Strategic Planning: Environmental Scanning
Bruce Chr. JohnsonBoy Scouts of America
I think you should be more explicit here in step two.
“How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”
-- Charles De Gaulle
“The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression.”
-- John Perton
Environmental Scanning Common part of strategic analysis There are internal elements &
external elements All interrelate
SWOT Framework
Definitions: Strengths (S) An organizational (internal to Sea
Scouting) resource or capability May be used to advance the
organization’s / program’s interests
Definitions: Weaknesses (W) The absence of certain strengths
or capabilities that are needed to move the organization forward
Strengths & Weaknesses May be identified by asking
questions: Why does Sea Scouting do well? What do we do less well? In what areas is Sea Scouting healthy
& robust? In what areas is Sea Scouting weak or
struggling?
Strengths & Weaknesses May be identified by asking
questions: What might someone looking at Scouting in general point out as unique or distinctive – either positive or negative – about Sea Scouting?
What resources can we call upon? How do these resources compare with
our needs?
Definitions: Opportunities (O) Chances for growth or positive
change in direction revealed by changes or trends in the external environment
Definitions: Threats (T) Changes or trends in the external
environment May also reveal a treat to
overcome or challenge to meet “Threats” are sometimes described
as “Traps”
Opportunities & Threats Are identified by looking beyond
the boundaries of the organization Questions might include the
following: What are the external trends that will
affect us? How? What is changing in our communities
that will affect us? How?
Opportunities & Threats Questions might include the
following: What are the the needs in the
external environment that could be met by deploying the strengths of Sea Scouting and its members?
Do any of our weaknesses make us particularly vulnerable to a changing environment?
SWOT Strategic Matrix
SWOT Strategic Matrix S-O strategies are strategies that
build on organizational strengths and resources to pursue opportunities
W-O strategies require the organization to overcome weakness to pursue opportunities
SWOT Strategic Matrix S-T strategies utilize the
organization’s strengths to overcome vulnerability to external threats
S-W strategies create a defensive plan to keep an organization’s weakness from making it susceptible to external threats
SWOT Rules Be realistic about Sea Scouting’s
strengths & weaknesses Not too modest, not overly critical
Seek a balance between strengths & weaknesses
Distinguish between where Sea Scouting is today and could be tomorrow
SWOT Rules Look at Sea Scouting in relation to
competing (external) organizations & interests
Be as specific as you can Avoid fuzziness or shades of gray in
this analysis Keep it short & simple.
Don’t over-analyze
SWOT Rules The aim is not to identify every
factor affecting Sea Scouting’s future Identify key factors A good target would be 10 factors in
each of the four areas Remember that SWOT is subjective
There is no right or wrong answers
SWOT Rules The underlying purpose is to
develop strategies that ensure the best alignment between the external environment (opportunities & threats) and the internal environment (strengths & weaknesses)
SWOT Rules A SWOT exercise is a valuable way
of obtaining observations and predictions from a group of knowledgeable and involved participants during the planning process