Hoshin Kanri Strategic Planning for Executive Leaders Training Course

Course overview

Executive teams often have strategic plans that describe priorities but do not establish the few breakthrough objectives, ownership, review routines, and cross-functional agreements needed to execute them. Business-unit plans can become disconnected from enterprise direction; annual targets can be mistaken for strategy; and monthly reviews can focus on reporting activity rather than resolving the obstacles that threaten results. This course addresses the leadership discipline required to turn strategy into a managed system of objectives, measures, initiatives, and escalation decisions.

Participants learn to apply Hoshin Kanri as an executive planning and deployment method. They define a strategic intent, distinguish breakthrough objectives from operational improvement, conduct a current-state gap assessment, build an X-matrix, establish annual objectives and measurable targets, and use catchball to negotiate alignment across functions. The course also covers ownership design, leading and lagging indicators, A3 problem-solving, strategy review cycles, and the practical use of PDCA to adjust direction without losing accountability.

Delivery combines executive-level instruction with facilitated planning workshops, worked examples, and a multi-function strategy deployment case. Participants use templates to translate a real or realistic organisational priority into a draft Hoshin plan. They leave with an executive-ready strategy deployment pack containing a True North statement, breakthrough objectives, an X-matrix, a KPI and ownership structure, a catchball stakeholder plan, and a 90-day implementation roadmap for introducing the management cadence.

The course is designed for leaders who influence enterprise, division, portfolio, or functional strategy and need a repeatable way to connect board-level intent with frontline execution. It is particularly valuable where priorities compete, accountability is diffuse, or strategic initiatives repeatedly lose momentum after planning season.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Construct a Hoshin Kanri X-matrix linking strategic intent, breakthrough objectives, annual objectives, owners, and measures.
• Differentiate breakthrough objectives from routine operational targets using a strategic horizon and gap-analysis method.
• Define leading and lagging KPIs with target conditions, review thresholds, data owners, and escalation rules.
• Facilitate a catchball process that tests feasibility, negotiates cross-functional commitments, and records decision rights.
• Develop A3 strategy problem statements that connect current condition, target condition, root causes, and countermeasures.
• Design a tiered Hoshin review cadence using PDCA, visual management, and exception-based executive decisions.
• Map strategic initiative dependencies, resource constraints, and risks in a deployment ownership plan.
• Produce a 90-day Hoshin implementation roadmap with governance milestones, communication actions, and adoption measures.

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Chief Executives and Managing Directors — who must translate enterprise intent into a small number of governed strategic commitments.
• Business Unit Directors — who need to align divisional plans, resources, and measures with corporate breakthrough objectives.
• Chief Operating Officers — who must connect strategic deployment with operating rhythms and performance management.
• Strategy Directors and Heads of Corporate Planning — who design annual planning processes and need a disciplined deployment method.
• Functional Executives — who negotiate cross-functional priorities, ownership, and capacity commitments through catchball.
• Transformation and Continuous Improvement Leaders — who must embed PDCA and A3 problem-solving into strategy execution.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to, reviewing, or delivering a business, functional, or transformation plan. Familiarity with basic strategic concepts such as objectives, KPIs, initiatives, governance, budgets, and stakeholder accountability is assumed. Participants should be comfortable reading performance measures and discussing trade-offs across functions. A laptop with spreadsheet and presentation software is recommended for the planning workshops. Prior Lean certification, Six Sigma training, Japanese language knowledge, or prior use of Hoshin Kanri is not required. Complete beginners to strategy execution can attend, but should expect to work with executive-level planning scenarios and quantitative target setting.

Training methodology

The course is delivered through instructor-led executive briefings, facilitated design sessions, and a running strategy deployment case. Participants examine sample X-matrices, KPI trees, A3s, and review-board packs before applying the tools to a chosen organisational priority. Small groups conduct catchball negotiations between simulated functions, test resource conflicts, and prepare executive decisions. Daily outputs are progressively assembled into a deployment pack. The final session uses peer challenge and instructor feedback to refine each participant’s 90-day implementation roadmap and review cadence.

Course outline

Day 1: Strategic intent and the Hoshin management system

• Hoshin Kanri purpose, principles, and executive leadership responsibilities
• True North statements and strategic intent formulation
• Breakthrough objectives versus business-as-usual improvement
• Three-to-five-year strategic horizons and annual planning cycles
• Current-condition assessment and strategic gap analysis
• Policy deployment architecture across enterprise, business unit, and function
• Common failure modes in annual strategic planning and execution

Workshop: Participants assess a strategy case, identify its execution gaps, and produce a draft True North statement with three proposed breakthrough objectives.

Day 2: X-matrix deployment and measurable objectives

• X-matrix structure and directional relationship logic
• Translating breakthrough objectives into annual objectives
• Selecting strategic initiatives and defining intended outcomes
• KPI trees, leading indicators, and lagging outcome measures
• Target conditions, baselines, thresholds, and measurement frequency
• RACI roles, accountable executives, and initiative sponsorship
• Linking resource assumptions and portfolio capacity to the X-matrix

Workshop: Participants build a first-draft X-matrix for the case organisation, including annual objectives, measures, initiatives, and accountable owners.

Day 3: Catchball and cross-functional alignment

• Catchball as a negotiation and commitment-building process
• Vertical deployment from executive priorities to functional contributions
• Horizontal alignment across functions, value streams, and regions
• Decision rights, assumptions, and non-negotiable strategic constraints
• Dependency mapping and critical hand-off analysis
• Resource conflict resolution and initiative sequencing
• Stakeholder communication plans for strategy deployment

Workshop: Teams conduct a structured catchball simulation and produce a negotiated commitment log, dependency map, and escalation list.

Day 4: A3 thinking, PDCA, and executive review routines

• A3 strategy problem-solving structure and evidence standards
• Current condition, target condition, and gap framing
• Root-cause analysis using cause-and-effect and five-whys methods
• Countermeasure selection and experiment design
• PDCA cycles for strategic initiatives and annual objectives
• Tiered review meetings, visual management, and exception reporting
• Escalation criteria and executive decision-making protocols

Workshop: Participants create an A3 for an off-track strategic objective and design a monthly review board with escalation triggers.

Day 5: Implementation governance and executive application

• Hoshin governance roles, steering forums, and review calendars
• Integrating Hoshin with budgeting, OKRs, and operational performance systems
• Change adoption risks and leadership communication actions
• Data quality, metric ownership, and reporting controls
• Quarterly reflection and annual Hoshin renewal processes
• Ninety-day deployment milestones and implementation sequencing
• Executive presentation of the strategy deployment pack

Workshop: Participants complete and present a 90-day Hoshin implementation roadmap, receiving peer and instructor challenge on governance, measures, and adoption risks.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Miro, ISO 9001:2015

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions