Certificate of Strategic Management

Unit 1 – Nature and Scope of Strategic Management

• Difference between strategy & strategic management
• The importance of strategic planning
• Mintzberg’s five p’s
• How can you use Mintzberg’s approach?
• What strategies are there?
• Views of strategy
• Levels of decisions
• Strategic (corporate) level decisions
• Tactical (business) level decisions
• Operational (functional) level decisions
• Where do you start?
• Analysis of your external environment and resource capabilities
• Identify your mission statement
• Identify a vision for the future
• Core values and guiding principles
• What are your long term goals
• Smart objectives
• Action plan with timelines
• Develop a communication plan
• Develop and implementation and monitoring plan

Unit 2 – The External Environment

• Why analyse the external environment?
• Tools of analysis – macro environment
• PESTLE analysis
• Political
• Economic
• Socio-cultural
• Technological
• Legal
• Environmental
• Porter’s Five Forces
• Bargaining power of suppliers
• Bargaining power of buyers
• Threat of potential new entrants
• Threat of substitutes
• Extent of competitive rivalry
• Competitor’s review
• Competitor profiling
• Tools of analysis – Micro Environment
• SWOT Analysis

Unit 3 – The Internal Environment

• Purpose of analysing the internal environment
• Internal analysis tools
• VRIO
• McKinsey 7s framework
• Using and applying McKinsey’s model
• Value chain
• Portfolio analysis
• Competitive advantage

Unit 4 – Strategic Management of Human Resources

• Human resources
• Staff and strategic planning
• Hr audits
• Components of an hr audit
• Organisational structure & strategy
• Hierarchal – organisational chart
• Functional structure
• Horizontal (also known as flat)
• Company divisions
• Matrix – organisational structure
• Team based structure
• Network
• Process
• Succession planning
• Organisational culture
• Adhocracy
• Clan
• Hierarchy
• Market

Unit 5 – Developing a Strategic Plan

• Business Level Versus Corporate Level Strategy
• Developing a Strategy
• Focus are you Wanting to Achieve
• Strategy Mapping
• Finances
• Customers
• Processes
• Learning/Growth
• Choosing the Right Strategy
• Consistency and suitability
• Validity and feasibility
• Business Risk
• Attractiveness to Stakeholders
• Strategic Plan Document
• Foundation
• Competitive Advantages
• Vision
• Strategic Objectives and Organisational Goals
• Key Performance Indicators
• Resource Implications
• Implementation
• Strategy Timeline
• Evaluation before implementation

Unit 6 – Implementing a Strategic Plan

• Initial checks
• Resource allocation
• Allocating resources
• Gaps in resources
• Balanced scorecard & strategy implementation
• The four perspectives
• Implementing the BSC
• Communicating the implementation
• The process of evaluation
• What are you evaluating?
• A plan for corrective actions
• Strategy monitoring & control
• Creating a control system
• Types of control

Unit 7 – Green Strategy and Sustainability

• Sustainability
• Green strategy
• Key focuses for companies
• Creating a more sustainable business strategy
• Assess the problem and define the objectives
• Organisation’s mission
• Identify the available options
• Implementation
• Sustainability and strategy – areas for concern
• Management buy-in
• Stakeholder engagement
• Goal type
• Poor monitoring
• Lack of investment
• Not aligning strategies
• Loss of innovation
• Missed cost savings
• Negative perception

Unit 8 – Managing Strategic Change

• Strategic change – implementing changes
• Why strategic change is needed
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and change
• Impacts of strategic change
• Causes for needing for strategic change
• Approaches to managing strategic change
• Emergent and prescriptive tools
• Developing a strategic change plan (6 stages)
• Sustainable change
• 5 pillars of sustainable change
• Leadership
• Strategy
• Culture
• Structure
• Systems
• A model for sustainable change
• The prerequisite approach
• Building awareness
• Levels of motivation and desire
• Assess abilities
• Creating opportunities
• Feedback

Unit 9 – Leading Strategic Change

• Leading strategic change
• Strategic leadership
• Leadership and management
• Leadership styles
• Situational leadership theory
• Life cycle of leadership
• Contingency theories
• Fielder and style theories
• The Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid
• Informal leadership
• Inspirational theories
• Path goal theory
• Instrumental theories
• Four framework leadership model
• Limitations of leadership theories
• Leading strategic planning and change
• Tools
• SWOT analysis
• Kotter’s Model
• Lewin’s model
• McKinsey 7-S Model
• Kübler-Ross model
• ADKAR model