of vision.

Marketing Strategy

The

Senior Executive of Marketing plays a key role on the Senior Team. It is this person who creates a marketing

plan that runs parallel to the corporate strategic plan. Each strategic initiative will have a

marketing component. This component may

be to develop a new product brand, to increase market share, to provide a

competitor analysis for a new service, etc.

The Senior Executive of Marketing often participates on several

cross-functional implementation teams.

In

addition, it is important to recognize that many of the same components in a

business plan are also found in a marketing plan. It is for this reason that the Senior

Executive of Marketing spends 90% of their time researching and planning.

SWOT Analysis – Assessing the Organization’s

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

The senior

management team needs to explore whether or not the organization should invest

its resources into a new program, product or service. The results may be to move forward with a goal

of increasing market share, increasing consumer awareness, redefining a program

to meet new regulatory standards, and the like.

The results may also be to table the development of the program, product

or service. This may occur if the

program does not support the organizational mission; if the finances required

for implementation are too great in comparison to the revenue generated by the

program; if the human resources are not able to be secured; if there are

upcoming technological or regulatory changes that may move the project in

another direction altogether in the foreseeable future.

As part of that exploration and research it

is advised that the organization conduct a SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths

and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and

threats are external to the organization.

An example of an internal strength or

weakness may be the senior leadership team’s ability to promote organizational

growth. An example of an external

opportunity or threat may be the local competition. Those impact areas occurring internally

offer a degree of control and therefore the opportunity for change. Those impact areas occurring externally

are typically outside of the organization’s control and therefore are important

as they offer an element of awareness to the researcher.

An

organization should assess how it is perceived internally and externally, and

this assessment should be done annually.

A simple exercise can be conducted to gain the input of staff from across

the continuum. This may be as simple as placing each of these headings,

(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), in a quadrant of a piece of

paper and distributing it to the staff for completion. Once each staff member has made a list of

what they perceive are the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities

and threats, they will turn this paper back in to their supervisor who will

compile the results for the VP overseeing that particular department.

The same information can be gained from the

constituents of the organization through an informal interview process. This is typically performed by the Marketing

Department as part of a Community Needs Assessment.

The insight provided by staff from across the

organization as well as the consumers is extremely valuable. It is important to know what the front end

employees hear from the customers.

Additionally, it is equally important for the user of services to report

on what their perceptions are from service to atmosphere to opportunities for

improvement. Gaining information from

various points of contact internally and externally is important in bringing a

global perspective to the Senior Leadership Team.

During the Senior Team’s annual strategic

planning meeting, this compiled information is shared. A Nominal Group Technique is often

employed to take this vast amount of information and pare it down to key

strategic initiatives worthy of the organization’s investment of

resources.

There are

various methods to nominal group techniques that can be used. You may have experienced this same type of

technique used with post-it notes or using a point system. What ever process is used, it’s important to

openly discuss the changes in the environment, changes in regulations and

changes in the bottom line that will drive an organization for the next one to

three years.

In such a

nominal group technique, the VPs take turns stating why they feel the

“Opportunities” listed by their staff are important for organizational growth

and, more importantly, are deserving of resources (finances, staff, square

footage etc.). Once all of the VPs have

had a chance to discuss their respective “Opportunities,” the Sr. Team votes,

either openly or by casting a ballot, to choose the initiatives they believe

are most important to pursue. The top

five strategic initiatives are then researched in greater detail with hopes of

moving toward implementation and execution.

It is

important to note that the results are short-range plans that should be

researched over the course of no more than one year. If worthy of implementation these plans

should be implemented in a one to three year time frame.

Long-range plans, while important to the

organizational vision and sustainability, are not a focus of this nominal group

exercise. An example may be the building

of a new distribution warehouse.

This

process is also highly effective in keeping the staff focused on the goals of

the organization. For example, if a

manager wishes to purchase a new piece of capital equipment and this purchase

would not be in line with the strategic initiatives of the organization,

the VP needs only to refer to the goals of the organization for that next

year.

This

process is also effective in building morale for staff. If staff are aware that their ideas have been

shared and are valued, they will become more invested in the growth of the

company. This assumes that the Senior

Leadership Team has communicated the strategic goals for the upcoming one to

three years to the entire staff.

Week One

Corporate Strategy and Market Strategy

Organizations

must continually assess their position in the marketplace. In an effort to summarize the short-term and

long-term goals of the organization, the Executive Team comes together for a

strategic planning session. During the

strategic planning meeting or retreat, the following business elements are

examined:

Changes in regulations

Technological advances

Fiscal resources

Personnel resources

Assessment of current programs and services

Assessment of opportunities for new programs and services

Strategic

goals are both short and long range in nature.

They offer a roadmap to provide quality, cutting edge healthcare

services to the community while supporting the margin of the organization.

Industries

must change their strategies as the environment changes. During and after the economic collapse of

2008, companies were forced to examine their strategic initiatives and make

significant changes in their forecasts.

