It is a process by which an organization defines its business, long-term vision and strategies to achieve it, based on the analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It supposes the active participation of the organizational actors, the permanent obtaining of information on their key factors of success; its review, monitoring and periodic adjustments so that it becomes a management style that makes the organization a proactive and anticipatory entity.
Strategic diagnosis
It is the analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as the threats and opportunities that arise in the business environment.
Internal aspects: These are all those variables that are always under the control of the organization.
Strengths: These are the resources and capabilities of a company that must be used to achieve the objectives of an organization, seeking to develop a competitive advantage that makes the organization stand out in the market.
Weaknesses: They are the shortcomings of financial, administrative or operational resources that inhibit the fulfillment of the objectives set by the organization, while placing the company below some direct competitors in the market.
External aspects: are the variables of the environment that are outside the control of the organization.
Opportunities: Are those external factors that are positive, favorable and/or exploitable for the organization, it is the duty of the company to discover them and take advantage of them to develop a competitive advantage.
Threats: These are the events, facts or trends that come from the environment that can limit or affect the organization in the fulfillment of the stated objectives.
Internal diagnosis
It is the process to identify strengths and weaknesses of the organization, area or strategic unit; This diagnosis integrates the analyzes of:
Management capacity: all those strengths or weaknesses that have to do with the administrative process in areas such as: planning, direction, decision making, communications and control.
Competitive capacity: all aspects related to the commercial area with the product portfolio and its quality, brand positioning and/or exclusivity, communication and distribution channels, marketing and price strategies, customer loyalty, among other aspects.
Financial capacity: all aspects related to the financial health of a company, factors such as debt levels, access to credit, debt capacity, profitability, portfolio turnover, product costing, among other aspects, can be taken into account.
Technical or technological capacity: aspects related to the infrastructure and processes in a company are included; In this order of ideas, factors such as access to hardware, standardization of production processes, location of the plant, patents or intellectual property in the production area, software, intensity in the use of labor and other aspects.
Human talent capacity: all aspects related to the search, selection and training of personnel are included, aspects such as: level of training of the organization's human capital, job stability, personal development programs, motivation and sense of belonging must be analyzed and also the level of absenteeism among other aspects.
External diagnosis
It is the process to identify opportunities or threats in the specific and general environment of the organization; the external diagnosis integrates the following analyses:
Economic factors: are all those related to the behavior of the economy at a national and international level; Aspects such as: economic growth, inflation, devaluation, behavior of imports and exports [trade balance], gross domestic product, cost of international commodities [oil, coal, gas] can be analyzed.
Political factors: are the factors related to the decisions made by national and/or regional politicians; Aspects such as: [labour, commercial...] ​​legislation, national, departmental and municipal development plans, land use plans, tax rates on industry, trade agreements with other countries in the world should be analyzed. new regulations or laws implemented, subsidies and/or aid, among other aspects.
Social factors: are all those related to the way of life of the population, taking into account their culture, values ​​and principles; Aspects such as: level of education, access to health, employment rate, religious beliefs, sense of security, among other variables, can be analyzed.
Technological factors: they are directly related to the development of software and hardware for the competitiveness of the company; Aspects such as: productivity of the new machines, improvement in processes through the use of state-of-the-art equipment, learning curve, ease of access to new developments, among other variables, can be analyzed.
Geographical factors: they are directly related to the location of a company; Aspects such as: topography of the area, climate, access to productive factors [labor, raw material], natural resources, infrastructure and access roads, among other variables, can be analyzed.
Competitive factors: they are related to the direct competition of the enterprise in the market; Aspects such as: price of similar products, marketing strategies of competitors [communication and distribution channels], loyalty programs and customer service, innovation in the product portfolio, number of personnel, infrastructure, among other variables, should be analyzed.
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Source. Serna, H. 2014. Gerencia estratégica. 3R Editores.
By. Andrés Felipe Salcedo Gutiérrez.