Strategic Business Acumen: How to Recognize, Capture and Convert Business Opportunities Training

Two-thirds of corporate executives believe a lack of business skills or business acumen inhibits their company from meeting strategic priorities. It was established that most strategic plans fail to achieve their strategic goals due to the turbulent changes that exist in the global market today.  Since most of the failures in the strategic process occur at the execution stage it is increasingly important that managers at all levels learn how to implement these vital plans while maneuvering through the changes that occur as a result of the dynamics of the markets.

At the end of this training, participants will learn to:

• Examine the external environment affecting your company’s ability to succeed
• Analyze your key competitors and what the future will look like
• Measure performance using standards that are highly correlated with value creation
• Integrate your competitive analysis to improve your business decision making
• Create a business strategy and a complete strategy implementation map

Day One

The “Business” Process

• 21st-century changes and challenges
• Psychological aspects of decision making
• Strategic thinking – who, how, when, and why
• Examples of strategy success and failure
• Business savvy and business sense
• Financial literacy

Day Two

• Business management and leadership
• Strategic Management Skills
• Leadership theories and styles
• Attributes of successful leaders
• Strategic skills: traits or contextual
• Visioning, communicating, and framing
• Team and organization perspectives on implementing strategies
• Leading others through the strategic process

Day Three

The Strategic Process

• Impact of external change: competitive positioning, technology, regulation
• Innovation: Blue v Red Ocean strategies
• The strategy hierarchy
• Realizing the strategies: making them happen
• Recognizing and reacting to disruptive competition
• Competitive positioning

Day Four

Business Acumen

• The dimensions of business issues
• Business complexity and uncertainty
• Mindfulness, sense-making, and resilience
• Financial understanding and interpretation 
• Strategic execution: budgeting, forecasting, and adjusting to reality
• Communicating and aligning corporate to individual objectives
• Visioning, communicating & framing
• Team and organization perspectives on implementing strategies
• Leading others through the strategic process   

Day Five

Business Analysis and Strategy  

• Key stakeholder Analysis
• Competitive strategies required for success
• Problem-solving and decision making
• Avoid common planning traps and pitfalls by conducting a business strategy review
• Strategy Implementation and Communication Plan
• Challenges of mergers and acquisitions
• Test strategic and business models
• Explore the essential elements needed to implement a strategic plan
• Develop profit improvement strategies and plan for growth
• Strategic execution: budgeting, forecasting, and adjusting to reality
• Communicating and aligning corporate to individual objectives