Strategic Management and Plan Evaluation Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Directors and senior managers, Strategy and planning managers 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-062

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to business plans, departmental plans, investment cases, policy papers, transformation programmes or performance reviews.

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 plans often fail because they describe ambitions without testing the underlying assumptions, resource requirements, trade-offs, risks, governance arrangements or measures of success. Senior managers must judge whether a proposed strategy is credible, financially viable and executable before committing capital, people and reputation. They also need a disciplined way to review existing plans when market conditions, regulation, stakeholder expectations or organisational performance change.

This advanced course examines the full strategic management cycle: defining strategic intent, diagnosing internal and external conditions, identifying stakeholder priorities, generating strategic options, selecting priorities and translating choices into objectives, policies, initiatives and performance measures. Participants apply established tools including PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, SWOT/TOWS, stakeholder mapping, Balanced Scorecard, scenario planning, risk heat maps and financial evaluation methods. They learn to distinguish strategic goals from operational activity, challenge weak evidence, assess strategic fit and test whether plans can be delivered.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with realistic cases, facilitated analysis, group decision-making and structured review of strategic plans. Cases reflect issues faced by public agencies, banks, NGOs, regulated utilities and multinational businesses, including growth decisions, service redesign, digital investment, market entry and policy change. Participants leave with a reusable strategic plan evaluation pack containing diagnostic templates, option appraisal criteria, implementation controls and a personal application plan for a current strategic issue.

The course is suited to leaders and advisers who contribute to strategy formulation, approval, implementation or review. It is particularly valuable where participants must assess plans prepared by business units, departments, project teams, consultants or partner organisations.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose strategic position using PESTLE, Five Forces, SWOT/TOWS and capability analysis
  • Define strategic intent through mission, vision, values, objectives and strategic themes
  • Evaluate stakeholder interests, power, legitimacy and engagement requirements using stakeholder mapping
  • Generate and compare strategic options using suitability, feasibility and acceptability criteria
  • Build strategy maps and Balanced Scorecards linking priorities, measures, targets and initiatives
  • Assess strategic plan viability through financial analysis, risk assessment and scenario testing
  • Design implementation governance using policies, accountabilities, milestones and review cycles
  • Produce a structured strategic plan evaluation report with recommendations and decision criteria

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Assess strategic plans with clear evidence, challenge questions and decision criteria
  • Frame strategic choices rather than presenting unprioritised lists of initiatives
  • Prepare stronger recommendations for executive committees, boards and investment forums
  • Connect strategic objectives to measurable outcomes, budgets, owners and review points
  • Build a practical evaluation approach for plans within the participant's area

For your organisation

  • Improves the quality and consistency of strategic plan reviews
  • Reduces approval of initiatives with weak assumptions or unclear benefits
  • Links strategic priorities more directly to resources, risks and performance measures
  • Strengthens accountability for implementation milestones, decisions and corrective action
  • Creates a shared language for evaluating strategy across functions and business units

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define strategic intent and distinguish strategy from operational planning.

  • Strategic management cycle from intent setting through review and renewal
  • Mission, vision and values tested for purpose, direction and decision relevance
  • Strategic objectives distinguished from operational targets, projects and routine activities
  • Strategic themes used to focus choices across multiple business priorities
  • Corporate, business-unit and functional strategies aligned through cascading choices
  • Policy frameworks translated into strategic commitments and management boundaries

Participants can develop an evidence-based assessment of strategic position.

  • PESTLE analysis identifies political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental drivers
  • Porter's Five Forces assesses industry attractiveness and competitive pressure
  • Market segmentation clarifies priority customers, users, beneficiaries and service needs
  • Competitor analysis compares positioning, capabilities, pricing and strategic intent
  • Value chain analysis identifies activities creating cost, quality or differentiation advantages
  • Resource-based view tests valuable, rare, inimitable and organised capabilities
  • SWOT synthesis separates evidence-based strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Participants can analyse stakeholder demands and test assumptions shaping strategic choices.

  • Stakeholder mapping assesses power, interest, legitimacy and potential influence
  • Salience model prioritises stakeholder claims using power, legitimacy and urgency
  • Customer and beneficiary evidence separates stated needs from strategic demand
  • Assumption mapping classifies uncertainties by impact and confidence levels
  • Strategic issues framed as decisions requiring evidence, ownership and timing
  • Regulatory obligations incorporated as constraints, risks or strategic opportunities

Participants can formulate coherent strategic options from diagnostic evidence.

  • TOWS matrix converts diagnostic findings into strategic option combinations
  • Ansoff Matrix compares market penetration, development, product development and diversification
  • Business model canvas tests value proposition, channels, partners and revenue logic
  • Make-buy-partner decisions assess control, capability, cost and dependency implications
  • Growth, consolidation, turnaround and exit strategies matched to strategic conditions
  • Option statements specify target outcome, strategic route, scope and required capabilities
  • Strategic alternatives avoid false choices between incompatible priorities and resources

Participants can compare strategic alternatives and make transparent prioritisation recommendations.

  • Suitability evaluates whether options address critical strategic issues and opportunities
  • Feasibility tests capabilities, funding, capacity, technology and implementation constraints
  • Acceptability assesses returns, risk exposure and stakeholder response
  • Decision matrices weight criteria and score competing strategic alternatives
  • Scenario planning tests options against plausible external futures and disruptions
  • Portfolio matrices balance investment, risk, timing and strategic contribution
  • Strategic choice papers present recommendation, rationale, conditions and rejected alternatives

Participants can translate strategic choices into measurable objectives and performance controls.