Changes have come from a shift in consumer expenditures and demand for

products and economic and finance reform with associated regulatory changes.

While these changes were sudden, it is predicted that the next ten years will

see as many environmental changes. As

such, the Senior Leadership Teams will need to establish fluid goals for their

organizations.

Mission and Vision

An

organization’s strategic initiatives should always reflect back to the Mission

and Vision statements. The Mission leads

an organization, keeping it focused and on course. Eric Berkowitz describes

Mission as “a statement about why the organization exists”. Berkowitz also describes Vision as an

“exciting look into the future of an organization.” It is the strategic initiatives or strategic

“baby steps” an organization takes that move it from a reality of mission to an

eventual reality of vision.

Marketing Strategy

The

Senior Executive of Marketing plays a key role on the Senior Team. It is this person who creates a marketing

plan that runs parallel to the corporate strategic plan. Each strategic initiative will have a

marketing component. This component may

be to develop a new product brand, to increase market share, to provide a

competitor analysis for a new service, etc.

The Senior Executive of Marketing often participates on several

cross-functional implementation teams.

In

addition, it is important to recognize that many of the same components in a

business plan are also found in a marketing plan. It is for this reason that the Senior

Executive of Marketing spends 90% of their time researching and planning.

SWOT Analysis – Assessing the Organization’s

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

The senior

management team needs to explore whether or not the organization should invest

its resources into a new program, product or service. The results may be to move forward with a goal

of increasing market share, increasing consumer awareness, redefining a program

to meet new regulatory standards, and the like.

The results may also be to table the development of the program, product

or service. This may occur if the

program does not support the organizational mission; if the finances required

for implementation are too great in comparison to the revenue generated by the

program; if the human resources are not able to be secured; if there are

upcoming technological or regulatory changes that may move the project in

another direction altogether in the foreseeable future.

As part of that exploration and research it

is advised that the organization conduct a SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses,

Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths

and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and

threats are external to the organization.

An example of an internal strength or

weakness may be the senior leadership team’s ability to promote organizational

growth. An example of an external

opportunity or threat may be the local competition. Those impact areas occurring internally

offer a degree of control and therefore the opportunity for change. Those impact areas occurring externally

are typically outside of the organization’s control and therefore are important

as they offer an element of awareness to the researcher.

An

organization should assess how it is perceived internally and externally, and

this assessment should be done annually.

A simple exercise can be conducted to gain the input of staff from across

the continuum. This may be as simple as placing each of these headings,

(strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), in a quadrant of a piece of

paper and distributing it to the staff for completion. Once each staff member has made a list of

what they perceive are the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities

and threats, they will turn this paper back in to their supervisor who will

compile the results for the VP overseeing that particular department.

The same information can be gained from the

constituents of the organization through an informal interview process. This is typically performed by the Marketing

Department as part of a Community Needs Assessment.

The insight provided by staff from across the

organization as well as the consumers is extremely valuable. It is important to know what the front end

employees hear from the customers.

Additionally, it is equally important for the user of services to report

on what their perceptions are from service to atmosphere to opportunities for

improvement. Gaining information from

various points of contact internally and externally is important in bringing a

global perspective to the Senior Leadership Team.

During the Senior Team’s annual strategic

planning meeting, this compiled information is shared. A Nominal Group Technique is often

employed to take this vast amount of information and pare it down to key

strategic initiatives worthy of the organization’s investment of

resources.

There are

various methods to nominal group techniques that can be used. You may have experienced this same type of

technique used with post-it notes or using a point system. What ever process is used, it’s important to

openly discuss the changes in the environment, changes in regulations and

changes in the bottom line that will drive an organization for the next one to

three years.

In such a

nominal group technique, the VPs take turns stating why they feel the

“Opportunities” listed by their staff are important for organizational growth

and, more importantly, are deserving of resources (finances, staff, square

footage etc.). Once all of the VPs have

had a chance to discuss their respective “Opportunities,” the Sr. Team votes,

either openly or by casting a ballot, to choose the initiatives they believe

are most important to pursue. The top

five strategic initiatives are then researched in greater detail with hopes of

moving toward implementation and execution.

It is

important to note that the results are short-range plans that should be

researched over the course of no more than one year. If worthy of implementation these plans

should be implemented in a one to three year time frame.

Long-range plans, while important to the

organizational vision and sustainability, are not a focus of this nominal group

exercise. An example may be the building

of a new distribution warehouse.

This

process is also highly effective in keeping the staff focused on the goals of

the organization. For example, if a

manager wishes to purchase a new piece of capital equipment and this purchase

would not be in line with the strategic initiatives of the organization,

the VP needs only to refer to the goals of the organization for that next

year.

This

process is also effective in building morale for staff. If staff are aware that their ideas have been

shared and are valued, they will become more invested in the growth of the

company. This assumes that the Senior

Leadership Team has communicated the strategic goals for the upcoming one to

three years to the entire staff.