|
Dear ,
Welcome to the February newsletter.
New leaders are always compelled to review the strategic direction of the organisations that have appointed them. They bring a new lens with which to review past achievement in order to focus on the future, while taking into account the realities of the present.
Having taken on the Chair of the Society I am of that ilk. This moment enables me to reflect more intensely on strategy as a professional discipline, as well as on its application in the Strategic Planning Society.
My predecessor achieved much. What do I think we should do differently? What do I think we should achieve? What do our members want? What role does our community of strategists in commerce, public sector, voluntary sector and in academia want this Society to play going forward? Are we to be reactive or proactive? How do we use and blend the virtual and physical environments to greatest effect to serve our community? How do we fulfil our charitable purpose even better?
So many questions, so little time - particularly given the voluntary 'pro bono' role of the Society's activists. But, we will try to answer them, and share those answers with you month by month as we go forward. Of one thing I am sure, the future is not what it used to be.
Watch this space. And tell me what you think.
Ian McDonald Wood, Chairman
|
|
SPS News
|
Strategic Value in Corporate Reporting Awards 2010
The Strategic Planning Society has named the date for this year's Strategic Value in Corporate Reporting Awards ceremony, which will take place at the Royal Over-Seas League in London on Wednesday 28 April. The awards celebrate excellence in strategy disclosure and commentary in annual corporate reporting. The Society applies FutureValue's Strategic Value Analysis technique, as its uncompromising standard for selecting winners from all those reports published by FTSE350 companies between 1 October 2008 and 1 September 2009. Shortlisted companies will be announced in the last week of March.
A keynote speech will be given by Stephen Haddrill, Chief Executive of the Financial Reporting Council, a member of the Financial Crisis Advisory Group and former Director General of the ABI.
More about the awards »
SPS member celebrates award success
Last month Square Peg International took home two trophies from the Institute of Business Consulting Awards: for Practice of the Year 2009 (under 30 employees) and for Best International Project for its work in keeping Birds Eye Iglo Group (BEIG) in business as it separated from Unilever.
BEIG Director, Operations, Tania Howarth said:"Our people were excellently engaged and very well prepared and we transitioned remarkably smoothly to the new operating platform. Square Peg provided significant value well above and beyond that brief. Just one example of the huge value they added was in their managing the change process so as to instil our new corporate values of individual responsibility and entrepreneurship."
Strategists most crucial to effective execution
Last month's SPS poll received the most responses of any poll on the site so far, and showed the strongest trend yet. We asked which department was the most crucial to successful strategy execution in the current environment, and 38% of respondents named the strategy function.
Other departments with a strong role to play are those focused on building new business. Some 19% of respondents named marketing as most important, and 16% said business development. Operations were credited with a major role by just 13% of respondents.
And while strategists are clearly driven by the bottom line, it would appear the connection is a sophisticated one. Only 6% of strategists said the sales function was crucial for strategy execution and none named finance as vital.
This month we ask: Do you measure the effectiveness of strategy through KPIs, and what areas do you measure?
What does strategic management accounting mean to you?
Is it just a marketing exercise for the financial community, or a vital part of aligning costs with strategy? Members of the SPS LinkedIn Group have been discussing
what strategic management accounting (SMA) means to them.
While some members believe it has been incorporated into the strategy of a number of leading businesses including Unilever and Amex, others feel it has fallen far short of the role envisaged for SMA 15 years go.
Other discussions include
the most interesting strategy mishaps,
questions about the people aspects of strategy and
who produces the best strategy models: academics or practitioners?
Join the debate with over 950 strategists in the SPS Group on LinkedIn »
|
|
Research and Insight
|
Trendspotting in an age of uncertainty
The failure to predict the financial crisis of 2008 was a colossal failure for everyone who makes a living by analysing the present and predicting the future, says Magnus Lindkvist. As late as May 2008, our scenarios for the future were rosy portraits of a brave new world with untold riches and opportunities. Instead, we were drawn into the most severe recession for decades. So why was the financial crisis so unexpected, and what new ways of thinking can it teach us?
Read the full article »
|
SPS members receive Strategy Magazine every three months
|
Intuition in organisations: implications for strategic management
The role that intuition plays in decision making in business has only recently been acknowledged. Now, thanks to advances in social cognitive neuroscience, what was previously perceived as a hunch can be assessed more sharply for its importance in organisational decision making. Authors Gerard Hodgkinson, Eugene Sadler-Smith, Lisa Burke, Guy Claxton and Paul Sparrow consider the implications of recent advances in scholarly research into intuition for understanding managerial strategy.
Read the full executive summary »
|
SPS members receive Long Range Planning six times a year (worth GBP120 pa). Non-members can buy and download individual articles at Science Direct.
SPS members enjoy access to the online library, with downloadable versions of over 150 articles published in Strategy Magazine and more than 100 executive summaries from Long Range Planning. Find more information on SPS membership benefits.
|
Energy scavenging grows up
The advent of new technologies is enabling cheaper more reliable energy scavenging - the ability to generate small amounts of energy from ambient energy sources, in a variety of ways. The spread of in-built intelligence, fed by millions, if not billions, of remote sensors is, among other things, driving demand. Energy scavenging has reached a potential tipping point from niche, 'interesting' technology, into a mainstream, multi-billion dollar market.
More information about Shaping Tomorrow »
|
SPS members enjoy free access to Shaping Tomorrow (worth GBP95 pa) - an organised database of over 25,000 future, strategy and change management resources, plus a weekly newsletter highlighting ten new trends.
|
|
|
Events and Workshops
|
Henley Knowledge Management Forum event
The Strategic Planning Society is supporting the Henley Knowledge Management Forum conference at Greenlands, Henley Business School on 24–25 February 2010.
It will address how to harness collective learning to support better knowledge exchange, and explore how to improve the returns from making connections at all levels.
SPS members can receive a 15% discount on the conference entry fee of GBP1,125. To gain your discount visit this page and enter the code HBSPS2010kmf or email Jane McKenzie. Non-member newsletter readers receive a 5% discount.
Ashridge Open Programmes
The SPS and Ashridge have teamed up to offer SPS members some exclusive benefits, the first of which is a 10% discount on any of Ashridge's open strategy programmes.
Ashridge has a wide variety of short, residential programmes to help individuals and organisations to achieve their development needs. These programmes focus on blending the practical experience of their faculty with leading-edge business thinking, to inspire and challenge you.
In addition, learning in small classes – typically between 12 and 30 participants – promotes collaboration on your own issues and ensures individual support, enabling all participants to return, better able to transfer learning to the workplace.
For more details, visit Ashridge. Please quote your SPS membership number when booking.
|
|
|
