The Strategy Challenge

This course brings together the key strategic leadership skills of strategic planning, negotiation, and conflict management required to succeed in today’s complex and challenging business environment. 'Strategy' is as it says in the classic text 'the art of war', complex yet when understood very simple, those who have a successful strategy are in control of the upcoming events. The implementation of strategies often requires the ability to exert influence and negotiate effectively. Negotiation is not litigation, neither it is war. Negotiation is not about obtaining total victory. Total victory by one party tends to be short-lived. Negotiation and conflict management are key strategic management and leadership skills and are probably the single most used skills in business today.

 

At the end of this course the participants will be able to:

 

  • Learn the key stages in the entire process, providing a takeaway toolkit for each key stage and each delegate.
  • Apply to management issues, learn option generation, opportunity cost, choice, and implementation phases of the strategy.
  • To understand the process of change, planning, organizational strategy, and change.
  • Identify the sources of conflict in the professional environment.
  • Gain awareness of your own style in approaching conflict and negotiation.
  • Learn how to achieve true win-win results & expand your range of negotiating skills.
  • Be able to use a three-step planning guide to analyze and prepare for a negotiation.
  • Managers from all managerial levels
  • Supervisors & Team leaders
  • Employees who aim to get great knowledge to improve their career

 

  • What are strategy and strategic planning?
  • Why are strategy and strategic planning important?
  • What are the main conceptual frameworks?
  • External analysis - understanding and analyzing business attractiveness - macroenvironmental factors, growth drivers, competitive forces, market dynamics
  • Benchmarking your own strategic position/competitor analysis
  • Analyzing customers
  • “Thinking backward from the customer”
  • Mini-case on importance of external analysis

  • The interface of external and internal analysis
  • Internal analysis: financial
  • Internal analysis; non-financial
  • The concept and practicalities of the “balanced scorecard”
  • Diagnosing strategic problems and opportunities
  • The fusion of analyses into strategic choices - SWOT and the strategy matrix
  • Case examples of strategic choice
  • Mini-case on importance of internal analysis

 

  • Review of the tools used so far
  • The content of a strategy: avoiding “paralysis by analysis”
  • Putting a strategic plan together – the 5-page framework
  • A real-life example of a business strategy/strategic plan
  • Strategies for alliances and joint ventures
  • Example of best practice in alliances and joint ventures

 

  • The essence of globalization and global strategy
  • Globalization – the strategic dimension
  • Globalization – the organizational dimension
  • Globalization – the human dimension
  • How to build and manage a strategic planning team
  • Communicating strategy through the organization
  • Gaining your team’s commitment and buy-in to the strategy

 

  • Effective execution - converting strategic analysis and planning into action
  • Linking strategy with operational objectives
  • Implementation – getting practical things done
  • Strategic planning of your career
  • Creating tomorrow’s organization out of today’s organization
  • Conclusion - the corporate and individual value of strategic thinking

  • Negotiation theory and practice – negotiation defined
  • Power and society – the rise of negotiation and conflict management
  • The sources of conflict in the organization
  • Conflict escalation and steps to prevent it
  • Conflict management strategies
  • The two distinct approaches to negotiation
  • Understanding your negotiation style
  • Negotiation as a mixed-motive process

 

  • Strategic and tactical negotiation approaches to negotiation
  • Value claiming distributive negotiation strategies
  • BATNA, Reserve point, the Target point
  • Opening offers, Anchors, Concessions
  • Value creating Integrative negotiation strategies
  • Sharing information, diagnostic questions & unbundling issues
  • Package deals, multiple offers, and post-settlement settlements
  • The four possible outcomes of a negotiation

 

  • Wants and needs – distinguishing between interests and positions
  • A three-step model for negotiation preparation
  • Your position, their position, and the situation assessment
  • Understanding the sources of negotiating power
  • Altering the balance of power
  • The power of body language
  • Understanding thoughts from body language
  • Dealing with confrontational negotiators

 

  • Communication and questioning
  • Active listening in negotiation
  • ADR processes – putting negotiation in the context
  • Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation
  • Mediation is a facilitated negotiation
  • Techniques of the mediator - practical mediation skills to help resolve disputes
  • Working in negotiation teams
  • Mediation in practice – mediation exercise

 

  • International and cross-cultural negotiations
  • Cultural Values and Negotiation Norms
  • Advice for cross-cultural negotiators
  • Putting together a deal
  • Team international negotiation exercise
  • Applying learning to a range of organizational situations

 

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