Strategy and Execution
The Strat/Assess business software methodology delivers:
- a format (also available in Microsoft WORD as an option in the Business Plan or Premium Pack) for a business plan
- with a self assessment per chapter- (part of the on-line Business plan Support Guide).
- a business stress test
This is also availble via E-Learning en on-line coaching. We kindly inform you on the approach.
Just 5 steps:
- Formulate your business plan(s) with the business plan support guide
- Score each chapter(self assessment-stress test)
- Complete the dashboard with the chapter scores
- Review and improve: have a strategic discussion on the results
- Optional: review portfolio results
Strat/Assess provides a simplified and concrete business case summary in directly presentable formats: the Strat/Assess dashboard.
This approach differentiates from standard formats:
- by its unique multi dimensional scoring and
- self assessment per chapter leading to clear bottom line objective evidence and fact based decision making.
- early stage(each stage) financials and knowledge valorisation
- preventive and corrective actions avoiding overoptimism and limiting investment and business risks
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Feel free to make your own dashboard and business plan or monitor an existing business plan via the DEMO.
This page describes the Strat/Assess business software items below:
2. Strat/Assess strategic insights
4. Methodology and service/product offering
5. Basic output and presentation
6. Bottom-line decision making
Feel free to make your own dashboard and business plan or monitor an existing business plan via the DEMO.
Strat/Assess is a business software approach dedicated to making an integral business plan summarized in a few pages.
The Strat/Assess model as part of the Stratecution methodology can be used for:
1. Complete new business plans
2. Existing business plans
Objectives Strat/Assess
Strat/Assess aims to:
- be able to present an integral business plan to decision makers in a few pages
- have a strategic discussion on the true key topics with key stakeholders
- think integrally on a business case
- think through thoroughly in detail
- limit the business case to the key essentials
- compare a portfolio of new business projects
- provide a quick scan for checking the status of a (new) business
- provide an objective evidence scoring for proper evaluation and comparison of business cases/projects
- provide a high consistency level amongst business cases/projects by well defined questions, self assessments and scores.
- provide a process way with clearly defined business case/project stages with structured scored moments for go/no-go decisions.
- support decision making by stage of business development(as a process survey tool).
Why Strat/Assess?
Strat/Assess is intended to contribute as a reporting and(self) assessment method for new business creation cases/projects in any kind of business and can also be used for existing business.
Strat/Assess has been developed as a comprehensive new way of making business plans and provides an objective assessment to monitor the progress of new business cases/projects since on many occasions:
1. New business cases/projects and progress reports are monitored in isolation and not related to the overall company objectives and resources.
2. Objective and compared evaluation of projects has proven to be difficult.
Strat/Assess serves as a universal method and language covering aspects like:
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Simplicity: avoiding complexity and uncertainty in an integral approach
- Multidimensional scoring method enabling to concentrate on the really relevant business dimensions
- Combination of facts and intuition/passion
- Searching for objective evidence and adjusting over time over-optimism based on several self assessments and scoring
- Matching market attractiveness with competencies
- Early stage strategic and financial thinking
- Signals essential S.W.O.T. elements
- Highlights value drivers and value blocks
- New business project portfolio management
- Provides road map and action calendar
- Balanced well prepared strategic discussions on issues with decision makers
- Monitoring progress, project values and business plan development for a single project and in portfolio context
- Support to early stage reallocation of funding (killing versus creating options)
- All information provided in a limited number of pages
- Competence gap analysis, risk assessment, identifying weaknesses in most business aspects in search of a desired state.
Advantages
The advantage of Strat/Assess is its integral and simplified reporting approach covering unlike many other models:
- Basic financials
- A portfolio of business cases/projects
- Self assessment scoring
- Decision making criteria
- "Checks and balances"
Measurement, self assessment and scoring:
- "Measuring is knowledge and guessing is missing"
- Following the basic principles "What gets measured, gets done" and "Guessing is missing" throughout the Strat/Assess approach scoring, measurements and self assessments are incorporated aiming in the end for the best possible result in terms of desired state and objective evidence based decision making
2. Strat/Assess strategic insights
Insight in non- financial parameters:
Insight in the basic financials/financial parameters
Strat/Assess calculates and reports:
- Revenues/sales expectations over a five year's period after market introduction
- Cash flow calculations
- Net present value calculation(an orientation on real options approach)
- Risk/return analysis
- Internal rate of return
- Investment/capital expenditures
- Research and Development expenditures
- Marketing expenditures
- Contribution margin
Portfolio insight
Stratecution Strat/Assess delivers insight in a portfolio investment development and operates as portfolio assessment methodology comparing the above insights.
A stretched decision making oriented approach leading to "Survival of the fittest" business cases/projects:
Decision making criteria for clear go/no-go decisions (a kind of business case/project stress test)
The self assessment methodology for non-financial and financial parameters is objective evidence based and could be used e.g. for integral business plan audits.
