ABCDE Strategic Plan Model

For Reference SMK

Directorate Technical and Vocational Education

Director General of Secondary Education
Ministry of Education and Culture
Republic of Indonesia
September, 2014

ABCDE Model
The ABCDE Model* to be a very useful model for understanding the flow of
strategy from the beginning to the end of a cycle of strategic planning/execution
activities:
A Assessment of current situation. This element involves scanning the external
environment, competitive scanning, assessing the current situation; and
clarifying perceptions of problems, needs, and opportunities.
B Baseline the gap. This element involves identifying performance gaps, and
evaluating trends.
C Components of strategy. Include common concepts like core competencies,
values, mission, vision, metrics, goals and objectives, portfolios, and processes.
D Delivery of component. This is the delivery of the strategic initiative, as well as
other programs, projects, and operational work. Executives will formulate
action plans; benefits capture plans, targets, standards, and metrics.
E Evaluation of progress. This includes review of progress, reporting, tweaking of
goals, corrective actions, and learning.

Environment
1. Political Environment Strategic initiatives are often international in scope, and they
can be affected by local politics. Director of Strategic Initiatives has an important
responsibility to interacting with local politicians as the company makes capital
improvement investments in new rail terminals
2. Economic Environment Here we would look at macroeconomic factors such as GDP,
inflation, and industry growth rates.
3. Social Environment There are differences in generations that have far-ranging affects
upon the organization and its strategy. This contextual factor might affect HR strategic
initiatives or marketing strategic initiatives.
4. Technical Environment The technical environment gives us constraints, as well as
new tools and capabilities. Many companies have launched initiatives involving social
networking and mobile computing.
5. Legal Environment The legal environment is closely associated with the political
environment when we are considering the impact of new regulations or mergers and
acquisitions.
6. Earth Climate, earthquakes, are just a few of the concerns that can affect an
organizations strategy, hence its strategic initiatives.

4 important questions in the organizations :

1. Where is the organization at? you have to know the
background of the strategic initiative.
2. Where does it want to be? The vision statement is a
crucial tool that needs to be understood and agreed by
others.
3. How will the strategic initiative team close the
performance gap? We will close the performance gap by
applying resources and provide program leadership.
4. How will the strategic initiative team measure and report
its benefits? We will identify the vital metrics of most
importance to strategic stakeholders and communicate
them per our program governance strategy.

Operations people are important stakeholders

for several reasons.
First, they are performers of the key activities of the
current business model, and will also perform
activities if the organization migrates to a new
business model.
Second, they are providers and controllers of
resources that are used in the strategic initiative.
Third, when operations people change their
behaviors to adopt strategy, they create benefits.

A Polarity Map illustrates Organizational Tensions and Polarization.

A template for a polarity map is shown in the following graphic.

The strategic-operational tension is shown on the left and right.

Note the symbols in the corners. The + sign is a place for capturing the advantages of
that pole, and the - sign is for the disadvantages. Thus,
The upper left is advantages of strategic focus;
the lower left is disadvantages of strategic focus.
The upper right is advantages of operational focus;
the lower right is disadvantages of operational focus.

The organizational goal is to stay in the upper half of the polarity map. Recognize that there
will be tension between the two poles. Sometimes there will be more emphasis on operations
and sometimes more on strategy.
Be prepared to cycle back and forth.
Recognize, too, that the downsides are natural and unavoidable.
When the downsides of the polarity become noticeable, it is time to shift energy to the
opposite pole.
When you start to see the dysfunctions of the operational focus (too many projects and
conflicting priorities), it is time to invest more energy in discussions about strategic alignment.
The key, of course, is balance.
Strategy is not the solution to the problem of operations, and operations is not the solution to
the problem of strategy. Remember, there are few problems to solve. Rather, there are
tensions to manage.

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is a systematic process
through which an organization agrees on
and builds commitment among key
stakeholders to priorities which are essential
to its mission and responsive to the operating
environment

Strategic Management
The process of identifying and
pursuing the organizations mission
by aligning the organizations
internal capabilities with the
external demands of its
environment

Modern Environments are

1.
2.
3.
4.

Bigger than they used to be

More diverse then they used to be
Changing more quickly than they did in the past
More powerful and threatening than they used
to be
5. More competitive than used to be
6. More resource-limited than they used to be

Long-Range Planning

Strategic Planning

View future as predictable

View future as unpredictable

View planning as a periodic process

View planning as a continuous process.

Assume current trends will continue

Expects new trends, changes, and

surprise

Assumes a most likely future and

emphasizes working backward to map
out a year-by-year sequence of events
necessary to achieve it

Considers a range of possible futures

and emphasizes the development of
strategies based on a current
assessment of the organizations
environment.

Asks What business are we in?

Asks What business should we be in?

Are we doing the right thing?

What is Strategic Planning?

