C-SBP

Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional

Introduction

To be successful in the long-run, organizations need to define a mission and a vision, that can be cascaded down into SMART strategic and operational objectives, at all hierarchical levels. The course offers an algorithm on how this can be done, with a focus on creating strategies that are internally consistent and aligned for optimal performance. At the same time, the course offers tools for both internal and external environment scanning, that will alow companies to build strategies that are flexible and shock-absorbent, adapted to a business world that is rapidly changing. Last but not least, the course focuses on how departments can set their own strategies and action plans, that are ready-for-execution and support the overall corporate strategy.

Benefits

Key business benefits – Participants in this course will:

• Understand the logic of strategy planning at every level of the organization;
• Become familiar with an easy-to-use toolkit for every step of the strategy planning process;
• Be ready to transfer the knowledge accumulated into their organization.

Key personal benefits – Participants in this course will:

• Receive structured knowledge, that can be transferred into all areas of their professional life;
• Get access to a network of specialists, sharing business opportunities and innovative solutions to strategy planning dilemmas;
• Receive a premium recognition as a Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional.

Learning objectives

The course aims to offer participants a chance to:
• Build up a strategic mind-frame
• Understand key strategy planning concepts
• Use strategy planning tools, in individual and team exercises
• Reflect on the best practices in the field, through case studies and debates

Agenda

Day 1

Key concepts

Strategy defined
Pre-requisites of strategy planning
Architecture of the strategy planning process

Corporate identity

Impact
Mission
Values

Vision & objectives

Vision
Long-term objectives
Strategic (medium-term) objectives
Operational (short-term) objectives

Case study 1 & debriefing

Day 2

Internal environment scanning

Functional, structural and strategic approaches
An algorithm for the strategic internal environment scan

External environment scanning

PESTEL analysis
Porter’s 5 Forces Model
SWOT analysis

Case study 2 & debriefing

Day 3

Business planning

Cascading the strategy from the corporate level
Business planning at department level
Integrating departmental strategies and action plans within the corporate strategy

Strategy & KPIs

Identifying KPIs for strategic objectives
Setting targets for KPIs

Case study 3 & debriefing

C-SBP Certification exam

Inclusions

1. Course materials that consist in:

- - Course slides
  - Course notes

2. Performance Management Toolkit, containing the following templates:

- - Desired State of Evolution;
  - Strategy Map;
  - Performance Scorecard;
  - Performance Dashboard;
  - Performance Healthogram;
  - Performance Maturity Model;
  - KPI Documentation;
  - Initiatives Portfolio;
  - Initiatives Documentation;
  - Performance Management System Architecture;
  - Monthly Performance Management Process;
  - Employee Scorecard.

3. Premium Subscription on smartKPIs.com available for 6 months, providing access to 500 fully documented KPIs and over 20.000 KPIs enlisted;

4. One research report from the Top 25 KPIs series;

5. Free access to all webinars from the 2014 – 2016 Performance Management Webinar Series

Participants

Business owners and top management
Business owners and top management professionals will acquire the knowledge and competences needed to design a strategy at the corporate level, thus increasing the performance of their organization in terms of relevant financial indicators, operational indicators, customer satisfaction indicators and employee
satisfaction indicators.

Middle management professionals
Professionals from different fields, such as finance, human resources, production, logistics, marketing & sales and others, will acquire the knowledge and competences to design and implement a strategy for their department, that supports and is aligned to the organizational strategy.

Consultants and academia
These participants get a chance to validate and certify worldwide their knowledge and competences in assisting organizati ons with their strategy and business planning processes at all levels. By attending the course, they also join a network of professionals in the field and get into direct contact with companies potentially interested in their services.

Faculty

Radu Cocean – Subject Matter Expert Profile – The KPI Institute

Radu Cocean is a trainer, consultant, facilitator and coach in the field of Strategy and Business Planning, with over 17 years of hands-on experience.
As a trainer, he has delivered The KPI Institute’s Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional course, both as in-house (mainly for large companies) and as open training programs. Since 2010, he is an accredited Trainer (certified by the National Qualifications Authority in Romania) and has successfully completed the American Society for Training & Development Master Trainer Program (2014).
As a consultant, Radu has worked as part of teams that drafted developement strategies and spatial plans for public bodies and local administration. He has done so since 2001, at both international, national, regional, county and local level. He is now the Head of the Consulting Division in the KPI Institute.
As a facilitator, Radu has managed public consultation meetings – his approach is participatory planning, making sure that all stakeholders have their say and economic, social and environmental goals are balanced in an integrated, durable way.
As a management consultant, he has worked with private companies (mainly SMEs), helping them shape business plans required to access European funds – which has offered him insight on how strategies get implemented through successful projects. He is an accredited Project Manager (certified by the National Qualifications Authority in Romania) since 2011.
As a strategy coach, he has worked with start-ups, helping them put their priorities in order, develop strategies and operational plans and manage implementation smoothly.

Learning experience

Pre-course

This part of the learning experience is meant to ensure a smooth transition to the face to face training. For a successful learning experience, it is highly recommended to take the following steps:

Introduction – share a message to introduce yourself to the other participants in an online group;
Pre-course evaluation – complete a needs analysis by answering a short quiz to establish the current level of knowledge and a section to share expectations. As a part of this self-evaluation, participants can establish personal learning objectives for this training;
Prerequisite reading – review several materials, including topics such as history, management theories. Also, KPI definitions should be reviewed before the core course, in order to gain a more holistic view upon the subject and to create a common knowledge base related to strategic planning;
Guidance and schedule – read a document presenting guidelines on how to maximize your learning experience, by using all the resources offered, as well as a recommended learning schedule.

Core Course

During the five days of face-to-face training, the course is designed to facilitate experiential learning and ensure a high level of interactivity. Exercises used to enhance the development of the competency range from simple matching of concepts to extensive analyses of case studies. The learning experience consists of:

Applying concepts in practical exercises;
Analyzing case studies and identifying solutions;
Using templates to develop performance measurement instruments;
Sharing experiences and best practices;
Constantly evaluating participants’ knowledge, through short quizzes to support the final test.

After-Course

After the course, participants are offered the resources and the platforms that will encourage both knowledge improvement and experience sharing. The after-course learning experience is comprised of:

Action plan – submit a plan to state the changes you intend to make in your department or organization in terms of Strategy Planning, 3 days after the training course;
In-house presentation – submit a PowerPoint presentation that you will deliver within your organization, on key topics covered during the training course;
Additional reading – read a list of resources (books, articles and videos), meant at ensuring a continuous learning experience;
Follow-up – fill in a survey, 3 months after the course, to determine what you have successfully applied within your organization, as a result of attending the training course.

Evaluation

At the end of the core-course, each participant will receive:

Certificate of Attendance (hard copy): after participating at the 3 days of on-site training course;
Certificate of Completion (soft copy): after passing the Certification Exam;
Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional diploma (hard copy): after you have successfully completed all of the 3 stages of the learning experience.

Resources

Catalogues: KPI Documentation Forms, Dashboards and Scorecards;
The qualitative reports Performance Management in 2012 and Performance Management in 2013;
Video doodles: “What is a KPI, a KRI and Metrics”, “What is a Dashboard”, “What is a Scorecard”, “Understanding the KPI Documentation Form”;
Other resources: consisting in videos, whitepapers or case studies relevant for strategic planning.