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ANALYSIS
management must battle with the everchanging business
WHAT IS STRATEGY environment. Strategic business analysis describes the role of
A strategy is a plan of actions taken by managers to achieve the strategy in business.
company’s overall goal and other subsidiary goals. It often When it comes to business planning, strategic analysis plays a
determines the success of a company. crucial role to guide decision-making. Your organization
operates in both internal and external environments and is
According to Peter Drucker, a strategy is a pattern of activities that influenced by both these environments.
seek to achieve the objectives of the organization and adapt its scope,
resources and operations to environmental changes in the long term. 1. Strategic business analysis refers to an evaluation of an
organization’s work environment.
Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington defined strategy as “the direction This work environment generally defines how the
and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves organization operates its business. It helps to determine the
advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of mood functioning of the organization and whether the goals
resources and competencies with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder and objectives set by the organization can be met.
expectations.” Many experts advise conducting it in an organization from
time to time. It can help uncover the areas that need
VISION, MISSION, AND VALUES changes and enhancements.
2. Strategic business analysis are those actions and decisions
To develop a business strategy, a company needs a very well-defined made by management while trying to understand the impact
understanding of what it is and what it represents. Strategists need to of strategic events.
look at the following: Examples: introduction or development of new product
line, setting up a factory in a new location, employing key
Vision- what it wants to achieve in the future (5-10 years) staff, selecting organizational structure, investing in new
Mission Statement- What business a company is in and how it technology, managing risks, complying with relevant laws
rallies people. and regulations, implementing changes, etc.
Values- The fundamental beliefs of an organization reflecting its Strategic business analysis requires a focus on all aspects of
commitment and ethics. the organization. It leverages business analysis, change
leadership, and program and project management. Strategic
After gaining a deep understanding of the company vision, business analysis focuses on ‘what and why’, not the ‘how’
mission, and values, strategists can help the business undergo a of solution implementation.
strategic analysis.
The purpose of a strategic analysis is to ANALYZE an TYPES OF STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYSIS
organization’s external and internal environment, asses’ current
strategies, and generate and evaluate the most successful 1. Internal Strategic Analysis
strategic alternatives.
As the name suggests, internal analysis is conducted when
LEVELS OF STRATEGY an organization needs to look inside itself and define its
positive and negative performances, which can be further
Strategic Plans involve three levels of scope: improved with proper resource investments. Doing so will
enhance the company’s image in the market. The internal
1. CORPORATE – LEVEL (Portfolio) analysis focuses mainly on the organization’s performance
by evaluating the potential organization to reach its goals.
At the highest level, corporate strategy involves high-level
The most famous and commonly used internal strategic
strategic decisions that will help the company sustain a
analysis technique is the SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for
competitive advantage and remain profitable in the foreseeable
future. Corporate – level decisions are all-encompassing of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This
technique checks the full factors inside an organization or
company.
2. BUSINESS – LEVEL its projects and determines how things may suffer
At the median level of strategy are business- level decisions.
The business – level strategy focuses on market position to help
the company gain a competitive advantage in its own industry or
SWOT ANALYSIS
other industries.
3. FUNCTIONAL LEVEL
STRENGTHS
At the lowest level are functional level decisions. They focus on -strengths of an organization are the positive areas that help it to grow
activities within and between different functions, aimed at consistently.
improving the efficiency of the overall business. These -These areas in an organization need to be protected and carried
strategies are focused on functions of groups. forward through all the changes
II. WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYSIS? WEAKNESS
-where there are strengths, there are also weaknesses.
Business analysis is a research discipline that can help us -These are the areas of an organization that need to be fixed so that
identify problems and create practical solutions to address them. they can benefit the company while giving it a competitive edge over
A business analyst may create effective and efficient solutions its competitors.
for the organization. However, generating leads to counter the
issues is complex, but it can be done by the business analyst
alone. After all, business analysis is a team effort.
Using effective solutions can further improve and develop a
business. Practical solutions for businessrelated issues are the
key to keeping any business increase sales.
The process of business analysis includes techniques, methods, THREATS
software, strategic planning, policy development, organization -there are various factors that affect an organization, but they are
structure change, and other improvements to the business or mostly predictable too.
project. -with proper risk management strategy, threats like competitor’s’
Business analysis' primary function is to identify the best better performance do not affect the organization’s performance.
solution that works best for a specific problem.
The business analysis gives us insights into how to develop a OPPORTUNITIES
particular project. Applying or incorporating them will provide -discovers the opportunities an organization has to grow towards its
us with an advantage over competitors. Any business that wants success. Identify external opportunities and make sure you use them
to remain competitive in the market can use business analysis as to the fullest.
an effective tool.
2. External strategic analysis
III. WHAT IS STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYSIS Once the internal analysis is completed and the
organization is foolproof from the inside, it is time to
Strategic business analysis in modern day business is hard to
separate from strategic management and planning where
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NOTES STRATEGIC BUSINESS
ANALYSIS
evaluate the external factors that might interrupt the
organization’s growth.
External analysis to be accurate, one needs to know how
the market works and how customers are affected by
certain marketing strategies, products, and services that the
competitors present out there.
PESTLE ANALYSIS
PESTLE analysis is the commonly used external analysis
technique. It stands for political, economic, social,
technological, legal, and environmental analysis, which
determines the factors that affect the environment based on
external strategic analysis.
It is a model that helps you to:
Point out these factors that an organization cannot
control, like political changes or environmental
changes.
Determine how each issue can impact the
organization’s growth.
Identify the issue to the organization.
Measure the probability of that issue happening.
ADVANTAGES OF STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYSIS:
It helps you to determine the internal positive areas in an
organization that actively helps set it to grow.
It also indicates that these positive areas should be
protected and run consistently for the organization to be
leading on the right part to success.
Strategic analysis drives out internal and external strengths
and weaknesses that affect the organization’s growth.
It helps you identify the organization’s internal aspects that
add to its business advancements and use them as
competitive advantages over your competitors.
DISADVANTAGES OF STRATEGIC BUSINESS
ANAYLSIS.
It helps you get too many creative ideas but does not
tell you exactly which one to choose.
It can sometimes be very timeconsuming, affecting
other efficient innovations like developing a new
product or service at an organizational level.
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