1. Strategic business data required to make an integral assessment of a new business proposal.
2. An objective, consistently scored measurement comparing proposals in a portfolio
The on-line Business plan Support Guide provides as an electronical textbook comprehensive information for developing the content of the business plan.
Strat/Assess provides applied economic science and covers an integrated strategic thinking described by e.g.:
Strategy including the strategy level self assessment score:
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External analysis: Strategic market map/attractiveness of the market( applying practically a.o. the theories of a.o. Michael Porter):
Market size/market share in value and insights in:
1. Market growth
2. Michael Porter:
- Market profitability: Rivalry model
- Value chain positioning
3. Industry concentration
Internal analysis : Strategic competences map and insights in the status and progress development of(applying practically a.o. the theories of C.K. Prahalad, Gary Hamel):
1. Technology
Technology/Patent position
2. Operations
Production/Sourcing/Operations
3. Marketing
Distribution/Customer base
4. People
Entrepreneurial(winning) team
Integral business development by business/project stage(stage-gate approach):
1. Self assessment tool at the end of each stage
2. Leads to improvement plans aiming for the desired state.
3. Identification of missing and unsufficiently completed elements
4. Measurement of the maturity of the business plan.
Example element score:
Progress monitoring(Depending on the stage of business development 4- max. 12 elements have to be completed):
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Identification of the strategic discussion issues and business risk analysis:
Time to market and its effect on the Net Present Value(A flavour of the real options approach):
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Stage-gate approach(Strat/Assess can be used as a version of the Robert G.Cooper Stage-Gate Model)It aligns with the Bell-Mason Diagnostic for:
1. Complete new business plans
2. Existing business plans
Stage
0. Scouting and identification:
Selection of new business cases/projects
To be elaborated in the next stages
1. Concept/Basic outlines of a business plan:
Feasibility study of the product/service offering
Define the customer value proposition
2. Initial business plan/tryout:
Prototype product/service offering
3. Advanced business plan: product/service development:
Completing and detailing the product/service offering specification,
Final testing,control and validation
4. Complete business plan:
Market introduction/launch preparation
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These stages are compatible with similar models like the Stage Gate model and the Bell Mason approach:
Insight in the basic financials/financial parameters
Strat/Assess calculates and reports:
Revenue-sales ambition over a five year's period after market introduction in 3 scenarios:
1. Likely/Base case
2. Best/Highest case
3. Worst/Lowest case
Related Net Present Value for each scenario:
Cash flow calculation:
Portfolio assessment
Stratecution Strat/Assess delivers insight in a portfolio investment development and operates as portfolio assessment methodology comparing the above insights:
- Sales Ambition/Investment relation:
Risk/Return map
Sales Ambition/Investment relation
Stratecution Strat/Assess together with FINAN: www.finan.nl/ (separate company-strategic alliance) establishes a unique (business software based)strategic business development approach:
4. Methodology and service/product offering
The methodology(off-line successfully in use for many years in a large variety of industries) can be used as follows:
a.Top-down:
Just scoring directly into the Strat/Assess model(Excel2003 as a platform/specific EXCEL skills are not necessary-on the contrary it is just like completing a questionnaire-): it takes just some 10 minutes.
b. Bottom-up:
Based on the scoring and self-assessments throughout the Stratecution business plan format and/or the Fieldwork Scorebook: both are part of the on-line Business plan Support Guide and are available off-line in the optional Premium Pack in Word format.
In this case you formulate a complete business plan based on the formats above and do the scoring on completion of the various chapters as per your own way of working and planning:
c.The fieldwork scorebook:
For just scoring an existing business plan and or your own business plan format for properly completing the Strat/Assess model
d. Conversion of existing business plans:
Existing business plans can relatively easily be converted/adapted by using the on-line Business plan Support Guide.
e. Options:
The Stratecution business plan format is available off-line in the optional Business Plan Pack and Premium Pack in Word format.
f. A business plan business plan support guide(electronic textbook)
On-line Strategic Business Development is as part of the license provided as a web application to describe its use.
This is off-line available in the optional Premium Pack as a Helpfile
5. Basic output and presentation
Strat/Assess provides a simplified and concrete business case summary in a directly presentable formats:
- Strat/Assess dashboard
- Strat/Assess portfolio of project/business proposals
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6. Bottom-line decision making
Strat/Assses directly leads to bottom line decision making :
at each stage of business development:
INVITATION
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating"
It is recommended to use the demo first in detail for a practical exercise and to define your customer requirements accordingly. Please, do not hurry!
We kindly invite you to have a free of charge two weekly demonstration period by using the full Stratecution Strat/Assess on-line methodology (excluding the contents of the option packs).
The Demo can be accessed as follows:
The Demo will be made available as soon as possible.
Important
- An Internet connection is required for the use of Strat/Assess.
- Strat/Assess does not work off-line.
- Input in Strat/Assess will only be saved on your own installation(s). No transfer of confidential data outside your own business environment, unless your own own security settings do no function and/or are not appropriate to common security standards. Strat/Assess has no central storage of your data. A central back-up of your data is not available.
