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