People - HR Strategic Planning

Question 1

Strategy

Answer 1

A plan of action for accomplishing an orgz. long range goals to create value.

Strategy=Goals

Question 2

Levels of Strategy

Answer 2

Organizational: focuses on the future of the orgz as a single unit
Business: how and where the orgz will focus to create value
Operational: orgz and business unit strategies are translated into action at the functional level

Question 3

Strategic Planning

Answer 3

Process of setting goals and designing a path toward a competitive position

Question 4

Strategic Management

Answer 4

Actions that leaders take to move their orgz toward the goals set in strategic planning and to create value for all stakeholders.

Question 5

Critical Success Factors for Strategic Planning and Mgmt

Answer 5

1. Alignment of effort
2. Control of drift
3. Focus on core competencies

Everyone should be rowing in the same direction

Question 6

Strategic Planning and Management Process

Answer 6

1. Formulation: leaders gather/analyze internal/external information to determine orgz current position/capabilities/opportunities
2. Development: create strategic goals that will optimize success
3. Implementation: put in place your tactic, which will require clear communication
4. Evaluation: evaluate the results to ensure activities maintain strategic focus.

Question 7

Systems Thinking

Answer 7

Recognizes that orgz are composed of interacting and sometimes interdependent parts that together create a dynamic internal environment.

Question 8

Organization as a System

Answer 8

External Environment: Government, Society, Culture, Economics

Ex: Leadership, Operations, Finance, Facilities, Sales, HR–everything works together, and one department affects another.

Question 9

IPO (Input-Process-Output)

Answer 9

Input: all the factors that can affect the outcome.

Process: all the methods the orgz can apply to maximize its opportunities and manage its constraints.

Outputs: the desired strategic effect, what you hope to do.

Question 10

Environmental Scanning

Answer 10

A process of systematically surveying and gathering data, from both internal and external sources, that can be analyzed to identify opportunities and threats to strengthen strategic plans and goals

Question 11

PESTLE

Answer 11

Political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental.

List of possible events
Identify the potential impacts
Research the impacts
Assess the importance of impacts

Question 12

SWOT

Answer 12

S: strengths
W: weakness
O: opportunity
T: Threats

Simple and effective process for assessing an orgz strategic capabilities in comparison to threats and opportunities

Question 13

Growth Share Matrix

Answer 13

Stars: a business line that is growing and has a dominant share
Cash Cow: a static but dominant business line
Question Marks: could be winners or losers; their future is unclear
Dogs: consuming resources without offering strong value or future growth

Question 14

Scenario Analysis

Answer 14

figure out how changes in the environment will impact their output.

Question 15

Mission Statement

Answer 15

specifies what activities the orgz intends to pursue and what course management has charted for the future.

AKA your purpose

Question 16

Vision Statement

Answer 16

a vivid, guiding image of the orgz desired future–the future it hopes to attain through strategy.

AKA illustration of the future

Question 17

Organizational Values

Answer 17

beliefs that are important to an orgz and often dictate employee behavior

Question 18

Setting Strategic Goals

Answer 18

These goals are influenced by the deeper understanding of the orgz and its surroundings and start moving the orgz and its people in the intended direction.

Question 19

Balanced Scorecard

Answer 19

an approach to identify an orgz’s KPIs (key performance indicator) and to make sure that the objectives used to measure performance are strategically aligned to the various sources of value to the orgz and are balanced.

KPIs by Kaplan and Norton are identified here:

1. Finance
2. Customers
3. Internal business processes
4. Learning and growth

Question 20

Purpose of a Balanced Scorecard

Answer 20

To achieve balance in 3 key ares:

1. between financial and nonfinancial indicators of success
2. between internal and external constituents in the orgz
3. between lagging and leading indicators of performance

Question 21

Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

Answer 21

Leading: is predictive in that action in this area can change future performance

Lagging: describes effects that have already occurred and cannot be changed

Question 22

SMARTER Goals

Answer 22

Specific
Measurable

Attainable
Relevant
Timebound
Evaluated
Revised

Question 23

Benchmarking

Answer 23

Compares performance levels and/or processes of one entity with those of another to identify performance gaps and set goals aimed at improving performance.

Benchmarking process includes these steps:

1. defining KPIs
2. measure current performance
3. identifying appropriate benchmarks
4. identifying performance gaps
5. setting objectives and implementing

Question 24

Strategic Fit

Answer 24

The compatibility of an orgz strategy with its external and internal environments, especially with regard to the goals and values it chooses and the resources and capabilities that can be deployed toward strategic goals.

Ask yourself ‘does the strategy make sense based on SWOT and PESTLE’?

Question 25

Growth Strategy Options

Answer 25

Strategic Alliance: companies agree to share assets
Joint Venture: 2 or more companies invest together in forming a new company

Equity Partnership: 1 firm acquires partial ownerhsip through purchase of shares (LLC)
Greenfield: a company builds a new location
Brownfield: a company repurposes a property

Question 26

Divestiture

Answer 26

The selective ‘pruning’ of parts of the orgz that are underperforming or that are no longer in line with the orgz strategy. Sale of an asset.

Question 27

Aligning Budgets with Strategies

Answer 27

The HR budget has 2 parts:

• Operational budget: funds ongoing activities
• Strategic budget: funds projects that are aligned with the orgz startegic goals

Question 28

Communication Strategy

Answer 28

5 elements for effective implementaiton of strategy:

1. Communication outward to the entire team
2. Communication inward to leaders
3. Leadership support of decisions made by subordinates
4. Free flow of information across orgz boundaries
5. Enough information to allow team members to connect their work to the strategy.

Question 29

Project Stages ‘Planning’

Answer 29

During planning stage, the PM:

1. Works with stakeholders
2. Defines the projects deliverables
3. Creates a project schedule

• Critical path analysis: uses info about start and end dates, the logical relationship of tasks, and the length of each task to find the earliest completion date
• Gantt chart: represents the scheduling of tasks visually, showing the length and timing of specific activities.

Question 30

Project Stages ‘Executing’

Answer 30

During executing stage, the PM:

1. Establishes channels of communication
2. Provides leadership
3. Clears away obstacles to progress
4. Manages internal and external stakeholders
5. Monitors and controls progress

Question 31

Project Stages ‘Closing

Answer 31

1. Evaluate the project investment
2. Do we have desired results
3. Was the project managed efficiently

Question 32

Project Management Approaches

Answer 32

1. Lean project mgmt: focuses on eliminating waste
2. Six Sigma: derives from quality principles
3. Agile project mgmt: the project focuses on iterations of the deliverables–completing one iteration and then using customer input to plan the next.
4. Critical chain project mgmt: used when resources cannot be increased to meet deadlines.