Corporate Strategy as a Career Survey

SURVEY REMINDER

No personal data that can trace to you the individual or to your business is being collected! Guided by Tri-Council Research Ethics Guide 2018.

Hello,

Are you a Corporate Strategy professional who love what you do and would like to share about your profession with others?

Are you a consultant or practitioner who would love to have information on hand for helping recruiters and buyers of your solution to better understand what you do and how it can help their organizations?

Would you love to provide answers for next generation, new graduates, students trying to choose college courses, or those  thinking of corporate strategy as a career?

That includes those who have never heard of the field but who has what it takes and would enjoy that career choice.

If you’ve answered yes to one or more of the questions above then thank you for helping me, to help you put your hands on all you desired or would love to commit to above.

Help me with the survey-interview entitled Corporate Strategy as a Career Survey.

The survey is being conducted primarily for academic purposes; however, the findings will be compiled into a booklet for filling the information gap related to roles under that career umbrella.

The survey is being conducted by Meegan Scott of Magate Wildhorse Ltd.

It should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Survey Link:

https://forms.gle/K7LpxyZC1hjb6zTB8

Submission deadline:

Midnight: Friday October 18, 2019 | Extended to Sunday, October 27, 2019.

If you have ever wondered how your peers ended up in fields such as director corporate strategy, head of strategy and performance, corporate strategy planner, strategy analyst, manager corporate strategy and evaluation then this survey is for you.

I thank you in advance for your assistance with this research.

Thank you also for sharing with other strategy practitioners in your network.

Best,

Meegan Scott

 

 

Tie Strategy to Execution – Balanced Scorecard Help

Balanced Scorecard, corporate strategy planning, strategic planning, performance management, performance reporting, results based management Magate Wildhorse Solution

Need help with strategy planning or performance reporting?

Excited about the Balanced Scorecard approach?

Ever thought about twinning Logical Framework Approach (LFA) and the Balanced Scorecard for that perfect solution, that meets your government or donor planning need, while satisfying your results-based performance and capacity management and measurement need?

Then you’ve come to the right place!

We come with expertise in government corporate strategy planning; planning for the private, NGO, as well as the international development sectors.  We will integrate the Balanced Scorecard approach with your choice of approaches for example― LFA, Civicus, Haines System Thinking, our 8-9 step planning approach, or other to deliver a results-based performance management solution that drives execution and strategy success.

But if you just want Balanced Scorecard across the board― from planning through to performance monitoring, measurement, and reporting we’ll be glad to help you develop the plan, or performance solution that is right for your organization.

Ask about our organizational assessment solution. Our assessment is comprehensive and designed to bring information to the planning process that powers up informed strategy development.

It drives commitment and learning through stakeholder engagement, research, and the management response process, not to mention the support it gives to resource mobilization.

Our solution is backed by MBA level training in Strategy, specialist training and experience in corporate strategy planning for government, international development programmes, balanced scorecard, result-based approaches, participatory planning, facilitation skills, research, organizational assessment, programme evaluation, programme design, project management, marketing, communication, LFA, planning for market systems development programmes, insurance, finance, accounts, and trade.

We can bring a team of experts or a single consultant to your solution.

One-on-one help and strategic executive coaching for new strategy planners, managers, and seasoned executives available.

At Magate Wildhorse Ltd value for money, comes at a price you can afford!

Made possible by our business model that was designed with you in mind.

Email: magatewildhorse@gmail.com | Message us via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

Let’s get the conversation going! Contact us today!

Available internationally!

A Day in The Life of an International Development Consultant

Churning Out a Complex Development Solution                                                          from an Off the Beaten Path Business Model

thinking 2 robot-507811_1920

 

Today is Day 2 designing a complex social solution.

It is 3:45 am and I’ve just torn myself away from the bathroom mirror.   It is the end of another quick check in on the cute things about my face; and that intense― get-ready-to- work hunt for invisible whiteheads.

