Increasingly, companies and managers are struggling to align strategic planning with the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) nature of today’s global business environment.
Through working with hundreds of companies around the world over the past 35 years, DPI consultants have observed that companies that score high in our Strategic IQ assessment (both Strategic & Operational Quotients) tend to outperform their competitors and sustained high growth.
If you are interested at this point in assessing your organization’s Strategic IQ, you may wish to answer the questions below. We will provide you with your Strategic IQ score, and where you may be able to improve on your strategic position.
1) Does your organization have a well-documented, clear statement of strategy?
Yes
Verbally mentioned
No
2) Could each member of your management team write a one-or-two sentence statement of that strategy without consulting the other?
All could
Some could
None could
3) Does your strategy statement provide a clear direction for the company?
Yes
Vaguely
No
4) Does your company use this statement as a guide for the choices you make together when deciding which products, customers, and markets your company will pursue?
Used frequently
Used sometimes
Never
5) Does your company use this statement as a guide for the choices you make together when deciding which customers and markets your company will not pursue?
Used frequently
Used sometimes
Never
6) Does your company use this statement as a filter to decide how resources are allocated within the company?
Used frequently
Used sometimes
Never
7) Does your company use this statement as a filter to choose which opportunity it will pursue and which ones it won’t?
Used frequently
Used sometimes
Never
8) How often does your management team gathered to try to obtain consensus about the future direction of your company?
Regularly
Once in a while
Never
9) Does your company have a separate process of strategic thinking to determine what you want to become as opposed to how you will get there?
Formal, codified process
Brainstorming
No
10) How often does your company review its strategy?
Half-yearly
Annually
Rarely
What is the Operational Quotient of Your Company?
1) Does your company have a comprehensive organizational structure?
Yes
Outdated, not comprehensive
No
2) Does your company have a well administered talent development and performance evaluation system?
Yes
Not formalized
No
3) Does your company have formal processes to improve on your manufacturing / service quality (e.g., six sigma, kaizen, lean)
Yes
Not formalized
No
4) What is the market share ranking of your products / service?
Top 2
Top 5
Below 5
5) What was the average growth rate (%) of your company over the past three years?
Over 15%
Over 5%
Below 5%
6) What was the average net-profit ratio (%) of your company over the past three years?
Over 15%
Over 5%
Below 5%
7) What was the percentage contribution of your new products / services to your company’s total revenue 3 years after launch?
Over 30%
Over 10%
None
8) Does your company have a formal system to collect market intelligence?
Yes, regularly
Ad hoc, infrequent
No
9) Does your company vigorously pursue accredited standards (e.g., ISO, GMP) to safeguard the quality of your products / services?
Yes
Not vigorously enough
No
10) Does your company have an established governance policy and a formal internal audit system?