Strategic mgt. process applied to project managemt Dissertation

Strategic mgt. process applied to project managemt - Dissertation Example The Execution Premium Process or XPP is a comprehensive and integrated management system which combines strategy formulation, planning, and operational execution (Kaplan and Norton, 2008). Program management on the other hand refers to the coordinated management of a selection of projects in order to attain benefits which are deemed strategically important for an organisation (Reiss, 2006). XPP is comprised of six stages: (1) strategy development; (2) strategy planning; (3) organization alignment; (4) operations planning; (5) monitoring and learning; and (6) strategy testing and adaptation. This system was developed due to a need for a framework to which various strategy and operational management tools could be utilized (Kaplan & Norton 2008; Shelldrake, 2011). Strategy development involves the formulation of organizational strategies by addressing three crucial factors: (1) mission, values, and vision; (2) key issues; and (3) the strategy itself. Organizations need to be clear with regards to their purpose, the principles by which everyone is guided in their actions, and future aspirations. An organization needs to reaffirm their mission, values, and vision as an initial step in strategy development (Kaplan & Norton 2008). ...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The next step involves a review of the organization’s competitive and operating environment. Managers need to utilize three sources for the review: (1) the external environment; (2) the internal environment; and (3) the status of the current strategy. Issues concerning the external environment may be identified through the use of the PESTEL tool which stands for political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. Meanwhile, issues pertaining to the internal environment include human capital, innovation, operations, and technology deployment (Kaplan & Norton 2008). Another tool used is the SWOT which is described as a table wherein the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the organization are laid out for review. Information gathered at his point will be utilized to develop a strategic change agenda which rationalizes the need to identify and address challenges. Meanwhile, the third step of this stage involves the de velopment of a new strategy based on the information collected from the previous steps. Factors such as the market niche, customer value proposition, key processes, human capital, and technology are likewise involved (Kaplan & Norton 2008). The second stage of XPP involves creating a strategy plan through the development of guidelines for strategic objectives, measures, targets, initiatives and budgets. Likewise, this stage determines how resources are allocated for each component of the plan. This stage is comprised of five components: (1) creation of strategy maps; (2) identification of measures and targets; (3) selection of strategic initiatives; (4) allocation of funds and resources; and (5) establishment of theme teams (Kaplan & Norton 2008). Strategy