Addressing Critical Business Issues Through Strategic Planning ...

In the past we?ve talked about addressing risks, assumptions and impediments during strategic planning, but what about current critical business issues? Should those be solved outside the process of strategic planning or be brought into the strategic loop of business forethought?

Strategic Planning Is Also About the Present, Not Just the Future

Strategic planning is not just about an organization?s future. Current critical business issues can also be strategic in terms of their immediate and long-term impacts and must be solved in harmony with the organization?s strategy. H.L. Mencken said that ?for every complex problem there is a simple solution? and it is always wrong.? Critical business issues are usually tangled up with lots of business process, organizational structure and threads of the enterprise?s strategy. The simple solution of assigning a task force, key executive, or consultant (or taking other ostensibly obvious steps) in times of urgency may not be the best approach to serving an organization?s mission. Such isolated approaches to problem resolution can disconnect the solution from the integrated actions already underway or in development as part of the corporate strategic planning process.

The present and the future tension existing between the tactical and the strategic should not be cause for concern. We have referred before to this ?yin and yang? duality that always exists when strategic planning is done well. Both must be represented within the strategic plan in order for the programs comprised in the strategy to be both forward-thinking and remain realistic in addressing the immediate needs of the business (see #8 in our list of Eight Critical Success Factors For Improving Strategy Execution for more on this topic).

This tension represents a dichotomy between solving immediate critical business problems, addressing basic organizational issues and other tactical short-term work to be accomplished in a balanced plan that also accommodates larger sweeping strategic initiatives. A good strategic planning process moves everyone out of their comfort zones, systematically challenges their own assumptions and leverages an un-biased prioritization approach to find the best strategy and sequencing of programs that support the organization?s mission (see Managing Assumptions, Risks and Impediments In Strategic Planning). It is a fact that certain elements of strategy are dependent on having organizational impediments, risks and critical business issues addressed in order to pave the road for faster progress later on in the process.

The reality is, strategic planning is also about the present, so identifying and addressing true critical business issues is the right course of action in most cases.

What Constitutes A Critical Business Issue?

A critical business issue can be thought of as ?A problem or opportunity that is critical to the overall success of the organization?.

A simple rule of thumb for categorizing a problem as a critical business issue is to determine if two or more of the following are true:

1. The problem is related to a core organizational function
2. The problem affects a significant number of people directly or indirectly
3. The problem is adversely affecting customers and/or key stakeholders, is promoting illegal activity or causing a break in regulatory compliance

When taking action on such a problem is tantamount to the overall success of the organization, it constitutes that the issue not only be considered for its criticality, but also its strategic implications. When critical business issues have strategic implications, they need to be addressed as part of organizational strategy and not in some disconnected loop that operates outside of the planning process and strategy governance structure (see more about The Office of Strategy Management).

Leverage Your SWOT Analysis To Identify Critical Issues

Organizations should proactively be seeking to identify critical business issues as a part of their planning process. Since most companies already utilize some form of SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis, that can be a starting point for targeting critical issues as a part of the planning cycle. SWOT, which has been in use since the 1960s, is a simple tool that can help companies address critical problems (perhaps addressing an area of weakness) by building on strengths and/or opportunities. Strengths are characteristics of the business that give it an advantage over others. In the SWOT context, weaknesses are characteristics that place the organization at a disadvantage relative to others. Opportunities are therefore elements or core competencies that the can be leveraged to the businesses advantage.

A critical business issue could also be identified as a current (actual) or potential (risk) gap between the company?s business performance and one of the following:

• A key competition?s performance
• Customer?s expectations
• Executive?s performance expectations

Likewise, an opportunity might exist to make significant improvements in a business area currently experiencing no performance problems ? but at risk of decline based on market intelligence. In some cases, the critical business issue can be very large-scale, requiring the implementation of a major change in the organization.

Policy and Process Example

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has overhauled its compliance procedures to address potential money-laundering schemes tied to international bank transfers.? The company added ex-FBI agents with the right expertise to help strengthen an area of weakness and has made significant process changes to address the critical business issue.

Market Trend Example

Dell, the personal-computer maker that lost almost a third of its value last year, is said to be in the process of a leveraged-buyout to take the company private. The critical business issue Dell faces is a rapidly declining PC market in recent years as consumers shun desktop and laptops in favor of tablets and smartphones. The strategy is to go private to allow the company time to overall its business and begin focusing primarily on B2B computer sales as well as IT services.

Recap

Strategic planning is not just about an organization?s future. It is also about what is causing the organization pain at this moment. By planning strategically and refreshing plans operationally in shorter cycles, strategic critical business issues can be addressed as a part of the overall strategy and not in disconnected ?special-projects? loops.

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Resources for Taking Action

Free Strategic Planning Article Compilations and PDFs:

1??????? Free access to the Strategic Planning Monthly: Archive

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Source: http://blog.vistage.com/business-strategy-and-management/addressing-critical-business-issues-through-strategic-planning/

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Spotify's Top 10 most viral tracks

FILE - This May 7, 2012 file photo shows singer-actor Justin Timberlake at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit in New York. Timberlake has concentrated almost exclusively on his acting career over the last few years. But on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, he posted a video on his that showed him walking into a studio, putting on headphones and saying: ?I'm ready.? He hasn't made an album since 2006's Grammy-winning ?FutureSex/LoveSounds.? (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

FILE - This May 7, 2012 file photo shows singer-actor Justin Timberlake at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit in New York. Timberlake has concentrated almost exclusively on his acting career over the last few years. But on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, he posted a video on his that showed him walking into a studio, putting on headphones and saying: ?I'm ready.? He hasn't made an album since 2006's Grammy-winning ?FutureSex/LoveSounds.? (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

The following list represents the most viral tracks on Spotify, based on the number of people who shared it divided by the number who listened to it, from Monday, Jan. 14, to Sunday, Jan. 20, via Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and Spotify.

UNITED STATES

1. Justin Timberlake, "Suit & Tie," featuring Jay-Z (RCA Records)

2. The Neighbourhood, "Sweater Weather" (The (r)evolve Group)

3. A$AP Rocky, "Wild For The Night" (A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records)

4. Darius Rucker, "Wagon Wheel" (Capitol Nashville)

5. Robert DeLong, "Global Concepts" (Glassnote)

6. Black Veil Brides, "In The End" (Universal Republic Records)

7. Hardwell, "Apollo (Radio Edit)" (Revealed Recordings)

8. Datsik & Excision, "Vindicate" (Firepower Records)

9. Blake Shelton, "Sure Be Cool If You Did" (Warner Bros.)

10. Archive, "Bullets" (Hangman Records)

UNITED KINGDOM

1. Bring Me The Horizon, "Shadow Moses" (RCA Records)

2. The Family Rain, "Trust Me ... I'm a Genius" (bigger SPLASH Records)

3. Justin Timberlake, "Suit & Tie," featuring Jay-Z (RCA Records)

4. Peace, "Wraith" (Columbia)

5. Burial, "Truant" (Hyperdub)

6. Matthew E. White, "Big Love" (Domino Recording Co.)

7. One Pound Fish Man, "One Pound Fish (Radio Mix)" (Warner Bros.)

8. Everything Everything, "Kemosabe" (RCA Records)

9. Clean Bandit, "A+E" (Atlantic Records UK)

10. A$AP Rocky, "Wild For The Night" (A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records)

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-01-24-Spotify-Most%20Viral%20Tracks/id-adbc0af13d8341d1b2a607e5ebdbe9da

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Honduras in crisis after plunging over fiscal cliff

Jorge Cabrera / Reuters

A woman shows a placard to riot police during a protest outside the National Congress in Tegucigalpa on Thursday. Thousands of teachers and activists of the National Front of Popular Resistance marched.

By Alberto Arce, The Associated Press

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras ? Street surveillance cameras in one of the world's most dangerous cities were turned off last week because Honduras' government hasn't paid millions of dollars it owes. The operator that runs them is now threatening to suspend police radio service as well.

Teachers have been demonstrating almost every day because they haven't been paid in six months, while doctors complain about the shortage of essential medicines, gauze, needles and latex gloves.

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This Central American country has been on the brink of bankruptcy for months, as lawmakers put off passing a budget necessary to pay for basic government services. Honduras is also grappling with $5 billion in foreign debt, a figure equivalent to last year's entire government budget.

"There are definitely patients who haven't been able to get better because of this problem," said Dr. Lilian Discua, a pediatrician. "An epileptic who doesn't take his medicine will have a crisis. This is happening."

The financial problems add to a general sense that Honduras is a country in meltdown, as homicides soar, drug trafficking overruns cities and coasts and the nation's highest court has been embattled in a constitutional fight with the Congress.

Many streets are riddled with potholes, and cities aren't replacing stolen manhole covers. Soldiers aren't receiving their regular salaries, while the education secretary says 96 percent of schools close several days every week or month because of teacher strikes.

Some government offices must close because they don't have ink to take fingerprints. The country's national registration agency has been shuttered for 10 days because of unpaid salaries.

"In many ways, the state is no longer functioning," said Robert Naiman, policy director of Just Foreign Policy, a Washington D.C.-based organization aimed at reforming U.S. foreign policy. "If they keep not paying their soldiers, those soldiers are probably going to stop being soldiers and maybe take some other action."

Experts say a mix of government corruption, election-year politics and a struggling economy has fueled the crisis.

Jorge Cabrera / Reuters

Demonstrators march toward the National Congress in Tegucigalpa on Thursday. Among them are teachers who say they haven't been paid in six months.

Although Congress goes on recess Friday, lawmakers have only partially passed a budget to pay some of state employees and contractors. That leaves undecided the budgets of autonomous institutions such as utilities and the port authority.

The institutional paralysis has also spread to the justice system. The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court has not met for a month and a half because President Porfirio Lobo accused the magistrates of being part of a conspiracy to overthrow him.?

The government and the ruling bloc have at least one idea to solve the fiscal crunch: They've introduced a bill that would create the country's first sales tax while eliminating tax breaks for companies that import goods.

The bill's supporters predict it will generate an additional $1.2 billion in revenue, which would double the government's yearly tax intake.

Some families have survived the government vacuum with remittances sent by some of the 1 million Hondurans living in the United States. Their money equals 19 percent of the country's gross domestic product, according to the World Bank.

Yet it isn't enough for government workers such as teacher Daniel Espunda, who have lost paychecks to the political crisis.

"Now they owe me five months of salary. January will be the sixth I haven't been paid," Espunda said. "No one says anything about when the payday will come."

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16692051-honduras-no-longer-functioning-after-plunging-over-fiscal-cliff?lite

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S&P rises for seventh day but 1,500 too steep a climb

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The smallest of gains gave the Standard & Poor's 500 its seventh straight winning day on Thursday, but the index failed to hold above the 1,500 line, restrained by Apple's worst day in more than four years.

Apple Inc slid 12.4 percent to $450.50 a day after it posted revenue that missed Wall Street's forecast as iPhone sales were poorer than expected.

The sharp drop wiped out nearly $60 billion in Apple's market capitalization to less than $423 billion, leaving the company vulnerable to losing its status as the most valuable U.S. company to second-place ExxonMobil , at $416.5 billion.

The S&P 500, however, managed to hit its longest winning streak since October 2006.

"The market has sent the message it is no longer driven by the whims of Apple," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O'Neil Securities in New York.

The S&P 500 briefly traded above 1,500 for the first time since December 12, 2007, but failed to hold above it, indicating that momentum is waning and a pullback is in the charts.

"If the market had a little bit more excitement to it, momentum players would have jumped after it broke through 1,500. Investors know the market is a little bit ahead of itself," Polcari said.

Economic data helped buoy equities as U.S. factory activity grew the most in nearly two years in January and new claims for jobless benefits dropped to a five-year low last week, giving surprisingly strong signals on the economy's pulse.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturing grew this month at the fastest pace in about two years, while data suggesting German growth picked up boosted hopes for a euro-zone recovery.

"PMI in Asia, Europe, and obviously, here in the United States, is moving in the right direction, and that's stuff people should be excited about," Polcari said.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 46 points or 0.33 percent, to 13,825.33 at the close. The S&P 500 <.spx> inched up just 0.01 of a point, or 0 percent, to finish at 1,494.82. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 23.29 points or 0.74 percent, to end at 3,130.38, with most of that loss on Apple's slide.

The broader Russell 2000 index <.rut> also hit a milestone as it closed above 900 points for the first time.

