PMN604 Assessment Item 1

Strategic Plan

Background

The Chief Executive Officer of your organisation (if you have one or alternatively a not-for-profit organisation of your own choosing) has asked you to assist in identifying and exploring a new, significant and innovative initiative to assure the organisation’s continuing success and in particular to develop a corresponding strategic plan working paper.  (Strategy execution including governance and implementation of this initiative will be deferred until Assessment Item 2).  The initiative will consist of a range of products and/or services and should ordinarily have a product life of not less than five years.  The initiative may be extension of the organisation’s current business (‘red ocean’) or may represent a radical departure (‘blue ocean’).

Content

As a minimum, your strategic plan working paper will:

• Develop a rich picture of the situation which the product or service intends to address.
• Conduct an environmental scan.
• Undertake an industry competitive analysis.
• Identify opportunities and threats.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses.
• Define the particular customer segments your product or service attempts to reach or serve.
• Broad strategic approach
• Develop your vision and mission statements.
• Specify and justify in moderate detail the proposed product or service.
• Define your long term objectives in “SMART” terms.

You should not only succinctly describe but also persuasively justify the outcome of each step—using recognised strategic tools and techniques and citing the sources of your evidence and data.

Format and Length

The strategic plan working paper should not exceed 4,000 words excluding attachments and be submitted in Microsoft Word© format.  However, it is unlikely that you could achieve the necessary depth and detail in under 3,000 words (excluding attachments).

The strategic plan will be written and presented as a “report”.  You will find guidance on reports at the QUT cite|write web site.