Sound familiar? There is a strategic issue that needs a solution, but discussion is bogged down with minutiae. People can't seem to come to consensus. Someone finally suggests an action and everyone, to their great relief, agrees. A few months...
In the 1960s, Albert Humphrey of Stanford University developed the SWOT analysis technique as a strategic planning tool. The concept is simple and easy to apply: You identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of a particular organization, an...
What would it take to make your organization fail? What conditions could precipitate and sustain “the spiral of death”? What would complete financial collapse really look like? These are grisly questions to consider, but sometimes we need to envision complete...
“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” When said like that, it's pretty cut and dried. But the reality for many nonprofit organizations is quite different. While they understand the importance of strategic planning they run up against...
Introduction Throughout our work at ABARIS Consulting Inc. in helping organizations develop, implement and manage their strategy, we have made a few observations that are worthwhile sharing. When it come to strategic planning in the nonprofit sector we've noticed two...
Both staff and elected leaders of not-for-profit organizations can be well served by basic "tools of our trade". These include: A strategic plan A communications plan Policies and procedures A volunteer handbook A succession planning strategy A risk management strategy...
Introduction In most cases, strategy is developed by a group of individuals. In some cases, that group is comprised of management, sometimes of board members, and other times both. But, regardless of the makeup, it requires that the group solve...
The word "strategic" is used in strange ways. First, strategic planning is frequently employed to describe a one-time or isolated event. Strategic planning then becomes a noun and not a verb. Second, sometimes "strategic" is a substitute for "unpopular" or...
Introduction This article is designed to provide you with a realistic understanding of some of the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a strategic management system. Strategic Management vs. Strategic Planning I have deliberately used the words strategic management and NOT...
For many organizations, the introduction of strategic planning often raises all sorts of barriers that inhibit the ability to move forward. The purpose of this article is to outline a few of the common barriers organizations face in moving forward...
