SWOTTurn it Around

Craig Williams, CPIM

APICS Tampa Bay

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Strategic Thinking

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STRATEGIC HORIZON

Threats and Opportunities

External StatusEnvironment• Economic• Emotional• PoliticalWHY Years

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TACTICAL HORIZON

Strengths and Weaknesses

Internal StatusIntrospective• Financial• Capabilities• DepthHOW and WHAT Weeks/Months

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RESOURCES INVESTMENT- Time & Money- Rule of Thirds

PROCESS:

- Prep 2/3

- Planning 1/3

FOCUS:

- Strategic 2/3

- Tactical 1/3

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PROCESSPreparationForecasts and data• Current and future• Internal and external• Financial• Media• Emotional

Spread the load• Team investment• Manageable tasks• Utilize resources

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PROCESS

PlanningFirst: Strategic- 2/3rds Investment

- Future Metrics

- Blue-sky Thinking

- Emotional

Second: Tactical - 1/3rd Investment

- Current Status

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Beware the Squirrel!

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STRATEGIC THINKING

Tactical is easy. Strategic is HARD!• Most CEO’s are good at strategic thinking. • Most of us aren’t. We observe and think tactically.

STATUS ONLY!• Beware the squirrel! Stay strategic!• Listen for verbs or action suggestions.

It’s not about you. • External focus. Future look. Think in years.• Customer viewpoint: WIIFT. WHY.

Create the vision of your future market status.

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SWOTStrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreats

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SWOTBrainstorming Tool

Tactical Emphasis

Process and Goals

Balanced Approach

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TOWSThreatsOpportunitiesWeaknessesStrengths

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THE VIDEO!

http://tinyurl.com/ij2015chatIan Johnson - Drive Your Success

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TOWSDrives strategic view.

Promotes strategic group thinking.

Status combinations drive tactical the planning process.

TOWS Strategic ExternalMATRIX Threats Opportunities

T1 O1T2 O2

Tactical Internal T3 O3Weaknesses T-W Combinations O-W CombinationsW1 T2-W1 O1-W2W2 T3-W2 O2-W1W3 T1-W3 O3-W3Strengths T-S Combinations O-S CombinationsS1 T1-S1 O3-S1S2 T3-S2 O1-S2S3 T2-S3 O2-S3

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TOWS CombinationsT-W: Mini-Mini.Minimize weaknesses, avoid threats. Defensive.

O-W: Maxi-Mini. Minimize weaknesses by leveraging opportunities.

T-S: Maxi-Mini. Leverage strengths to minimize threats.

O-S: Maxi-Maxi. Leverage strengths to maximize opportunities.

TOWS Strategic ExternalMATRIX Threats Opportunities

T1 O1T2 O2

Tactical Internal T3 O3Weaknesses T-W Combinations O-W CombinationsW1 T2-W1 O1-W2W2 T3-W2 O2-W1W3 T1-W3 O3-W3Strengths T-S Combinations O-S CombinationsS1 T1-S1 O3-S1S2 T3-S2 O1-S2S3 T2-S3 O2-S3

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Exercise WorksheetTOWS Strategic ExternalExercise

Threats Opportunities

T1 O1

T2 O2

Tactical Internal T3 O3

Weaknesses T-W Combinations O-W Combinations

W1

W2

W3

Strengths T-S Combinations O-S Conbinations

S1

S2

S3

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Exercise Goal: Perform Your Chapter’s TOWS Analysis• Be ingenious. Be imaginative. Pretend • Define top three status for each section.

Phase One: Threats and Opportunities:• Exercise One: 8 min Strategic. External. Future.• Summary One: 5 min Group Polling.

Weaknesses and Strengths:• Exercise Two: 4 min. Tactical. Internal. Current.• Summary Two: 5 min Group Polling.

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Conclusions• Rule of thirds: Resource Allocation, Strategic

vs Tactical, Preparation vs Planning.

• Strategic Thinking: Future Status, Economic, Emotional, Political. It’s not about you.

• Beware the Squirrel! Watch for actions.

• TOWS: Leverage the combinations to drive your tactical planning.

SWOT: Turn it around

Craig Williams, CPIM

APICS Tampa Bay

Thank you!