2. Strategy and Direction

Question 1

Strategy Management

Answer 1

The purpose of the Strategy Management Practice is to formulate the organization’s goals, adopt effective courses of action, and allocate any resources necessary for achieving those goals. This practice establishes the organization’s priorities and provides guidance in response to the environment.

Question 2

Strategy Management Tasks

Answer 2

• Specifying the organization’s mission, vision and objectives.
• Developing policies and plans which are designed to achieve the mission and objective
• Allocate resources to implement policies and plans.

Question 3

Why is it important to plan decision making at the right level?

Answer 3

If scope of control is too small, decision making is pushed upward overloading decision makers and people without the authority to make decisions will feel undervalued and may be unwilling to take on new responsibilities or take on destructive behavior. Decisions that pose little risk should be done by those performing the job.

Question 4

Portfolio Management

Answer 4

The purpose of the Portfolio Management Practice is to ensure that the organization has the right mix of programs, projects, products, and services to execute its strategy within its funding and resource constraints.

Question 5

Service Portfolio

Answer 5

A Service Portfolio improves the visibility of the services in which an organization has invested, including proposed, active, and retired services.

Question 6

Portfolio Prioritization and Optimization

Answer 6

• The objective of Portfolio Prioritization and Optimization is to categorize items within a portfolio based on agreed criteria such as cost and value, strategic alignment, and risk.

Question 7

Prioritization Framework

Answer 7

Enables a less subjective and more consistent analysis by reflecting the values and strategic objectives of an organization.

Question 8

Business Case

Answer 8

A decision support and planning tool that looks at the justification for the expenditure of organizational resources, providing information about costs, benefits, options, risks, and issues.

Question 9

Business Case Structure (typical)

Answer 9

1) Intro - Summary of business case and describes the business objectives address.
2) Methods and Assumptions
3) Business Impacts/Outcomes
4) Risks and Contingencies
5) Recommendations - Describes and clarifies recommended actions based on information presented.

Question 10

GRC Function

Answer 10

• GRC = Governance, Risk, and Compliance
• An organization’s GRC Function should work with the governing body, management teams, auditors, and others to translate the organization’s strategies and directions into plans, policies, controls, and guidelines that are supported by methods to monitor and measure compliance.

Question 11

Effective Policy Traits

Answer 11

• Be clear and concise by clearly documenting objectives and scope.
• Keep is simple and practical
• Anticipate questions
• Educate and communicate
• Build in flexibility: Exceptions should be stated in the document and there should be a process for requesting exceptions to the policy.
• Define the consequences of non-compliance
• Promote transparency
• Enable feedback

Question 12

Measurements and Reporting

Answer 12

• Ensures that policies are being followed.

- Should be limited to those things that can be actively used to make informed decisions.

Question 13

When should guidelines be used?

Answer 13

• when a task is performed by many people and may seem confusing without assistance.
• when a task is infrequently performed but should be performed consistently.
• when it is a task that could be performed more easily or faster if organization expertise were shared.