1. Process to establish priorities on what you will
accomplish in the future
2. Forces you to make choices on what you will
do and what you will not do
3. Pulls the entire organization together around a
single game plan for execution
4. Broad outline on where resources will get
allocated

Why do Strategic Planning?

1. Be proactive about the future
2. Strategic planning improves performance
3. Counter excessive inward and short-term
thinking
4. Solve major issues at a macro level
5. Communicate to everyone what is most
important

A Good Strategic Plan should . . .

1. Address critical performance issues
2. Create the right balance between Capability of the
organization to do vs what the organization would like to
do
3. Cover a sufficient time period to close the performance
gap
4. Visionary convey a desired future end state
5. Flexible allow and accommodate change
6. Guide decision making at lower levels operational,
tactical, individual

Strategic Planning Process

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Articulating Mission and Vision

Assessing the Environment
Agree on Priorities
Writing the Strategic Plan
Implementing Strategic Plan
Monitoring and Evaluating

Fundamental Questions to Ask

1. Where are we now? (Assessment)
2. Where do we need to be? (Gap / Future End
State)
3. How will we close the gap (Strategic Plan)
4. How will we monitor our progress (BalancedScorecard)

Strategic Planning Model

ABCDE
Where we are

Assessment

Where we want to be

Baseline

Components

How we will do it

Down to

How are we doing

Evaluate

Specifics

Environmental
Scan

Situation Past,
Present and Future

Mission & Vision

Performance
Measurement

Performance
Management

Background
Information

Significant Issues

Values / Guiding
Principles

Targets / Standards
of Performance

Review Progress
Balanced Scorecard

Situational
Analysis

Align / Fit with

Capabilities

Major Goals

Initiatives and
Projects

Gaps

Specific
Objectives

Action Plans

Take Corrective
Actions
Feedback
upstream revise
plans

SWOT
Strengths,
Weaknesses,
Opportunities,
Threats

Assessment Model:
SWOT
Internal Assessment: Organizational
assets, resources, people, culture,
systems, partnerships, suppliers, . . .

External Assessment: Marketplace,

competitors, social trends, technology,
regulatory environment, economic cycles .

SWOT

SWOT

Good Points

Possible Pitfalls

Easy to Understand
Apply at any
organizational level

Needs to be
Analytical and
Specific
Be honest about your
weaknesses

Assessment

Gap Analysis
Baseline / Org Profile

Baseline

Challenges / SWOT

Gap = Basis for LongTerm Strategic Plan

Major Components of the C

Strategic Plan / Down to Action

omponents

Strategic Plan

Mission
Vision

What we must achieve to be successful

Objectives

Measures
Targets

AI1

M1 M2
T1

T1

Evaluate Progress

What we want to be

Goals

Initiatives

Action Plans

Why we exist

O1
AI2
M3
T1

O2
AI3

Specific outcomes expressed in

measurable terms (NOT activities)
Planned Actions to
Achieve Objectives
Indicators and
Monitors of success
Desired level of
performance and timelines

Down to
Specifics

What are Action Plans?

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Down to
Specifics

The Action Plan identifies the specific steps that will be taken to achieve the
initiatives and strategic objectives where the rubber meets the road
Each Initiative has a supporting Action Plan(s) attached to it
Action Plans are geared toward operations, procedures, and processes
They describe who does what, when it will be completed, and how the
organization knows when steps are completed
Like Initiatives, Action Plans require the monitoring of progress on
Objectives, for which measures are needed
Objectives
Initiatives
Action Plans

Evaluate

A Balanced Scorecard Sets Expectations, Removes Emotion,

Establishes a Baseline to Measure Progress

Strategic Alignment

Internal Business
Processes

Learning and
Growth

Financial

Customer

Measurement

Cause and Effect

Managed Achievement

Alignment through Measurement

28

Key Result (Performance) Areas

These are priority areas within an organizations
mandate, consistent with the Mission
Statement, the successful performance of
which will largely determine the overall
success of the organization.

Customers
IS&T contribution to initiatives of
corporate strategic importance
Overall ability to deliver
technical/business solutions and
services
Extent to which supports
government initiatives

Learning and Growth

Finance
IT Cost per user
IT Spending by portfolio category
Performance to spending targets
IS&T staff engagement score
IS&T capabilities vs. benchmarks
Price competitiveness of IT
services vs. external benchmark

Balanced Scorecard
Dimensions

Process
System downtime
Help desk first-call resolution rate
Tickets per registered user per month
Number of failure incidents with
business impact per quarter
Security audit results

Willingness to engage IS&T in

developing major projects
% of projects delivered to
agreed scope, time and budget
Business owner satisfaction
score
End-user satisfaction score

Key Result Indicators

Quantifiable criteria for measuring success in
achieving management goals and objectives,
overall and by Key Result Area :
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant, and
Time Based