Frequently asked questions - Stratecution B.V.

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:

New business cases/projects and progress reports are monitored in isolation and not related to the overall company objectives and resources.
Objective and compared evaluation of projects has proven to be difficult: With Strat/Assess a project portfolio analysis is immediately available and enables to create an own project database

reported in the Strat/Assess dashboard

and portfolio:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

Glossary of Strat/Assess related questions:

Universal approach:

It can be used directly or by applying a simple adjustment with most available business plan formats in use. Existing business plans can easily be converted.

It uses Excel 2010 as a platform/specific EXCEL skills are not necessary-on the contrary it is just like completing a questionnaire-):

Example:

Result:

Adding value to existing business plans:

It delivers a 1 A4 management summary covering the essentials of your business plan: Financial and non-financial parameters

Strategic business maps:

It maps strategy, markets, competences and basic financials:

Example:

Critical self assessment and measurement:

It mirrors and measures based on objective evidence the quality and progress of the plan.

Example:

Staged approach:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

It is aligned with Stage-Gate®( like a.o. Coopers and Bell-Mason Diagnostics) oriented approaches, monitors business development progress by stage:

Objective evidence:

It corrects over time for over optimism

Desired stage:

It contributes to defining desired state oriented actions

Continuous improvement:

It contributes to realizing excellence in a true Plan Do Check Act approach (PDCA)

Benchmark:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

It shows a portfolio of business cases/projects(if available):

10.

Risk management:

It highlights business risks in various perspectives:

11.

Investment rounds/project milestones:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

It delivers objective evidence based information for go/no go decisions as a business stress test:

12.

Business case selection:

It filters out (at an early stage) weak or not well fitting business cases/projects

13.

Strategic issue highlighting:

It focuses clearly on the real business issues for a strategic discussion in e.g. a barrel meeting

14.

Decision oriented:

It guides to fact based decision making whilst not neglecting entrepreneurial intuition

15.

Integral approach:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

It provides an integral radar screen dashboard covering in an integral way key business aspects

16.

Financials:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

It covers calculations

Minimum/Maximum and likely case scenarios

Value Creation: Net present value calculation

Capital investments, Research and Development and marketing expenditures

Internal rate of return

Contribution margin

Cash flow calculation

Risk/ return analysis

Revenue/investment analysis

Portfolio benchmark basic financials

Effect of time to market on the financial results

and is aligned with the financial programming models of FINAN

Example

Related Net Present Value for each scenario:

Cash flow calculation:

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

Portfolio management

(PROFESSIONAL VERSION ONLY)

Risk/Return map

Sales Ambition/Investment relation

17.

Applied strategic theory:

It uses and applies practically the theories of a.o.

Michael Porter: a.o. The value chain and the five forces model
C.K. Prahalad: a.o.Core competences

18.

Strategic issue highlighting and business focus:

It highlights the real strategic issues for a fundamental discussion

19.

Target groups/user groups:

Bridging new business owners with decision makers in a common effective approach:

I. New business owners

To guide, coach and direct to better integral business plans:

Start-ups
Technostarters
Business Incubators
Business Unit managers/project managers etc.
Students

II. Decision makers

To guide, coach and lead to better decisions, go/no-go decisions, next steps financing rounds and stimulating the making of better integral business plans including comparisons in a new business portfolio:

Banks/Venture capitalists
Management
Board of Management/Board of Directors
Chief Executive Officers/CEO
Chief Financial Officers/CFO
Chief Technology Officers/CTO
Chief Marketing Officers/CMO
Government
Private investors/Business Angels

III. Consultancy companies

A fast growing and wide variety applies success fully the Stratecution Strat/Asess methodology in their practice for their cients based on the license agreement.

IV. Corporate strategy and strategic business development departments, in-house incubator departments

V. Internal auditing departments/auditing institutions and companies

VI. Universities and other education and training institutions

VII. Business Excellence, Six Sigma, EFQM and ISO 9001:2000 / ISO 9004 related companies, departments and institutions

VIII. Corporate Research & Development(R&D) departments, new business development departments, development departments, innovation departments and innovation platforms, investor relations

VIIII. Governmental and ministries of economic affairs, Development agencies

IX. Investment companies and banks, participation companies, hedge funds and private equity financing e.g. for quick portfolio benchmarks and business valuation

X. Mergers and Acquisition(M&A) specialists, departments and companies

20.

Marketing:

It covers the basics of marketing and strategic marketing planning

21.

Road mapping:

It enables to prepare:

1. Marketing/sales programmes( product strategy, market segmentation)/
Customer Relationship management programmes
2. Research and Development programmes/Technology roadmapping/
Product development roadmap
3. Manufacturing/sourcing/operations programmes
4. Human resources/People Management/Team management programmes
5 Supply chain management programmes/Logistics/Supply chain
6. Information technology programmes, enterprise resource plan(ERP/SAP)

22.

Strategic orientation:

It guides to preparing and scores:

The strategic direction: where are we now and where does the company want to go, in relation to its management team, its employees, its products, its customers and possibly also its suppliers, covering aspects of:

Conditional settings business plan:

1.   Vision /Strategic intent incl. description of the product/service offering
2.   Mission
3.   Scope
4.   Business objectives/ambition

Strategic settings business plan:

5.   Strategic positioning: strategic fit/ fit with company business/market areas
6.   Unique selling points/proposition/value proposition
7.   Sustainable competitive advantage
8.   Entry barriers
9.   Values
10. Business Model

23.

Co-creation:

The StratecutionStrat/Assess methodology offers unique opportunities to apply co-creation in strategic business plan development: the practice can offer on-line support and coaching in the making of your business plan

24.

Business balanced core card

The Stratecution Strat/Assess methodology and its output give an adquate set of information and data for a balanced scorecard

25.

Business plan support

Strat/Assess is an approach dedicated to making an integral business plan summarized in a few pages:

The Strat/Assess dashboard:

A business plan Business plan Support Guide( electronic textbook) on Strategic Business Development is as part of the license provided as a web application to describe its use. This is off-line available the optional Premium Pack as a Helpfile:

26.

Excel skills required: No

It uses Excel 2010 as a platform/specific EXCEL skills are not necessary-on the contrary it is just like completing a questionnaire-):

Example:

27.

Internet aspects and connectivity

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.

28.

Installation and use

Please see http://www.stratecution.nl/stratassess/installation

29.

DEMO

Please see http://www.stratecution.nl/stratassess/demo

The Demo can be accessed as follows:

Request demo