Video streaming service Netflix Inc surprised Wall Street with a quarterly profit after it added nearly 4 million customers in the United States and abroad. Netflix shares surged 42.2 percent to $146.86, its biggest percentage jump ever.

Earnings have helped drive the stock market's recent rally. Thomson Reuters data through early Thursday showed that of the 133 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 66.9 percent have exceeded expectations - above the 65 percent average over the past four quarters.

About 6.8 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average during January 2012 of about 6.93 billion shares.

Roughly five issues rose for every four that fell on both the NYSE and Nasdaq.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/p-rises-seventh-day-1-500-too-steep-231608408--finance.html

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Analysis: Obama climate push to benefit energy efficiency firms

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's promise to attack climate change is likely to light a fire under federal agencies slow to comply with a mandate to cut energy use - which could be very good news for companies that specialize in systems that save power.

Waiting in the wings are the likes of Honeywell International Inc, Johnson Controls Inc and Ameresco Inc that are ready to carry out heating and cooling system upgrades, lighting retrofits and similar projects in some of the government's 500,000 buildings.

Efficiency projects, according to many, are a key way the government can reduce its own energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions without seeking additional funds from Congress.

Many of these projects are implemented under so-called energy savings performance contracts in which a company develops, installs and arranges financing for improvements to boost energy efficiency and lower costs. The energy service company guarantees the project's energy savings and services are repaid through those savings.

In late 2009, Obama mandated that federal agencies make significant reductions in energy consumption. The aim was for the government to "lead by example" by upgrading many of its facilities. Two years later, the administration tried to jumpstart that work by setting a goal for federal agencies to enter into at least $2 billion of energy efficiency projects within two years.

"There is a lot more potential in the program than what's been done today," said Adam Procell, executive vice president at Lime Energy Co, which works with larger companies such as Johnson Controls to design and install energy efficiency projects for federal customers.

With Obama renewing his commitment to combat climate change in his second inaugural address this week, some expect to see more pressure on agencies to get going on those projects.

"If President Obama was to let all of his administrators know that this was an important priority of his, you could see reacceleration of this market in a relatively short period of time," said Wedbush Securities analyst Craig Irwin, who follows energy efficiency companies.

$2 BILLION GOAL

With less than a year left to reach the $2 billion goal, major efficiency companies have been working to develop project proposals and expect a string of contracts to be awarded this year.

"In the last six months, federal government activity has heated up," Paul Orzeske, president of Honeywell Building Solutions, said in an interview. "That's going to step up as the year goes on."

In October, Honeywell won an $80.6 million project to improve energy efficiency at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, the largest such project ever awarded by the federal government, according to Orzeske. Most such projects are in the $10 million to $15 million range, he added.

The upgrades are expected to save more than $170 million over 20 years, guaranteed by Honeywell through the contract.

Other energy service companies poised to benefit from federal project awards include Ameresco and United Technologies Corp's Noresco unit, both of which have been active in the federal market in recent years. Other companies that have done federal projects in the past include Clark Energy Group LLC, Siemens AG and Schneider Electric SA.

The U.S. market for energy efficiency and services topped $5.1 billion in 2011, according to Pike Research, and is expected to reach $16 billion in sales by 2020. The market is dominated by municipal, university, school and hospital projects, but demand from federal agencies has increased because of the Obama administration's mandate and economic stimulus programs, the report said.

Johnson Controls Building Efficiency's vice president of government relations, Mark Wagner, said the government has not yet addressed what will happen once it meets its $2 billion goal, but he was encouraged by Obama's renewed pledge to address climate change.

"The budget is going to be tight in the federal government for the foreseeable future," Wagner said. "If government agencies want to make their facilities more efficient, performance contracting is the way to address their needs and to address climate change."

Johnson Controls won a $16 million contract in late 2011 to put in a solar energy installation and make other efficiency improvements at Fort Bliss, the nation's largest military installation.

Smaller companies that supply equipment or software to the project developers could also see a boost from federal projects, according to Aditya Ranade, who leads the sustainable building materials team at technology research firm Lux Research.

Specifically, Ranade called out LED and lighting systems companies Acuity Brands Inc and Digital Lumens and Optimum Energy LLC, which uses software and cloud computing to optimize heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, as companies that could see a boost in orders from federal contracts.

