February 17, 2009
Featured Article

Retaining Your Customers

Dana Baldwin
By M. Dana Baldwin

What is your company doing to keep your customers in these difficult times?

 

Click to continue...
Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Questions & AnswersThis column is intended to answer common questions related to strategic planning and strategy in general. In each issue we will answer questions posed by seminar attendees, our clients and our readers. Please send your questions to Elizabeth Tidd, E-mail: simplifiedstrategicplanning@cssp.com ~ Mail: CSSP, Inc. P.O. Box 851 Ann Arbor, Michigan 06890-0851 ~ Fax: 203-255-9191.

How can we get our middle managers more involved in the Strategic Planning process?

Managing the distribution channel is critical in our business. Where should we capture this information?

Click to continue...
Strategic Planning Consulting

Acquisition Strategy Teleseminar

Strategy Consulting Services

Strategists who know how to stimulate your best strategic thinking. Let us tailor a program to fit your calendar and pocketbook. Put our unique, practical, no-nonsense strategic planning process to work and achieve a winning strategy for your company. Click here to learn how you can avoid all of this with Simplified Strategic PlanningTM.

 

 

 

 

Article Archives

Did You Miss These Recent Articles?


Four Steps to Improving Human Capital
by CSSP, Inc.
Four Steps to help you upgrade talent and improve corporate culture.

Three Recession Strategies for a Strong Business
by CSSP, Inc.
Even during slow business cycles the world does not come to a screeching halt. Three things you should do to keep your business strong!

Follow-through -- the Key to Strategic Planning Success
by M. Dana Baldwin
Dana Baldwin describes how important follow-through is to the success of your strategic planning efforts.

Acquisitions: 8 Steps to Success
by Denise A. Harrison
When evaluating an acquisition, thoughtful consideration of these 8 steps can lead your company to success!

Is Your Marketing Working for You?
by M. Dana Baldwin
Good marketing helps pave the way for good sales. Effective marketing can be one of the leading factors in successful innovations and product or service enhancements. Marketing can also be one of the first expenditures cut when times get tough. Here is a strategic approach to evaluating your marketing efforts.

Fixing Your Balanced Scorecard
by Robert W. Bradford
Are you dissatisfied with your Balanced Scorecard program? Balanced Scorecard is just one part of the Strategic Planning process. Here are several reasons why you might not be getting the results you desire and what you can change.

SWOT Analysis Revisited
by Robert W. Bradford
The traditional SWOT analysis might not give your company the information it needs to develop a truly distinct competitive advantage.

Ten Reasons for Strategic Planning
by Denise A. Harrison
Here are the top ten reasons your company should develop a strategic plan and the benefits you can realize by doing so.

Mentoring--Art or Science?
by M. Dana Baldwin
Mentoring is the process of developing someone for further advancement within an organization. Excellent communication is one key aspect to building a successful relationship.

WD-40 Finds Growth for 50 Year-old Product
by Denise A. Harrison
Looking for new customers for existing products or existing services? Sound simple? You must find where these potential users are hiding and figure out why they are not using your product. Is it a specific feature that is required? Is it a different distribution channel? Here's how WD-40 found growth opportunities for a fifty year-old product.

Strategy Resources

Subscribe

Simplified Strategic Planning for Small to Mid-Sized Companies

A Two-Day Interactive Seminar Specifically for Executives of Independent Companies and Subsidiaries of Larger Companies Who Want to Achieve Better Results Faster

Orlando, FL
April 23 - 24, 2009

San Francisco, CA
May 7 - 8, 2009

Chicago, IL
May 7 - 8, 2009

Troy, MI
May 21 - 22, 2009

Traverse City, MI
June 25 - 26, 2009

Company Presidents and CEOs attend free of charge when accompanied by one or more additional paid attendees.

Poor strategic planning is worse than no strategic planning. It can be a big waste of time and money. Even worse, it can lead to disaster. Avoid all this with Simplified Strategic Planning - a proven process to focus for superior performance without straining your resources.

Michigan State University

Whether you've been doing strategic planning for years or starting from scratch, you can acquire a streamlined process for developing and implementing your strategy. In just two days, you will have learned this time-tested methodology, which has produced outstanding results for thousands of companies from a wide variety of business types.

Click here for more information

Strategies for Turbulent Times
One Day Seminar 3/27/09 and 5/20/09
March 27, 2009 in Alexandria, VA
May 20, 2009 in Troy, MI

Denise Harrison
Will You Survive and Thrive in Your New Business Climate? There are staggering challenges and tremendous opportunities in the months ahead. Companies that adapt will survive and thrive. Those that don't won't--leaving the market to those that do. "Business as usual" simply won't work. Every aspect of your external business environment will change.

Denise Harrison will put these trends into historical perspective and then explore creative solutions to these challenges.

Click here for more Strategies for Turbulent Times information.

Full Day Acquisition Strategy Workshop

April 22, 2009
Orlando, FL
with Robert Bradford
and Denise Harrison

Thinking about making an acquisition or acquisitions? Do it right, or don't do it at all. A properly conceived and well-managed acquisition can propel you into a position of leadership in your industry, while an ill-conceived or poorly-executed acquisition can leave you in serious difficultly. The fact is, most acquisitions end badly.

If you are considering a strategy of growth by acquisition, you owe it to yourself and your company to learn the strategic facts of life the "experts" won't teach you about how to avoid being an acquisition statistic.

Your complete satisfaction is guaranteed. No catch -- if you are not totally satisfied we will refund your entire fee.

Click here for more Acquisition Planning Workshop information.

Speaking Engagements
Business Expert Webinars
Presenter: Denise Harrison
Topic: Strategies for Turbulent Times
Location: webinar
February 24, 2009
Contact: Business Expert Webinars

National Tooling and Manufacturing Association
Annual Convention 2009 Leadership in Uncertain Times
Presenter: Robert Bradford, CSP
Topic: Finding the Path--Leadership in Uncertain Times
Location: Indian Wells, CA
February 25, 2009

National Speakers Association Houston Chapter Meeting Presenter: Robert Bradford, CSP
Topic: How to Find Your Island of Profitability
Location: Houston, TX
May 9, 2009
Contact: NSA Houston Chapter Meeting

About Center for
Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.

Strategic Thinking

Success in today's business environment requires that a company's leaders have the ability to create a vision of the organization's future direction as well as the course it needs to get there.

While various business improvement techniques such as Total Quality Management and Re-engineering are often extremely beneficial to the ongoing progress of a business, correct Strategic Focus remains the single most important element in a company's success.

Since 1981, the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning (through its Strategic Focus on strategy and Strategy Tune-Up) has provided client companies strategic planning tools and leadership required to obtain superior strategic results.

We understand the challenges typically faced by our clients in installing systems and practices necessary to support growth, while maintaining day to day operations.

Call today for more information! 734-995-3465