Strategic Analysis Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Strategy Managers, Business Unit Leaders and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-SP-061

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to business planning, programme planning, commercial analysis, policy development or management decision-making.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Strategic decisions often stall because teams have abundant data but no disciplined way to define the decision, test assumptions, compare options or explain trade-offs. Market trends, competitor moves, customer evidence, operating constraints and financial estimates may sit in separate reports without producing a clear strategic judgement. Senior managers need analysis that identifies the few factors that matter, distinguishes facts from interpretation and supports decisions on where to compete, how to win and what resources to commit.

This advanced Strategic Analysis Training Course develops a structured approach to strategy analysis from initial mandate through recommendation, implementation and performance review. Participants frame strategic questions, map stakeholders, assess macro forces and industry economics, analyse competitive position and internal capabilities, and develop credible strategic options. The course applies PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, VRIO, Value Chain Analysis, SWOT/TOWS, Ansoff Matrix, Business Model Canvas, portfolio matrices, scenario analysis and weighted decision methods. Participants also build financial cases, test strategic assumptions, assess risks and translate selected choices into objectives, initiatives, measures and governance arrangements.

Instruction combines concise expert briefings with case analysis, group work, decision simulations and structured peer challenge. Cases reflect decisions common in banking, public services, infrastructure, manufacturing, NGOs and multinational businesses: entering a market, defending a profitable segment, redesigning a service model, prioritising an investment portfolio or responding to regulatory change. Participants leave with a reusable strategy analysis pack containing an analysis charter, evidence matrix, option evaluation model, recommendation paper and 90-day application plan. The course is particularly useful for managers expected to provide evidence-based recommendations to executive teams, boards, investment committees or programme sponsors.

What you will be able to do

  • Frame a strategic decision using an analysis charter, issue tree and stakeholder map
  • Conduct external analysis using PESTLE, scenario planning, market sizing and competitor intelligence
  • Assess industry attractiveness and competitive position using Five Forces and strategic group analysis
  • Diagnose internal capabilities using VRIO, Value Chain Analysis and cost-to-serve methods
  • Generate strategic options using TOWS, Ansoff Matrix and Business Model Canvas
  • Evaluate strategic choices using weighted criteria, financial cases, scenarios and pre-mortems
  • Design implementation roadmaps using strategy maps, OKRs, RACI matrices and governance cadences
  • Present an executive strategy recommendation supported by evidence, trade-offs, risks and decision requests

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce stronger recommendations for senior leadership and board-level decisions
  • Distinguish evidence, assumptions, judgement and risk in strategic proposals
  • Apply recognised strategy frameworks without treating them as isolated templates
  • Build credible option comparisons with explicit criteria and trade-offs
  • Create an actionable strategy analysis pack for a current work priority

For your organisation

  • Improves consistency of strategic analysis across business units and functions
  • Reduces weak investment proposals built on untested assumptions or partial evidence
  • Creates clearer links between market insight, capability choices and resource allocation
  • Strengthens executive decision papers with explicit options, risks and recommendations
  • Improves follow-through through defined initiatives, measures, governance and review cycles

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define a decision-focused strategy analysis mandate with clear scope, stakeholders and evidence requirements.

  • Strategic intent, scope and time horizon translated into an analysis charter
  • Decision statements distinguish symptoms, constraints, choices and testable assumptions
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies decision rights, influence, interests and information needs
  • Problem trees separate root causes from consequences and proposed solutions
  • MECE issue trees structure hypotheses, evidence requests and workstreams
  • Analysis charter defines sponsor, governance, milestones, evidence standards and outputs

Participants can assess external forces and identify uncertainties requiring strategic response.

  • PESTLE scan separates structural trends, policy shifts and short-term events
  • Scenario axes built from critical uncertainties and predetermined elements
  • Market signals assessed for relevance, velocity, confidence and strategic impact
  • Regulatory change mapped to customer economics, operating constraints and timing
  • Competitor intelligence distinguishes stated intent, observed moves and likely responses
  • Strategic implications documented using opportunity, threat, trigger and response logic

Participants can assess market attractiveness, customer economics and sources of competitive pressure.

  • Porter's Five Forces tests industry attractiveness, profit pools and bargaining power
  • Strategic groups reveal mobility barriers, positioning patterns and competitive whitespace
  • Competitor benchmarking compares cost position, differentiation, scale and channel access
  • Customer segmentation links jobs, needs, willingness-to-pay and buying criteria
  • Value-chain profit pools locate margin concentration and points of disruption
  • Market sizing combines top-down estimates, bottom-up drivers and sensitivity ranges

Participants can identify capabilities, cost drivers and performance gaps that shape strategic feasibility.

  • VRIO analysis tests resources for value, rarity, imitability and organisational support
  • Value chain analysis traces activities, cost drivers and differentiation sources
  • Core capability assessment distinguishes strengths from defensible competitive advantage
  • Cost-to-serve analysis identifies unprofitable segments, channels and service features
  • Benchmark gaps prioritised by performance variance, strategic importance and feasibility
  • SWOT evidence matrix separates facts, interpretations, risks and management responses

Participants can convert diagnosis into distinct, testable and strategically coherent options.

