Goals for Strategic Planning :: Impacting the Future

What makes a successful strategic plan?

1) If your horse is terminal…it’s time to dismount. Michael Porter, the father of strategy, says, “50% of a company’s success is based on the industry it is in.”

- Where is our industry in the market growth curve, and can we still make a profit?

- What innovative changes have/are occurring in our industry?

- Which customers and products drive our economic engine?

- Which customers and products drive our bottom line expenses?

- What are the emergency industry sectors, and what opportunities are there that fit our capabilities?

2) Non-dependency on core business.

Porter also suggests that dependency on your core business is a dangerous road. The mix should be 65%+ core business; 20-30% adjacent business; 5-15% edge business. Build on your core competencies, but don’t be dependent on them. Our pharmacy matrix shows that, on average, our members’ core business (prescriptions) average 92% of their total business.

3) Differentiate yourself.

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

                    - From Lewis Carroll’s Adventures in Wonderland.

- Differentiation rests on unique activities based on customers’ needs by building a value chain that cannot be easily duplicated.

- Define your company by what you do…not by what you make or the service you provide.

- Once established, the culture of your company must reflect your value proposition.

4) Execute

– Often companies pay good money for a good strategic plan and come away from it very enthusiastic. But two-to-three months later, 99% of them are back in the present, focusing on the present.

- For a strategic plan to succeed, leaders must commit to execution and measurement to assure that goals are being met. Those measurements should include defined, agreed-upon key performance indicators, which should be measured monthly.

- The team should meet two times a year to assure that the strategic plan is being followed and executed.