You won’t find me reading the news, and checking Emails this morning.

Questions, outcomes, statistics, theories of change, assumptions, metrics, strategies, tactics, and partnerships for ensuring the intervention delivers the intended and desired change are running around in my head.

There goes the reason the bed cannot hold, even after a short visit.

Costing the solution, identifying traditional and creative funding sources are dragging, spinning, loading, rumbling, and pausing in my head like the computer left running last night and the night before.  A kind of abuse that happens to the computer once in a blue moon; but just another super bootcamp for my brain.

I’d set the clock for two, but can’t remember hearing it alarm.  Strange! I checked the alarm button― ahem, someone had turned if off.  And that someone is me!

None of my associates are engaged on this project, it is just my partnering-client and I.  Our last WhatsApp meeting ended after 11:00 last night.  Earlier that day we had a      2-hour marathon interrogating the results chain, and theory of change for the program that will be supported by eight complex projects. That session broke the new idea dam, leaving a rush of idea flow to follow me to bed.  The play for connecting all the dots, spotting the risks, and opportunities are flowing in both our heads. He can now see― how his idea could work.  It has exploded from three themes to eight, each with a supporting project, a multi-sector approach, desired partners, real-time change & benefits, gender lens, wealth generation, and environmental interventions―Whoa!

That is the beauty, reward, and tax for planning such interventions with the end in mind; with the intended beneficiaries at the center; with what success looks like and how it will be measured.  Day 2 is― Day 3 in reality. A group of us had done a virtual brainstorm and backcasting at the second genesis of it all.

It seems never-ending, planning-in opportunities for learning, curating lessons learnt, and plugging them back into strategy and execution for driving success and innovation. Finding creative ways to ensure rights, duties, and responsibilities can be upheld and are affordable in terms of cost related to behavior change and actions.

woman-2994536_research thinkIt’s clear―planning like this makes no bones about disrupting regular sleep and office time. Passion, and deep connections serve to wake you up, and keep you chained to the computer, library, or phone; and web meetings occur long past regular work hours. Research into similar interventions, stakeholder needs, national plans and strategy documents, newspaper articles, dialogue, questions, calls for additional organizational information, re-reading and checking for risks, ambitions, and opportunities― feels endless.

But I’ll complete the results chain by 5:45 am.  Well that’s what I thought!  I am still integrating the financial viability component, I developed after a meeting of minds with my fellow consultant in the Fintech Sector.  This is when the imagination can get wild dreaming up the glimmer and glam of gamified interventions plus real self-sufficiency, financing, stakeholders, and owners that can be brought to the intervention.

My mind pulls up a scene from FAME ( the American TV Show I love), Solid Gold, a Jamaican Festival Performance, an NDTC Production, then a Chorale by The University Singers (UWI, Mona), the Jamaican Folk Singers, and of course a Production at the Julliard School (New York) ―I can see the hook and entertainment unfold in the solution for a complex social problem.  It is now six thirty-seven, and I am still on the results chain. I am also watching the clock; I need to pounce on an opportunity in Stuttgart (6 hours ahead of Toronto).

This is gung-ho backed by strategic thinking and intimate knowledge of the problem. Ever heard of gung-ho backed by strategic thinking? Like multi-tasking we are on top of this one. Trick is― you have to know when and what you can take on together, in both cases.

Energy is high and I could grow the intervention even bigger, but I know that beast must be contained― before complex kills both productivity and the goose that will lay the golden eggs.

Big vision, big dream, big picture, BIG is how we think.  But there goes that voice with the cold splash of wisdom, whispering― SMART, doable, less pain Meegan!  “Too complex―what do you mean?” “It is very doable”.  Ah, no problem, as my client-partner and I go through the crucial questions, reflect, share feedback, and negotiate the programme scope I’ll be reined in somewhat―yes, only somewhat.  That is the trouble with partnering this way, versus a regular client-service provider partnership.

