(2021SP1-MGMT-7080-01) Strategic Business Applications

Assignment 4: Strategic Audit and Balanced score card following Budget

Please remember to consider from your implementation document: the imperatives of the corporate strategy, business-level strategy and ALL functional strategies. If you recommend specific strategic changes, for example: M&A, joint venture, foreign expansion, you need to plan for those from the perspective of the common challenges of those (please research accordingly) respectively: integration, conflict of interest, entry modes. Strategic actions just need to lead to goals achievement specified in the BS (reflecting the company strategic problems resolution).

The budget is a separate table, but it corresponds with costs and revenues streams time wise, as actions usually require cost but effects usually improve the performance (all are to be included in the Income Statement). Please work on the objectives of each stage for the timeline and for the budget. Start from the historical statements and see what extra costs you suggest and what extra revenues it will bring. Please use the Understanding Financial Statements Note to follow the goals in terms of financial ratios. You have to use estimates (preferably supported and substantiated) for your budget (rational, realistic).

Next Create the audit piece for this assignment based on the previous sections of the plan. This fourth graded assignment includes:

Integrate  budget with the costs associated with your implementation plan and expected outcomes. To do this, you will  need to develop the financial statements.  

A plan to audit the full plan (how you will measure progress and adjust accordingly).

As per the outline of your strategic plan - part IV of the capstone project is as follows:

IV –Evaluation and Control:

With additional tools such as: Kaplan’s Scorecard with measurable goals (As you can see all parts and tools of the scan are interdependent and intertwined. Recommended strategy and ALL parts of the scan have to ‘click’ together as coherent, comprehensive, feasible and therefore, convincing business idea. See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZtNk__7Qyg

The Balanced Scorecard model is so convenient for defining both control measures and performance objectives as all dimensions are addressed in the package of steering controls/metrics to look up to. Please look for combination of various types of controls. It is challenging but crucial to define them in a transparent, coherent, clear and objective fashion to satisfy stakeholders and to motivate the actions. See chapter 5 in Rothaermel

For the strategic audit, there is a handy SMART model used to define acceptable goals -mix. (lease list in detail) - this is a critical part of the audit as it shows measurable goals for each strategy.

As part of the strategic audit is is important to think about any ethical implications of your plan (when assessing the ethical implications please reflect on the the way that you are framing your ethical values as well).

For plan to be viable it must contain contingency plans that you might consider should you not meet your strategic objectives. Be sure to identify contingency plans as part of this assignment as well. to do this consider the Identification of bottlenecks and red flags (challenges) and then the Contingency planning

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-insights-ideas/resources/smart-goals-business-needs

a possible template

https://templates.office.com/en-us/s-m-a-r-t-goals-tm16401938

A table that I like:

grading rubric for assignment 4