1. VISIONING AND STRATEGIZING EXERCISES
Prof. Ben Kiregyera
NSDS Workshop,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
11 August 2005

2. COVERAGE Generic strategic management model SWOT Analysis
Visioning exercise
Strategizing exercise
Example of strategic objectives/goals

3. I. GENERIC STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MODEL
Performance Feedback loops
Perform
Internal
Audit
Develop Strategic Objectives
Develop & select strategies
Implement & execute strategies
Monitor,
Control and
Evaluate
Visioning exercise
Perform
External
Audit
Strategy Formulation
Strategy Implementation
Evaluation

4. AND THREATS (SWOT) ANALYSIS
II. STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES
AND THREATS (SWOT) ANALYSIS
Strengths and weaknesses (Internal )
controllable activities within an organization
which are performed especially well or poorly
need to be identified and evaluated in functional
areas
strategy - to build on organization’s strengths
and mitigate or eliminate weaknesses
Opportunities and threats (External )
economic, social, environmental, political, legal,
governmental, technological trends and events
that could benefit or harm the organization
largely beyond the control of a single
organization
strategy - take advantage of opportunities and
avoid or reduce impact of threats

5. organization’s strengths which cannot be easily matched
Internal assessment/audit
organization’s strengths which cannot be easily matched
called “distinctive competencies”
strategies should build on these competencies
assessment/audit process involves
gathering, assimilating and evaluating
information about organization’s operations
determining and prioritizing important strengths
and weaknesses
determining between 10 –20 most important
strengths and weaknesses
should involve managers and staff in assessment/audit
excellent vehicle or forum for improving communication
in organization

6. External assessment/audit – environmental scanning
identifies and evaluates trends and events beyond
control of organization
develops a finite list of opportunities that could benefit
organization and threats that should be avoided
process should involve as many managers and staff
as possible
gather, assimilate and evaluate information
List in order of priorities critical success factors
Strategy formulation involves aligning key external and internal factors

7. III. VISIONING EXERCISE
Defined
Process that seeks to create a compelling and pen picture of a desirable future state that often represents quantum
changes from the present
Vision answers the question: What do we want to become?
“Where there is no vision, a people perish” – Proverbs 29:18
“A corporate vision can focus, direct, motivate, unify and even excite a business into a superior performance.” – John Keane
This is possible if people engaged in process
III. VISIONING EXERCISE

8. What is a mission?
an enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes
an organization from other organizations
a declaration of an organization’s “reason for being”
answers pivotal question: What is our business?
also called a creed statement; it is a statement of:
purpose
philosophy
beliefs
business principles
is foundation for priorities, strategies, plans and work
assignments
N.B: preparation of a mission statement is 1st step in
strategic management

9. A good mission statement should:
describe an organization’s purpose, customers,
products or services, markets, philosophy and
basic technology
be comprehensive and broad in scope
be inspiring, supplying energy, motivating and
galvanizing organization
generate the impression that the organization is
successful, has direction and is worthy of time,
support and investment
create a commonality of interest that lifts workers
into a new world of opportunity and challenge
create an “emotional bond” and “sense of mission”
for managers and staff of the organization

10. Examples of vision/mission statements
Office of Chief Government Statistician – Zanzibar
Vision: to become a “center of excellence” for statistical production and for promoting a culture of evidence-based policy and decision-making
Mission: to coordinate production of official statistics, provide high quality statistical data and information and promote their use in planning, decision-making, administration, governance, monitoring and evaluation
Statistics South Africa
Vision: to become a premier knowledge centre that provides leadership in statistical production and promotes a culture of empirical evidence-based policy, planning and decision- making
Mission: to collect, process, analyse and disseminate high quality official and other statistical data and information and co-ordinate the national statistics system in support of economic growth, socio-economic development, democracy and good governance

11. Uganda Bureau of Statistics
Vision: to become a “centre of excellence” in statistical
production in Africa
Mission: to produce, coordinate and disseminate official
statistics in order:
support decision-making processes in all aspects of
life
inform and underpin the national and local
government planning processes
inform public policy analysis and debate, and
monitor the impact of government initiatives, policies
and programmes.

