IT Managers

Developing a Strategic Plan I. LOOKING AHEAD: PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS The hard task of selecting an overall company strategy for long-run survival and growth is called strategic planning. II. STRATEGIC PLANNING Each company must find the game plan that makes the most sense given its specific situation, opportunities, objectives, and resources. Strategic planning: The process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organization’s goal and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities.

Furthermore a company needs to be able to: - Effectively communicate business requirements with ICT people; - Have total top executive support; - Involve users from the start; - Have a clear decision model, business rules and objectives (Zachman, 1987, pp. 276--292). This report will look at the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system at Cisco. One of the main drivers for implementing an integrated system was to enable integration of all functions within the company, thereby increasing efficiency. Additionally, market and competitive trends were to enable customer collaboration through applications such as Webex, Telepresence and SocialMiner.

The Importance of Metrics Abstract Establishing metrics is crucial to any organization, especially in technology related company projects. Metrics permit organizations to measure its performance against industry sectors to determine how well the company is doing. Furthermore, metrics allow organizations to evaluate and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its processes. Metrics are designated in different categories. The categories identified in this document include output, in-process, and people.

There are three basic steps of gaining strategic planning within GE: The formulating of a major business strategy. This is the basis of efforts to build a serious competitive advantage. The adaptation of the major business strategy to all the markets where the company’s products are presented. The globalization of the major business strategy. It means the company has to integrate the strategy in all the places of business operation.

Business Intelligence Software As we discuss the possibility of emerging into business intelligence software we must keep in mind the overall purpose of using any type of software is to reach strategic goals in order to increase market shares. I will discuss how business intelligence software will allow us to meet those strategic goals. We will establish what type of information and analysis capabilities will be available once this business intelligence software is implemented. We will discuss hardware and system software that will be required to run specific business intelligence software. Lastly, I will give a brief synopsis on three vendors (IBM, Microsoft Microsoft and Oracle) that are dominating the business information software industry today.

Pasmore suggested that for a business to have the right leaders, it must first of all identify its key drivers. I will give an example with an organization I have worked for. WanEll Enterprise is a Service Delivery organization and to identify the kind of leaders that should be at the helm of affairs of the business, the key business drivers of success were identified as; Sales & Marketing, Customer Experience/Service, Customer Retention and Talent Management & Retention. These key drivers determined the areas where the best leaders were to be developed and what number of leaders, skill set, competencies, collective capabilities they must possess with an understandi... ... middle of paper ... ...ne what will work for them firstly by identifying the mission and vision, then the results the business intends to achieve. Pasmore’s Model will go a long way in helping businesses achieve success through strategic leadership but more attention should now be put on retaining future leaders.

Which would be the direction the company wants to pursue in the future. The mission statement simply answers the question, “What is our business?” The vision statement answers the questions? “What do we want to become? The vision statement clearly provides a true definition of what the goals are of the organization. Providing a direction for the company will give the leadership team something to build on while providing an understanding of the company and where it should be from all levels and aspects of the business world.

Technology Implementation Technology can have a profound effect on a company. The manner in which it is introduced and the presentation to the employees can ultimately predict the success of the project. As the world evolves into a more technical society companies have to be willing to compete with the changes in order to survive. The changes have to be implemented and managed to effectively prepare the company’s workforce. Management has to know the trends and make the necessary technology changes to keep the company competitive.

It provides an inside to the present business scope and purpose of the firm that is "who we are, what we do, and why we are here". Thus it explains the firm's very reason for existing. It will generally define the scope of the firm, the ends to which it wants to achieve and the means of doing so (its competitive advantage), which usually encompasses three dimensions, its customers/offering, geographic locations and vertical integration, its concerns for employees and other stakeholders. These should be clearly defined so as to guide management and employees in day to day decision making. Thus as Porter states that any strategic statement must begin with a definition of the ends that this strategy is designed to achieve."

Using the discussion from the text, how would your team describe the difference between a goal in the strategy? Identify both the goal and the strategy for company that you are famil-iar with. In order to have a successful organization in today’s society, top managers must set goals and have strategies in place to compete in a competitive environment. Establishing goals and strategies makes a company unique within the market place in different industries. Goals and strategies give a sense of structure to organizations.