Leadership and ManagementFundamentals of Strategic Management
Managers are asked to contribute to strategy and to implement it, usually without ever being taught what a strategy is, which is why so many plans are a list of everything the organisation intends to keep doing. This course provides the grounding. Delegates work through what distinguishes a strategy from a plan or an aspiration, external analysis of industry, competition and the forces that set profitability, and internal analysis of capability and what an organisation is genuinely good at. Competitive positioning and the choice to be different rather than better follow. Objectives, initiatives and the cascade into a function are covered. Implementation and the reasons strategies fail are addressed. Monitoring, review and adjusting course are covered. The course closes on contributing usefully to strategy from inside a function.
Course objectives
- Distinguish a strategy from a plan or an aspiration
- Analyse industry, competition and the forces setting profitability
- Assess internal capability honestly
- Position by being different rather than incrementally better
- Translate strategy into objectives and initiatives for a function
- Recognise the common reasons implementation fails
- Monitor, review and adjust course without abandoning direction
Who should attend
- Middle managers contributing to strategic planning
- Business analysts and planning officers
- Functional heads new to strategy work
- Entrepreneurs formalising business strategy for growth
Course outline
- 01A list of everything you intend to keep doing
- 02What makes something a strategy
- 03Industry and competitive analysis
- 04Forces that set profitability
- 05Internal capability analysis
- 06Positioning and being different
- 07Objectives, initiatives and cascade
- 08Implementation failure, monitoring and adjustment
Scheduled sessions
| Dates | Venue | Format | Price | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 to 13 January 2027 | Harare, Zimbabwe | Classroom | USD 995 per delegate | Register Now |
| 8 to 10 March 2027 | Online | Online | R6,500 per delegate | Register Now |
| 22 to 24 March 2027 | Lusaka, Zambia | Classroom | USD 995 per delegate | Register Now |