Goodness gracious me, it is minutes to eight, “Looks like exercise isn’t going to happen today”.  I have a sales pipeline to check in on, publication coordination to act on, other solutions to deliver. I make a somewhat shaky resolve to exercise if it is even midnight tonight―we’ll see. Results chain finally done, hurray.  But I’m getting a vibe to get deeper into the costing― “hold your horses, Mam, that is not on your agenda for today”.

It is almost 10:00 am. My eyes take their on-the-hour dart to the clock; first the one on the computer; then the one strategically positioned across the room from my desk. That is the one I trust, maybe because the numbers are bigger it seems to be more accurate in my mind―lol.  The excitement, and extra work on the brain leaves me peckish more often. I am very hungry at ten instead of at one or two in the afternoon.   I still have the executive summary for the project to write, so I am still chained to that deliverable.

Crunchy Chicken piece

Brain rebellion sets in―I want to do something fun, to eat my lunch, crunchy chicken at the top of mind and taste buds. Haven’t had that in a long time. The crave is the price I pay for not exercising, eating, or sleeping on time.  A cup of hot chocolate rescues me from the hauntings for a while.

I yield to hunger and a power nap at 11:00 am.   At 1:00 pm, I have a face-to-face work meeting.  Two hours later I settle down to check Emails, send a reminder about an overdue account, produce creatives for marketing, double check my sales pipeline, and things to do list― I want to make sure nothing important is being left behind.

6:00 pm: half-an-hour executive to executive give back.

7:00 pm:  supper and family chit chat.

8:00 pm:  quick meeting, followed by work on the proposal, and plan for tomorrow.

10:00 pm: Modified exercise, household chores, get ready for bed and tomorrow.

Some days, the flow is not orderly textbook style in this kind of operation, things can get productively messy, and healthy goes on pause―that is reality!

Thanks for having read.. Share your experience of the all but typical day.

Copyright © 2019 Meegan Scott, Magate Wildhorse.  All rights reserved

Don Your CEO’s Hat ― Keynotes

Don Your CEO's Hat Keynotes speaker session

 

You’re running a business and you are an entrepreneur.

So, what if you’re not the CEO of the business you lead?

Why should you care about being the CEO, when you are already the entrepreneur behind the business?

Join us on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 7:00 PM

For the speaker session: Don Your CEO’s Hat―Keynotes

Presenter: Meegan Scott

Duration: 45 mins. (Including post session networking).

You are welcome to submit challenges you have faced with owning both roles ahead of the session.

To book your seat, please complete and submit the registration form at the “Book my seat”  link below.

Book my seat, please!

Registration deadline: Sunday, March 10, 2019
Looking forward to sharing with you!

The event is brought to you by Magate Wildhorse Ltd.

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Corporate Strategy Planning Solution ― Preview Webinar

 

presenter Meegan Scott, Corporate Strategy Solution Preview Webinar

Corporate Strategy Planning at Magate Wildhorse Ltd., find out what it all means.

,Join us on Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 1:00 PM for a lunch hour preview webinar on Corporate Strategy Planning at Magate Wildhorse Ltd.

Format:

  • The Connect & Clarify Session ― Questions & Answers (Case of an Architecture Firm)
  • Journey of a typical solution
  • Answers to your pre-submitted questions
  • Session Q & A

Presenter: Meegan Scott

Duration: 45 mins.

Please submit your registration form at the link below to receive link to webinar.

https://goo.gl/forms/1e09iPSqYYH2IAU83

Registration deadline: Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Looking forward to sharing with you!

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Corporate Strategy Planning ― with Heart & Fun

Corporate Strategy Planning Solution Magate Wildhorse Ltd Serious Business with heart

Corporate Strategy Planning at Magate Wildhorse Ltd., means
serious business with heart.