12. Statistics Denmark
Vision: Statistics Denmark must be among the best statistical
institutions, measured on the results achieved.
Mission: to produce and disseminate all trustworthy statistics on
social and economic trends in society, which are an
essential condition for its democracy and economy to work
Statistics Norway
Vision: An institution that counts
Mission: Through collection, processing and dissemination of
statistics and analysis, Statistics Norway shall contribute to:
strengthen and further develop democracy and a more
informed public debate
ensure that economic and social policy and
management are based on the best possible factual
basis
improve the functioning of the market system

13. Developing Core Values
an organization needs core corporate values that guide
the conduct and behaviour of staff and decision-making
inspire and galvanize individual efforts towards
improved performance
Examples of core values for Zambia CSO
user-focus
quality consciousness
integrity and credibility
empowerment

14. Desired future situation
Gap analysis
Evaluate the gap between current
situation and envisioned situation
Develop specific strategies &
allocate resources to close gap
Desired future situation
Current situation

15. IV. STRATEGIZING EXERCISE
Strategy defined
is broad direction for achieving long-term
objectives
a declaration of intent, defining where you want
to be in the long-term
ensures that day-to-day decisions fit in with
long-term interests of the organization
Strategizing
setting strategic objectives or goals – overall
accomplishments to be achieved
determining strategies – overall methods to achieve
strategic objectives or goals

16. are long-term objectives covering more than one year
Strategic objectives
are long-term objectives covering more than one year
without long-term objectives, an organization would
drift aimlessly towards some unknown end
no organization or individual can be successful
without clear objectives
purpose of strategic objectives is to convert vision
and mission into specific performance outputs and
outcomes
should be related to key functions of organization,
demonstrating broad coverage of key areas of service
specific objectives should be few in number (3 - 8)

17. represent the basis for resource allocation
Annual objectives
represent the basis for resource allocation
are a primary mechanism for evaluating managers
are the major instrument for monitoring progress
towards achieving long-term objectives
establish organizational, divisional, section priorities
Objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound)

18. key outputs represent milestones of organization’s
strategic objectives
represent achievements not the process or activities
importance of outputs:
customer satisfaction
promotion of image of an organization
motivating staff
measurement of performance of organization
staff appraisal
control of organization's operations
monitoring and evaluation
benchmarks for others to copy

19. Planning management process Enables the organization to:
quantify long-term outcomes it wishes to achieve
establish short-term milestones
identify mechanisms and provide resources for
achieving them
invest in performance drivers
- people (e.g. skilling & re-skilling employees)
- information systems and procedures,
- development of new products through innovation

20. Strategy analysis and choice seeks to determine
courses of action that will benefit organization
objectives, mission, external and internal audit
information are the basis for generating and
evaluating alternative strategies
the information helps avoid personal biases,
politics, emotions, personalities and holo error
(tendency to put too much weight on a single factor)

21. manageable set of most attractive alternatives developed
look at advantages, disadvantages, trade-offs, costs
and benefits of strategies
Balancing act
produce a prioritized list of best strategies
Criteria for making strategic choices
consistency: should not present inconsistent goals or
policies
Consonance: need for strategies to examine sets of trends
as well as individual trends.
Strategy must represent an adaptive response to external
environment (corporate agility).

22. feasibility: refers to ability of a strategy to be
attempted within physical, human and financial
resources of the organization
a strategy must neither overtax available resources
nor create unsolvable sub-problems
competitive advantage: strategy must provide for
creation and/or maintenance of competitive advantage

23. V. EXAMPLE OF STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES FOR NAMIBIA NSS
1. Organizational development
(statistical awareness, coordination, networking, information sharing, statistical legislation))
2. Institutional development
(management systems, human resources, staff motivation, etc)
3. Infrastructure development and equipment
(office, survey infrastructure, IT infrastructure, statistical library, etc.)

24. 4. Data development
(enhancing data quality, improving censuses and
surveys, improving administrative data, new
statistical products)
5. Data management
(triangulation, integration, analysis, storage and
security, databases, reporting, dissemination &
access)
6. Implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting (action plan, policies, performance
indicators, targets, benchmarking, reporting
system)
7. Proposed budget and financing (recurrent and
development budget, investment plan,
sustainability)
END

25. Thank You