  • Strategy maps connect financial, customer, process and capability objectives
  • Balanced Scorecard measures link strategic themes to accountable performance outcomes
  • Leading and lagging indicators distinguish drivers from results
  • SMART targets set measurable commitments without encouraging dysfunctional behaviour
  • KPI definitions specify formula, data source, owner, frequency and thresholds
  • Benefits maps show causal links between initiatives, capabilities and outcomes
  • Performance dashboards separate board measures from management operating measures

Participants can structure strategic plans with clear governance, policies and accountabilities.

  • Strategic plan structure links diagnosis, choices, objectives, initiatives and controls
  • Policy design defines decision rules, boundaries, exceptions and approval authorities
  • RACI matrices assign responsibility, accountability, consultation and information roles
  • Governance charters specify mandate, membership, decisions and escalation routes
  • Milestone plans sequence dependencies, decision gates, resources and deliverables
  • Strategic initiatives converted into accountable workstreams and benefit owners
  • Board reporting packs distinguish assurance, decision requests and performance information

Participants can evaluate strategic plans for financial viability, risk exposure and resilience.

  • Business cases distinguish capital costs, operating costs, benefits and disbenefits
  • Net present value compares investment options using discounted cash flows
  • Sensitivity analysis tests critical assumptions affecting financial and strategic outcomes
  • Break-even analysis identifies volume, price and cost thresholds
  • Risk heat maps assess likelihood, impact, velocity and control effectiveness
  • Risk appetite statements guide acceptable exposure and escalation decisions
  • Contingency triggers define responses when strategic assumptions fail

Participants can design implementation arrangements that sustain strategic delivery and adaptation.

  • Implementation roadmaps sequence initiatives, capability development and resource mobilisation
  • Kotter's eight-step model structures leadership actions during major change
  • ADKAR identifies awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement requirements
  • Change impact assessments identify affected groups, processes, systems and roles
  • Communication plans align messages, sponsors, channels, timing and feedback loops
  • Strategic review cycles compare results, assumptions, risks and corrective actions
  • Management by exception focuses leadership attention on material performance variance

Participants can conduct a structured review of a strategic plan and prepare implementation recommendations.

  • Plan evaluation criteria test coherence, evidence, alignment, viability and control
  • Strategic logic models examine inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts
  • Red-team review challenges assumptions, blind spots, dependencies and unsupported claims
  • Evidence registers record sources, confidence levels, gaps and validation actions
  • Evaluation reports distinguish findings, implications, recommendations and decision requests
  • Review meetings use agenda discipline, decision logs and action tracking
  • Personal application plans identify immediate strategic review priorities and stakeholders

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

What you take back to work

  1. Strategic plan evaluation checklist
  2. PESTLE, Five Forces and SWOT/TOWS diagnostic templates
  3. Strategic option appraisal matrix
  4. Strategy map and Balanced Scorecard template
  5. Strategic risk and assumption register
  6. Strategic implementation governance plan

Who should attend

  • Directors and senior managers — assess strategic choices, investment priorities and organisational performance
  • Strategy and planning managers — develop evidence-based plans and maintain strategic review cycles
  • Business unit heads — translate enterprise strategy into accountable priorities and delivery plans
  • Programme and portfolio managers — test strategic alignment, benefits and implementation dependencies
  • Policy advisers and public-sector managers — evaluate policy options against stakeholder and delivery criteria
  • Internal audit, risk and finance managers — challenge assumptions, controls and financial viability

Skills and tools covered

Strategic diagnosisOption appraisalStakeholder analysisPerformance measurementStrategic risk assessmentImplementation governance

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, Balanced Scorecard, Business Model Canvas

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce frameworks, followed by case analysis, facilitated group work, decision simulations and structured plan reviews. Participants examine strategic evidence, identify assumptions, compare options and develop implementation controls using realistic management scenarios. Discussion focuses on the quality of strategic reasoning rather than textbook answers. Individual application planning connects the methods to a live strategic issue, plan or proposal from each participant's workplace. Classroom and live online delivery follow the same facilitated learning design.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to business plans, departmental plans, investment cases, policy papers, transformation programmes or performance reviews. They should be comfortable reading management reports, discussing financial and operational information, and participating in senior-level decision-making. Familiarity with their organisation's current strategy, planning cycle and key performance measures will help them apply the course directly. Prior formal study of strategy, an MBA, advanced finance qualifications or previous use of strategic frameworks is not required. The course explains each framework before applying it.

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

Participants should have practical exposure to planning, management reporting, investment decisions, policy development or programme delivery. Formal strategy qualifications are not required, but the course is designed for experienced professionals rather than first-time supervisors.

Participants should bring a current strategic plan, business plan, policy proposal, transformation roadmap or investment case where organisational policy permits. A non-confidential version is sufficient, and participants can use course cases if they cannot bring workplace material.

It suits senior managers, planning professionals, business unit leaders, programme managers, policy advisers, finance managers, risk professionals and internal auditors. It is most useful for people who must create, approve, challenge or review strategic plans.

This course focuses on the quality of strategic choices and the evaluation of strategic plans. Leadership and project management may support implementation, but this course concentrates on diagnosis, option selection, strategic measures, financial viability, risk and governance.

Participants can use the evaluation checklist, diagnostic templates and option appraisal matrix to review a live plan or proposal. They can also improve planning papers by making assumptions, decision criteria, performance measures and implementation accountabilities explicit.

The programme provides approximately 32.5 contact hours across five training days, normally from 08:30 to 16:30. Time is allocated to strategic diagnosis, option development, plan evaluation, implementation controls and application planning, with facilitated case work throughout.

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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