Acuity Brands' stock is already up 2.4 percent since Obama's speech on Monday and Ameresco's shares have gained about 3 percent.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom.; Additional reporting by Tej Sapru in Bangalore; Editing by Patricia Kranz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-obama-climate-push-benefit-energy-efficiency-firms-213407628--sector.html

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Apple steps up labor audits, finds underage workers

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc stepped up audits of working conditions at major suppliers last year, discovering multiple cases of underage workers, discrimination and wage problems.

The iPhone and iPad maker, which relies heavily on Asian-based partners like Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group to assemble the vast majority of its iPhones and iPads, said on Thursday it conducted 393 audits, up 72 percent from 2011, reviewing sites where over 1.5 million workers make its gadgets.

Apple in recent years has faced accusations of building its profits on the backs of poorly treated and severely underpaid workers in China.

That criticism came to the fore around 2010, after reports of suicides at Foxconn drew attention to the long hours that migrant laborers frequently endure, often for a pittance in wages and in severely cramped living conditions.

Foxconn is the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry and employs 1.2 million workers across China.

Under Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, Apple has taken new steps to improve its record and boost transparency, including the extensive audits of its sprawling supply chain. Last year, it agreed to separate audits by the independent Fair Labor Association.

In an interview on Thursday, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams said the company has increased its efforts to solve two of the most challenging issues - ensuring there are no under aged workers in its supply chain and limiting working hours to 60 hours a week.

While child labor reflected a small percentage of the workforce, Apple is now investigating its smaller suppliers - which typically supply parts to larger suppliers and hence face less oversight on such issues - to bring them into compliance, sometimes even firing them.

"We go deep in the supply chain to find it," Williams said. "And when we do find it, we ensure that the underage workers are taken care of, the suppliers are dealt with."

In one case, Apple terminated its relationship with a component maker after discovering 74 cases of underage workers. Apple also discovered an employment agency that was forging documents to allow children to illegally work at the supplier.

Apple reported both the supplier and the employment agency to local authorities, the company said in its latest annual report on the conditions in its supply chain.

Apple has audited both small and ancillary suppliers, as well as large ones such as Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, for working conditions. It found 95 percent of sites audited complied with avoiding underage labor.

Child labor is an issue that is part of the larger supply industry as the component maker that Apple found violated child labor laws supplied parts to more than a hundred different companies, including automotive companies, Williams said, vowing to eradicate under aged labor from the industry.

"I don't know how long it will take to get there but that's our goal," said Williams, who has spent a significant amount of his 14 years at Apple in Asia managing the supply chain.

FOCUS ON STUDENT INTERNS

For 2013, Williams said a key focus for Apple will be student interns and ensuring that suppliers do not abuse the internship system, especially in China where many colleges require students to complete internships as part of their curriculum.

Some companies in China are solving labor shortages by employing students. Last September, city officials of the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Yantai ordered vocational high schools to send students to a large plant run by Foxconn - a key contract manufacture for Apple and other large electronics companies like Hewlett Packard - to overcome a shortage of workers.

Another focus areas has been "bonded labor", where agencies who help immigrant workers find jobs take a substantial portion of the worker's pay.

Apple said in the report that it asked suppliers to reimburse $6.4 million in excess foreign contract worker fees in 2012, according to the report.

The company said it achieved 92 percent compliance with a maximum 60-hour work week in its supply chain. Where violations were discovered, Apple took action, it said in its report.

Apple also found and stopped discriminatory practices against women workers in 34 supplier facilities that required pregnancy testing and 25 facilities that tested employees for certain medical conditions, the report said.

(Reporting By Poornima Gupta and Noel Randewich; Editing by Richard Pullin)

(This story was corrected in paragraph 2 to clarify that Foxconn group is a Taiwan-based firm, not China)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apple-steps-labor-audits-finds-underage-workers-063934909--finance.html

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Adam Lambert Drinks Green Refreshment (PHOTOS)

www.justjared.com:

Adam Lambert shows off his pearly whites as he leaves M Cafe on Tuesday (January 22) in Los Angeles.

Read the whole story at www.justjared.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/adam-lambert-drinks-green_n_2536364.html

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