The journey

  1.  connect and clarify meeting
  2. a strategic organizational assessment
  3. organizational assessment & development proposal
  4. strategic review w Board & ED/CEO
  5. facilitated strategic planning meeting(s) & training workshop
  6. strategy communication session (s)

Every step is sandwiched by stakeholder engagement

Plus

  • We’ll help translate your Corporate Plan to a 1 yr. Operational Plan.
  • We’ll help develop your Performance Management tools.

Serious business with heart and care for your pocket!

Available internationally: face-to-face, virtual, remote, blended face-to-face & online!

Request your connect & clarify meeting now!

Or send a request for proposal (RFP).
Click here.

Preview Webinar

Of interest to government departments, entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders, leaders of international development projects, cluster managers, leaders of private sector development agencies, economic development agencies, & other third sector managers & leaders.

Join us on Thursday, February 28, 2019, at 1:00 PM for a lunch hour preview webinar on Corporate Strategy Planning at Magate Wildhorse Ltd.

 

Please submit your registration form at the link below to receive link to webinar.

https://goo.gl/forms/1e09iPSqYYH2IAU83

Registration deadline: Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Looking forward to sharing with you!

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Scoop on Magate Wildhorse Ltd ― get it here!

With just a click.Magate Wildhorse Ltd  Strategic Management & International Development Practise  Instagram  Follow Magate Wildhorse Ltd on Instagram Corporate Strategy Plans, Evaluations, Organizational Assessments, Market Research, Environmental Scans, Strategic Executive Coaching, Strategic Executive Coaching, Critical Friend Evaluation Solutions

Get on the Scaling Up Path in 2019

Be deliberate about planning your scale up in 2019.
Find your rhythm.
Get your strategy and tactics right.

Act, measure success, learn, and adjust.
Find a trusted advisor.
Find your critical friend.

We’ll help you articulate your business ambitions.

We’ll help you articulate the right questions for ensuring you solve the right problems for your clients and your business.
We’ll be that critical friend, and trusted advisor that will hold your hand along the way.

Making it smiles for entrepreneurs, managers, and executives this year!
Let’s get the conversation going!

scaling up help solution for businesses, entrepreneurs, and executives. Message Magate Wildhorse Ltd. Scale up in 2019

Warm and Up-Close Remote Strategic Planning

remote strategy planning, remote corporate strategy planning, corporate strategy planner, Toronto, Strategy Planning, virtual planning strategy workshops, strategy facilitator

“Remote strategic planning? Hmmm… I’ve got to say I am doubtful about that one. Strategic planning is too expensive, time consuming and important for me to risk on getting it done virtually”.

If that’s how you feel about remote strategic planning we couldn’t fault you for sharing that sentiment. Strategic planning is serious business and you would be foolhardy to take such an important risk with little information on how remote have worked for planning, or the advantages and drawbacks to it.

Moreover, when you are embarking on the strategic planning journey, both you and your team need a warm interaction with an expert who will do more than facilitate planning. You are likely looking for an expert in strategy as well as a facilitator who serves as an objective advisor. One who ask heads-back and chests-forward incisive questions for helping your team to rethink strategy, goals, objectives and actions. And by doing so ensures what your plan is doable, positions your organization for growth and account for risk. You also want someone to lead your team into reflecting on its history and results to date.

Today, 99% of strategy solution sponsors expect their investment to include an external sounding board, researcher, coach and mentor for helping their team to grow planning skills, experience and knowledge. With such a long wish list hinged on relationships, expertise, experience and time management it is easy to see why to someone unfamiliar with remote strategy planning would perceive it to be too cold and distant to deliver their expectations.

But as William Yeats (The Irish Poet, W.B. Yeats) says— “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”  Remote strategy planning is one such magic thing waiting to help you grow a stronger organization.

Though odd, this open secret—fear of the unknown and failure is still a hidden factor that have dogged and crippled the leadership of many organizations when it comes to pursuing growth-focused innovation and strategy execution.  Making strategy planning happen when teams are scattered or budget is tight is not excluded from that scenario.

