Ensuring Successful Analysis by: analysing the operating environments on a regular basis and when major changes happen; gathering information in a legal and ethical way; using experienced specialists to gather and analyse the information; using a wide range of tools and techniques for gathering information; gathering information from a wide range of sources; making sure that forecasts, trends, and predictions are backed up by enough evidence. The goal is to do an analysis that gives the organisation a clear picture of its current environment and an idea of what might change in the near future. This will let the organization's leaders make changes to operational goals based on what they learn about the current situation and to long-term plans to prepare for the changes that are expected. A thorough analysis should be done at least once a year, with reviews every three months. This will make sure that the leaders of the organisation are always up-to-date on everything and have the tools they need to respond to any changes that affect the organisation in the right way.
Analyzing the external environment by: identifying the parts and boundaries of the external environment in which the organisation operates; taking into account the current political, economic, social, technological, and environmental situation; gathering appropriate, sufficient, reliable, and valid information; identifying and evaluating trends; figuring out how current influences affect the organisation; predicting how future changes might affect the organisation. The goal here is to collect data that shows or predicts changes in the world in which the organisation works. The organisation is affected by a huge number of local and international forces and influences. Changes in demographics, culture, and social behaviour are all good examples of things that can cause changes in customer markets and buying habits. Another example is a possible or expected change in a technology that could kill demand for some products or services. Gathering and analysing this kind of information is important for almost every type of business, no matter how big or small.
Evaluating Competitor Behaviour by finding current and potential competitor organisations, gathering relevant information on current and expected competitor activity, figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of each current competitor, and thinking about how new competitors or changes in competitor behaviour might affect the business. The point of this is easy to understand. Competitors are always trying to get the same customers, and if they are good competitors, they will do the same kind of analysis and respond to what they find. Competitor activity can be an important part of the information gathered because it shows how similar organisations are responding to changes that are happening now and those that are expected to happen in the future.
Consider the needs of stakeholders by: identifying all stakeholders, both inside and outside the organisation; figuring out how important support from each stakeholder group is; talking to stakeholders to find out what they want and how they want it; explaining the organization's strategies and values to stakeholders; and talking through disagreements and misunderstandings. The goal of this activity is to make sure that everyone's needs are known and that their thoughts are taken into account. Stakeholders can include operational staff, managers, trade unions, shareholders, suppliers, customers, clients, sponsors, funding organisations, partner organisations, local government departments, and local or national media. There can also be sector-specific stakeholders, like the families of hospital patients, people who live near big construction projects, or parents of schoolchildren.
Assess the organization's internal situation by looking at its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and analysing its current internal situation. The goal is to get a clear picture of how the organisation is doing in terms of its internal health. This should be thorough and look at all internal parts of the organisation, such as its physical location(s), the condition of its buildings, equipment, vehicles, plant, funding, operational performance, recruitment, retention, training and development, policies, procedures, products, services, and so on.
Adjusting Current Strategies: Taking the results of the analysis activities into account and comparing them to the current strategies and direction; talking to experts and key stakeholders about the proposed changes; changing the current strategies and strategic goals or coming up with new ones; putting in place a management system that will keep an eye on the new strategies and make changes as needed. The goal is easy to see. For the organisation to stay alive, it needs to have the right plans in place. If strategic direction, specific strategies, and their goals aren't evaluated, maintained, and changed on a regular basis, the organisation will lose its ability to compete and fail in the long run.
Adjusting Systems and Structures by: figuring out if the current systems and structures are good enough to meet the needs of the new strategies; talking to all the people who will be affected by the proposed changes; planning and putting in place changes to operational, quality, and cultural systems, policies, procedures, and structures; and putting in place ways to monitor, control, and change these as needed. The goal of this is to set up the right infrastructure to support the new operational and strategic goals. If this infrastructure doesn't work with these goals and help them get done, the strategies will have trouble and almost certainly fail.
Adjusting Current Operational Goals by: adjusting operational goals and activity in response to changes in strategic direction; putting in place an appropriate quality assurance management system to keep operational quality standards; and putting in place procedures to monitor, control, and adjust operational goals and activity as needed. Strategic goals must be supported and helped to be reached by operational activities. It is very bad, if not fatal, to let operational activities keep going as they were when the organization's strategic direction and goals have changed.
Adjusting Personnel Capabilities by comparing the current and potential performance capabilities of key individuals and teams with the expected performance requirements; improving personnel capabilities by retraining and development where appropriate; replacing individuals and teams where necessary; and putting in place an individual and team appraisal and development system.
The goal of this activity is to make sure that the best people and teams are in place at every level to help the organisation reach its goals. The plans won't work without the right people.
In conclusion, the most important thing that the organization's leaders do is analyse the environment in which the organisation works. It shows that the leaders' only job is to make sure the organisation is going in the right strategic direction and has the best resources it needs to reach its goals. For the organisation to be successful, it needs to have good information, and the most important information is about the changes and challenges it will face in the future.