  • TOWS matrix converts internal and external findings into strategic option themes
  • Ansoff Matrix distinguishes market penetration, development, product development and diversification
  • Business Model Canvas tests value proposition, revenue logic and key partners
  • Blue Ocean Strategy identifies buyer utility, strategic factors and value curves
  • Option statements specify target customer, advantage mechanism, investments and trade-offs
  • Assumption mapping ranks uncertainty by impact, evidence quality and reversibility

Participants can prioritise businesses, initiatives and resource commitments against strategic criteria.

  • BCG Growth-Share Matrix assesses portfolio balance, cash generation and investment priorities
  • GE-McKinsey matrix compares business attractiveness with competitive strength
  • Resource allocation links strategic priorities to capital, talent and management attention
  • Three Horizons separates core optimisation, emerging opportunities and future bets
  • Make-buy-partner analysis tests control, capability, economics and speed
  • Synergy claims tested against integration costs, dependencies and execution risk

Participants can compare strategic options, test downside exposure and prepare a reasoned recommendation.

  • Weighted decision matrices compare options against agreed strategic criteria
  • Financial cases estimate revenue, margin, cash flow and investment requirements
  • Real-options logic values staged commitments under uncertainty and learning
  • Scenario stress tests expose downside exposure, breakpoints and contingent actions
  • Pre-mortem reviews identify failure modes, weak signals and mitigation owners
  • Recommendation papers distinguish evidence, judgement, risks, decisions and next steps

Participants can convert strategic choices into objectives, initiatives, ownership and delivery sequencing.

  • Strategy maps connect strategic themes, objectives, capabilities and operational outcomes
  • Balanced Scorecard measures financial, customer, process and capability objectives
  • OKRs translate strategic priorities into measurable outcomes and committed initiatives
  • Initiative roadmaps sequence dependencies, milestones, accountabilities and decision gates
  • RACI matrices clarify ownership for cross-functional strategic programmes
  • Change impact assessment identifies affected groups, behaviours and adoption barriers

Participants can establish measures, review routines and risk controls for strategy execution.

  • Leading and lagging indicators distinguish predictive signals from outcome measures
  • KPI dictionaries define formulae, data owners, frequency and escalation thresholds
  • Strategic risk registers link uncertainties to indicators, controls and contingency actions
  • Benefits realisation plans track value hypotheses, measures, owners and review points
  • Performance reviews test assumptions, reallocate resources and retire weak initiatives
  • Governance cadences establish decision forums, evidence packs and exception handling

Participants can communicate an evidence-based strategic recommendation and plan their immediate application.

  • Executive narratives frame context, choices, evidence, implications and required decisions
  • One-page strategy documents align ambition, diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions
  • Board papers present alternatives, recommendation rationale, risks and requested approvals
  • Data visualisation selects charts that clarify trends, comparisons and uncertainty
  • Challenge sessions test logic, omissions, bias and stakeholder objections
  • 90-day application plans specify decisions, analyses, sponsors and first milestones

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Strategy analysis charter template
  2. External and internal evidence matrix
  3. Strategic option evaluation model
  4. Executive recommendation paper template
  5. Strategy execution roadmap
  6. 90-day strategic application plan

Who should attend

  • Strategy Managers — need defensible analysis for enterprise and business-unit choices
  • Business Unit Leaders — need to test growth priorities, investment cases and competitive responses
  • Corporate Planning Managers — need consistent methods for annual plans and strategic reviews
  • Programme Directors — need to connect strategic intent with initiatives, governance and measures
  • Product and Commercial Directors — need evidence for market choices, positioning and portfolio priorities
  • Policy and Public Sector Managers — need structured options for policy, service and funding decisions

Skills and tools covered

Strategic issue framingCompetitive analysisCapability assessmentOption evaluationStrategy execution designExecutive recommendations

Tools and standards

PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, VRIO, Balanced Scorecard

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish each method, followed by facilitated case work, small-group analysis and decision simulations. Participants interpret market, customer, financial and operating evidence; develop competing strategic options; and defend recommendations under structured challenge. Cases can be adapted to the cohort's sector and current strategic concerns. Individual application planning connects the methods to a live decision, plan or investment question. Instructor feedback focuses on analytical logic, evidence quality, trade-offs, decision criteria and the clarity of executive communication.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to business planning, programme planning, commercial analysis, policy development or management decision-making. They should be comfortable reading management reports, basic financial information and market data, and should understand their organisation's products, services, customers or stakeholders. Experience presenting recommendations to senior managers is useful but not essential. No prior strategy qualification, MBA, consulting background, specialist economics training or advanced spreadsheet modelling expertise is required. The course explains each framework before applying it to strategic decisions.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

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

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience with management planning, business decisions, programme delivery, commercial work or policy development. You do not need an MBA, consulting experience or prior formal study of strategy.

Bring a current strategic question, business challenge, investment proposal or planning priority if you can share it appropriately. You may also bring non-confidential market, performance or customer data to support your application planning.

The course suits managers and senior specialists who analyse strategic choices or contribute to recommendations for senior decision makers. It is especially relevant to strategy, planning, commercial, transformation, product, policy and programme roles.

Strategic planning often concentrates on setting direction, objectives and annual priorities. This course concentrates on the analytical work that tests the diagnosis, develops options, compares trade-offs and supports a defensible strategic recommendation.

The methods can be applied to market entry, service redesign, portfolio review, competitor response, investment prioritisation or policy choices. Participants build a 90-day application plan around a decision relevant to their work.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided across ten connected modules covering diagnosis, option development, evaluation, execution, governance and executive communication.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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