I’d say it’s a sad state of affairs that can be easily fixed. Do not allow fear to limit the impact of your leadership or options for developing and executing your strategy. Explore the exciting opportunities presented by low cost technology for remote planning and other strategic management activities.

Technology have come a long way in providing the virtual platforms that allows individuals and organizations to deliver face-to-face, warm remote interactions. Not to mention, the variety of software and applications that allows for democratic and group processes, stakeholder consultations, interviewing, surveys, data capture from social media and mobile engagement.

All of which provides for deeper learning, expanding knowledge and improving the quality of data on which to make predictions for developing your strategy, plan and related logic.

By now I believe you can see at least a glimmer of how strategic planning could work in a remote environment?

Our ability to gather information on context, clients, customers, suppliers, industry—you name it in addition to internal information for guiding decisions relating to the what and how for advancing your mission and delivering your vision have been enhanced exponentially by remote research capabilities.

On top of that opportunities for your team members to revisit planning sessions individually in their own time for increasing understanding and reflection are tremendous.

Cost is another big factor that have led some organizations to take the “do it yourself”, less objective and less effective though better-than-nothing approach. Others have sadly chosen to skip planning on a flawed assumption that they cannot afford it. International development agencies and large charities have come to see the benefits and cost savings that are available through both remote strategy planning and organizational performance evaluation.

They have come to see the benefits of leveraging technology to connect remote communities and entities with limited resources to top-notch talent.  Talent has come to realize the cost savings and value-added they can deliver through extended capacity to reach customers and stakeholders in faraway places in addition to those nearby.  Big business and organizations in large cities are increasingly turning to the use of remote planning solutions in order to save while including participation by team members in other towns, countries or cities.

You’ll find that UN organizations (United Nations) are among the large NGOs and intergovernmental organizations that are seizing such opportunities. So, what’s holding you back?

If you lack experience that’s not a problem, you must start somewhere.  If you fear it might not be right for you then, you have two options research to find out more then decide, try and see or both.

We understand that remote planning might not be right for every team, so we are willing to help you decide if it is right for yours.

We bring almost two decades of strategy and remote service delivery experience to helping you to decide.

What Goes into The Remote Planning Exercise

When planning with us the steps we’ll take will vary depending on the following: the experience of your team with strategic planning, remote planning, the stage of development of your organization, motivation to and purpose for planning as well as where you are on the strategy process continuum.

As it relates to the strategy process continuum it could be that you are in need of your first corporate strategy plan; or you are at a milestone and need a new strategic operational plan? It is also likely that you have come to the end of the implementation period for a program or a 3-5yr corporate strategy plan and is now in need of a strategy solution for developing the new plan.

In that case you may need an organizational self-assessment for assessing how you did in the past, strategy development, evaluation and planning for creating the new corporate strategy plan that will guide your next strategy execution period. Most organizations, experienced in planning would also invest in the combo of corporate strategy plan, operational plan and performance management tools (For guiding monitoring and evaluation during strategy execution).

Your Solution Unwrapped

Note: The following is not a step-wise process as the steps will depend on where you are on the strategy process continuum.

Depending on what’s right for you we put technology to work with human care and intelligence to take you through processes such as:

  • Eyeball-to-eyeball virtual meetings, conversations and document reviews for understanding your context, wants and needs;
  • Strategic identity creation, clarification or update (For ensuring mission, vision, values etc. are clear, relevant, inspiring and impactful);
  • Identification of your core resources, competence, aspirations, challenges and capabilities;
  • Strategic analysis, drawing on qualitative and quantitative research methods and tools for better understanding your external environment. At the end of which we will better understand how it will or could impact your organization in addition, to how your organization might influence the environment.

We do that by conducting an external environmental scan (PESTLE, STEEP, STEEPLE, SKEPTIC etc.). Having identified trends related to regulation, inflation, ecology, customers, competitors, stakeholders, suppliers among other things we revisit your strategic intent and organizational capacity (Your SWOT plus analysis) to determine the new competencies that will be required in order to get the job done. Technology comes in handy for helping us to engage in rich conversations with your customers, clients and partners live, or to through anonymous sharing— irrespective of distance.

