Watch this weeks LinkedIn Learning? segments located in the Learning Activities folder, and then respond to the following in a minimum of 175 wor

Focusing with core competencies

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video

– Once you've identified your core competencies,  you should then look at the initiatives that you're thinking about pursuing  to determine what your approach should be.  This can mean markets you're thinking about entering,  products or services you're thinking about launching,  or new capabilities you're thinking about building.  Let's look at an example.  Let's imagine Starbucks was conducting this exercise.  And as we define their core competencies,  their primary core competency is  the quality of their product from low to high  in terms of the relevance of that competency  in whatever initiative they're thinking about pursuing.  The second competency that we looked at  was their service delivery capability.  Again, that competency being low to high  in terms of its relevance for pursuing an opportunity.  Let's evaluate some opportunities.  Let's say they were considering launching a new  holiday coffee drink.  Well, as we look at the axis of product quality,  this would be their product that they're launching,  so it would be very high in terms of using  that core competency.  And that product would be sold by their baristas in their existing stores.  So their ability to deliver service, that competency  would come into play very much.  So they should own that particular product category  and pursue it vigorously.  Now let's look at an opportunity where they have  instant coffee that they're going to deliver  to your home.  So again, it's their product, so product quality,  that competency, is very relevant,  however, their service is irrelevant  because they're not delivering it in their store.  That's the type of opportunity that they should pursue,  given the relevance of their quality of product.  Another opportunity may be selling coffee mugs  in their existing stores.  And these are mugs that are created by another manufacturer.  So, their quality competency doesn't really come into play.  It's not their product.  However, their ability to deliver service is very relevant  since it's being sold in their stores by their baristas.  So they should consider that opportunity.  Last, if they're looking at launching a new product line,  but that product line is going to be a low cost, commodity type of coffee product  where the quality of the product is not very relevant, they're outsourcing the production of it, so it's low,  and it's going to be delivered  in discount retail stores that they don't own,  entirely new retail chains.  So their ability to deliver great service  is completely irrelevant.  That's the type of opportunity they should absolutely avoid.  So as you look at your organization's core competencies  and understand what you're great at,  you can then use that to look at any opportunity you're thinking about pursuing, be it a new product,  a new market, or a new initiative, and plotting on this grid to determine  what your initial approach to that opportunity should be.  And that will then help you prioritize  the initiatives you think about pursuing, and the ones that you don't. 

Core competencies: Starbucks example

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video

– One large aspect of strategic planning  is deciding where you will or will not compete. A way I encourage organizations to think about that  is to look at their core competencies.  A core competency is something  your organization is great at.  I know your organization  is probably good at a lot of things,  but what are the two things you would hold up and say,  we're better than anyone else at these two competencies.  Allow me to offer a few examples.  Core competencies could be things  like the quality of your product, your ability to innovate,  the efficiency of your supply chain,  the strength of your brands, your technology infrastructure.  There are a lot of things that you could be good at,  so take a step back and say,  how do we compete in the marketplace?  Allow me to offer a couple of examples.  Starbucks, I would argue that their two core competencies  are the quality of their product and their service.  Proctor and Gamble. Their core competencies would be  marketing and product development,  and their primary competencies  are the ones they're going to play to first.  So once you've identified  your two primary core competencies,  it's helpful to plot them against one another on a grid,  and looking at competency one and competency two,  and understanding will the market or the product  or the initiative you're pursuing  rely upon that core competency  and how much from low to high and low to high  for each of those two core competencies.  For situations where an initiative  or a market or a product plays very well  to core competency one and very well  to your second core competency,  those are the types of opportunities that you should own.  You should own that market.  You should try to own that product category.  For opportunities where neither core competency  comes into play, and they're both irrelevant,  those are the types of opportunities you should avoid.  Because it's very difficult to be successful in a market where a product category where you don't have  the required skills to compete there. Now there will be opportunities  where your primary core competency does come into play.  You should pursue those opportunities  and they should be reasonably high priority.  For other opportunities  where your second core competency comes to play,  but less so for your primary core competency,  the one thing you're really great at,  you should consider pursuing those opportunities.  Because  those opportunities might be attractive,  they're just not as perfect of a fit  as the ones where you own  or your primary core competency  is going to drive your success.  So take a moment and step back  from your organization and ask,  what are we truly great at?  What's first?  What's second? And then that can form the types of opportunities  that you're going to pursue.  

Defining the direction

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video

– When you set direction for your organization  as part of the strategic planning process, there are four elements to doing so:  Articulating your mission, your vision,  your guiding principles, and your goals.  A mission is: Why does your organization exist?  What is its purpose in the world?  The vision is then saying:  If we're fulfilling that purpose,  at some point in time, where are we going to be?  What do we want to achieve?  What do want the organization to look like  at some future point?  Your guiding principles are the rules you want your team to live by.  How do you want people in the organization behaving, especially when the boss isn't around?  What are the lenses you're going to look through  as you try to evaluate decisions?  And lastly, your goals.  Try to quantify these.  It may be X number of customers by a certain date,  or dollars of revenue, dollars of profit, a margin percentage, being able to put out hard numbers  by a certain point in time to orient the organization  and say, "Here's what we're shooting for."  Some of the pitfalls that I've seen  during this step of defining where you're going.  First, many vision statements  and mission statements are way too long.  I've seen some that have spanned multiple pages.  To the extent possible, make them short, clear,  and free of buzzwords. Next, your guiding principles need to be clear enough  that everyone in the organization understands them  and can apply them, even to the smallest actions.  And last, your goals need to be aggressive, but pragmatic.  If they're not aggressive,  the organization isn't going to push itself.  They're not going to innovate  to try and fill that gap between where they are  and where the goal says they should be.  If the goals are too aggressive and you're not pragmatic,  people will look at the goal and say,  "There's no way we can achieve that," and they just give up.  So as you define it for your organization  and set out that mission, vision,  guiding principles, and goals, you'll be providing clarity  for where you want the organization to be in the future.  

Applying the 2×2 matrix

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video

– Another tool you can use  to prioritize your initiatives  is called the two by two matrix. The way a two by two matrix works  is you look at two objective functions of your organization,  and plot them against one another,  and then place your initiatives on that grid.  So the example I've got here,  first, I look at profit.  And that's the most important objective  of my organization,  and I'm going to assess my initiatives  from low profit to high profit.  Then I look at growth rate of the organization,  how much will this initiative help my top line grow for the company.  And again, I look from low to high.  And what happens is, the two by two matrix  will help me prioritize.  And initiatives that are high profit and high growth  are my priority one initiatives.  Next, since profit is most important to me,  anything that's high profit,  even if it doesn't get me a lot of growth,  is going to be priority two.  Initiatives that get me a small amount of profit,  but are high growth,  are going to be priority three.  And then initiatives that get me  very low profit, and very low growth,  aren't even prioritized,  I should avoid initiatives  that don't deliver on either objective function.  So let's look at placing some of our initiatives  on the two by two matrix.  Perhaps initiative A is reasonably high profit,  and very high growth.  Initiative B is going to be extremely high profit,  it's the most profitable one on my list,  and moderate growth.  Initiative C, it's around the middle.  It still delivers a high level of profit,  a moderate level of growth.  Initiative D is actually lower on the growth scale,  but it still delivers a good amount of profit.  Initiative E as well is pretty close to  what I get from D. Now I'm really getting down on the list.  Initiative F is reasonably low profit,  but it's going to enter a new market,  and help me grow quickly.  And initiative G doesn't deliver  very much profit at all,  and there's virtually no growth associated with it.  And what I've done, is said,  of all the initiatives I've got,  and for the two objective functions of my business, I've identified my highest priority initiatives  that I'll pursue first,  the ones I'll pursue second,  the ones that I'll pursue third,  and the ones I should probably avoid.  So as you're conducting your strategic planning process,  take your initiatives,  think about the objectives  that are most important to your business,  plot your initiatives,  and that should help confirm what your priority list is.  

Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers

Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.

Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS

Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?

Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.

We write plagiarism Free Content

Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.

Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.