Strategic Assessment

We have all probably heard of strategic assessment many times, but what, precisely is it?  I hate to say it, but it is another one of those somewhat vague terms. Even the term strategic assessment model is vague.  There are some over arching themes though. Strategic management focuses on the evaluation of strategic alternatives.  However, as Madjid Tavana points out, "The evaluation of strategic alternatives is a particularly difficult task.  This difficultly is due to the complexities inherent in the evaluation process and the lack of structured information.  The evaluation process must consider a multitude of relevant information from both the internal and external environments of the organization." (1995)

Here are just a few examples:

• Strategic Program Evaluation
• Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix
• Electre II method
• McKinsey matrix
• Competitive strength assessment
• Scenario-strategy matrix
• Decision situation outcomes evaluation

For Tavana (1995), here are the steps he came up with as a strategic assessment model:

• Generate strategic alternatives
• Identify the relevant opportunities and threats and group them into internal, task, and general sets of environmental factors
• Define environmental weights
• Calculate the initial weights associates with the opportunities and threats
• Develop subjective probabilities for each alternative
• Calculate the overall importance weight for the opportunities and threats
• Measure the decision makers risk-aversion constant for the opportunities and threats
• Calculate the risk-adjusted strategic value for each alternative

Above sound a bit like other topics we have already covered, such as balanced scorecard or failure mode effects analysis or force field analysis. In each case you determine items that are most relevant to measure, find a means to give them applicable weight, sum the weights up, and compare.

Strategic Assumptions Surfacing and Testing

Review these:

• https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/strategic-assumptions-surfacing-and-testing/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_assumption_surfacing_and_testing

Pay particular attention to the segment on dialectic debate and within that this key line "each group now eliminates irrelevant assumptions by asking themselves 'If the opposite of this assumptions is true, does it have any significant bearing on the issue?' If the answer is 'No', then the assumption is not very relevant to the problem.

Strategic Choice Approach

A repetitive technique used for complex problems and their sub-problems, consisting of 4 basic principles

• Shaping--involves identifying the problem areas
• Designing--recognizing what can be done, looking at possibilities and drawbacks.
• Comparing--various ideas, evaluating the best possible way forward
• Choosing--the best ideas for solving the problems. Compiling a plan of action, acknowledging any uncertainties.

Learn more at https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/strategic-choice-approach/

Strategic Human Resource Management

This involves implementing human resource programs and practices that are future-oriented.  The focus is on long-term business objectives.  It includes

• Personnel techniques-- hiring, promoting and rewarding of employees;
• Structural techniques--organizational design; and
• Cultural techniques--building and maintaining high-performance work cultures.

Strategic Communication

Strategic communication refers to policy-making and guidance for consistent information activity within an organization and between organizations. Equivalent business management terms are: integrated (marketing) communication, organizational communication, corporate communication, institutional communication, etc.

It is not just standard speaking and writing skills, but also demographic analysis, understanding current communication styles and channel preferences, and organizational understanding.  It entails audience analysis and impression management.

Strategic communications carefully considers the words (or message), but gives equal attention to the person speaking them, the audience, and most importantly, the intention or desired result. Rather than simply inform, strategic communications seeks to influence.

One simple definition of strategic communications is:

• The right stuff (message)
• at the right time
• to the right people
• via the right channels (both messengers and mediums)
• to achieve your goal. 

One aspect that sets strategic communications apart is the focus on a goal, which means that many, if not all, messages will include a specific directive to the audience – an “ask” or “call to action” that will help achieve the goal.

References

Gavin, M. (2019). Leadership vs. Management: What's the Difference?  Harvard Business School Online.  Retrieved April 2, 2021 from https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/leadership-vs-management

Tavana, M. (1995). Strategic Assessment Model (SAM): A Multiple Criteria Decision Support System for Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives. Decision Sciences, 26(1). Retrieved  April 18, 2021 from https://www.academia.edu/575434/Strategic_Assessment_Model_SAM_A_Multiple_Criteria_Decision_Support_System_for_Evaluation_of_Strategic_Alternatives_

University of Cambridge. (n.d.) Decision Support Tools. Importance/performance matrix. Retrieved April 4, 2021 from https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/importance-performance-matrix/