This document outlines the assignments for a 6-week course on strategic planning. It instructs students to choose an organization to study and create a strategic plan for over the course of 6 papers. Each paper focuses on a different aspect of developing a strategic plan, including analyzing the organization's mission/vision, external/internal environments, strategic choices, and creating and presenting a final strategic plan. Students are to support their analyses and recommendations through research and format their papers according to APA guidelines.

1. #1 Strategic Thinking Part 1: Mission, Vision & Values
Assignment Content
Choose an organization that you would like to study and
ultimately create your own strategic plan for. This should be
either the organization that you work for currently, one that you
most want to work for once you complete your MBA, or one
where you have worked in the past (do contact me in a Private
Message before choosing an organization other than one of
those above so we can discuss ahead of time).
Write a 1,050-word paper in which you address the following:
• Identify and provide a brief description of this organization,
including its primary products/services and key
markets/customers.
• Look for the organization's mission and vision statements and
apply specific learnings from the text and the Collins/Porras
reading to assess these statements and identify any
improvements you would recommend to them. Note - if the
organization does not present a mission or vision statement,
apply your learnings from the readings to craft your own
proposed statement(s).
• Identify and evaluate the organization's motivation strategy,
innovation strategy, and people strategy. If the organization
does not have one or more of these, how does that affect the
organization and its people?
Format your paper according to APA guidelines.

2. Submit your assignment
#2 Strategic Thinking Part 2: External Environmental Scan
Select the organization studied in the week 1 paper (if you
would like to change, let's discuss in a PM ahead of time).
Support your assessments with authoritative research using the
UOPX Library.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you include the
following:
• Identify and assess the most important factors in the
organization's external general environment.
• Identify and assess one or more of Five Forces that are most
important in driving competition in your organization's external
industry environment.
• Identify and assess the specific key competitors to your
organization in the external competitor environment from an
external perspective.
Note if your organization faces little or no competition, assess
what might make an effective potential new rival in the future,
and/or assess the firm's specific key customer/market segments
and the specific key needs/demands of each in turn.
Format your paper according to APA guidelines.
#3 Strategic Thinking Part 3: Internal Assessment, Structure
Select the organization studied in the week 1 & 2 papers (if you
would like to change, let's discuss in a PM ahead of time).
Support your assessments with authoritative research using the

3. UOPX Library.
Write a 1,200- to 1,700-word paper in which you include the
following:
• Identify the most important internal strengths and weaknesses
of your organization.
• Identify and assess the organization's most important
resources, capabilities and core competencies.
• Assess the structure of the organization and the influence this
has on its performance.
• Identify and assess the organization's competitive position
amongst its key rivals. Then assess the possibilities/risks that
this competitive position provides.
Format your paper according to APA guidelines.
#4 Strategic Thinking Part 4: Strategic Evaluation &
Recommendation
Select the organization studied in the week 3 paper.
Support your assessments with authoritative research using the
UOPX Library.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you include the
following:
• Identify and Recommend the 3 most important long-term goals
for your organization.
• Identify and Recommend the one generic strategy/business
level strategy OR one value discipline that should serve as your

4. organization's overarching long term strategic approach to the
market.
• Identify and Recommend two or more grand strategies that are
needed to help drive your organization towards achieving your
proposed long-term goals (note grand strategies include the
corporate level strategies discussed in chapter 6, and then go
beyond these - see the "Choosing Grand Strategies" video here
in week 4 for more details).
• Identify and assess what specific global strategy you would
propose for your organization going forward. If you do not
recommend a global strategy, discuss your rationale.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
#5 Signature Assignment: Strategic Plan
This signature assignment is designed to align with specific
program student learning outcome(s) in your program. Program
Student Learning Outcomes are broad statements that describe
what students should know and be able to do upon completion
of their degree. The signature assignments may be graded with
an automated rubric that allows the University to collect data
that can be aggregated across a location or college/school and
used for program improvements.
Write a 1,050-word minimum strategic implementation plan in
which you include the following:
Create an implementation plan including:
Objectives
Functional tactics

5. Action items
Milestones and deadlines
Tasks and task ownership
Resource allocation
Recommend any organizational change management strategies
that may enhance successful implementation.
Develop key success factors.
Create a risk management plan including contingency plans for
the identified risks.
Format your paper according to APA guidelines.
#6 Final Strategic Plan
Create the Final Strategic Plan. The Final Strategic Plan builds
upon
the assessments, ideas and proposals from prior week papers,
however this is not a compilation or "cut-n-paste" of these prior
papers.
This is intended to be a new stand-alone presentation that builds
upon your
earlier learnings (see my "week 6 paper tips" for more about
this).
Your plan should incorporate facilitator feedback from papers
submitted

6. in previous weeks, and should include the following:
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary (350 to 700 words)
• Mission, Vision & Values Statement
• External Environmental Analysis
• Internal Environmental Analysis
• Strategic Choice Recommendations
• Implementation Plan, including any Organizational Change
Management Strategies needed and a Risk
Management/Contingency Plan
• Conclusion
• References
Create a 10- to 15-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation,
including the use of speaker's notes, to present the strategic
plan. The objective is to sell the strategic plan to investors or
company directors.
Format the assignment according to APA guidelines