  • Getting to an organizational development plan for you, here again we draw on the technology to present you with a user-friendly document plus face-to-face conversation that enables your leadership and management team to respond to our findings, recommendations and proposed strategy options for delivering your desired competitive edge. This forms part of your planned strategy formulation process.
  • During planning, remote technology enables us to create interactive tools for illustrating and sharing your strategy framework and strategy— articulated into your position, and objectives. From Board to staff will be able to tell what kind of strategy framework you have chosen (Ansoff Matrix, Stakeholder Model, Values Discipline, McKinsey’s Strategic Horizons, Balanced Scorecard or your own blend). Strategy and logic maps can be adjusted in real-time as your team think and re-think your objectives. Best of all they can be made available in a virtual room 24/7s for comments and ideas as they flow to and from your team.
  • Planning remote allows you even more time for bringing leadership and execution teams to a meeting-of-minds as they review scenarios, assess risks and assumptions and decide on trade-offs during the strategy evaluation and strategy elaboration You won’t miss out on live group brainstorm sessions, team building games or pictures of your team working together.

You’ll have plenty of opportunity to share what is working for your team during the planning process and to work out adjustments if necessary.

You may have noticed that we have covered several steps and activities before touching on strategy elaborationthe step or sub-process where the strategy gets translated into plans and workplans (Your plans will include strategic objectives, goals, indicators, quality measures, outcomes and outputs aligned with strategic intent, effort, timelines and resources).

Once the plan has been completed we will help you with the initial stage of communicating your plan. However, if we are engaged to assist with performance management and measurement we support you with full plan communication, additional help with identifying your emergent strategies, analyzing your performance results and triggering strategy update.

Challenges of Remote Planning

In exchange for deeper learning and broader participation your team will need to prep ahead for remote planning. This means using online time converters and e-calendars (outlook, yahoo and or google calendar) for scheduling.

In some instances, you and/or your team may be required to learn new skills for working in virtual planning rooms, accessing web conferences, participating in e-groups or completing online surveys.  Most teams we have met have enjoyed learning those skills. Older Board members might be averse to using some e-tool, depending on their experience with technology. Nonetheless we have been able to include technology challenged individuals in remote planning sessions.

The planning process may be stretched over a longer period of time. Some groups can manage a typical 4-hour virtual planning workshop (Plus lunch and refreshment breaks) while some can only manage two hours.

You may need to check on computers, microphones and plan seating arrangement for you team ahead of the session depending on the set up we agree. It is possible to have a session without you having to consider seating or computers. But we will guide you in setting up your room as the facilitator would have if required.

Love your flipcharts? We will tell you how to make that happen during remote planning.

Expect a session or two where technology might fail and a reschedule maybe required.

Discipline for completing related assignments is required.

You may need to plan and secure refreshment and meals for your team.

Could It Be Worth Your Investment?

We believe that the challenges above are small compared to the benefits of having a plan that includes:

  • a clearly articulated strategic intent,
  • is easy to use for guiding the delivery of the results you planned,
  • makes performance management easy,
  • is doable, affordable and communicates the what and how of your strategy effectively both internally and externally.

When a solution is designed to fit your needs and budget and still allows you to access the expertise and help of a strategy expert, facilitator, strategy analyst, strategy finder, sounding board and performance improvement catalyst, we believe it’s worth the while.

Still on the fence?

Schedule a remote face-to-face connect and clarify session today!

Ccontact us, let's talk remote strategic planning, request remote long-range planning, submit your virtual planning needs, schedule remote corporate strategy planninglick the “let’s talk button” to submit your needs, name of organization, location and three possible meeting times.

Meegan Scott is a strategic management consultant with almost two decades of experience in strategy and remote (virtual) service delivery.

 

Copyright © 2018 Meegan Scott
All Rights Reserved

 

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