strategic business planning models

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• 7 strategic planning models, plus 8 fra ...

7 strategic planning models, plus 8 frameworks to help you get started

Strategic planning is vital in defining where your business is going in the next three to five years. With the right strategic planning models and frameworks, you can uncover opportunities, identify risks, and create a strategic plan to fuel your organization’s success. We list the most popular models and frameworks and explain how you can combine them to create a strategic plan that fits your business.

A strategic plan is a great tool to help you hit your business goals . But sometimes, this tool needs to be updated to reflect new business priorities or changing market conditions. If you decide to use a model that already exists, you can benefit from a roadmap that’s already created. The model you choose can improve your knowledge of what works best in your organization, uncover unknown strengths and weaknesses, or help you find out how you can outpace your competitors.

In this article, we cover the most common strategic planning models and frameworks and explain when to use which one. Plus, get tips on how to apply them and which models and frameworks work well together. 

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Strategic planning models vs. frameworks

First off: This is not a one-or-nothing scenario. You can use as many or as few strategic planning models and frameworks as you like. 

When your organization undergoes a strategic planning phase, you should first pick a model or two that you want to apply. This will provide you with a basic outline of the steps to take during the strategic planning process.

During that process, think of strategic planning frameworks as the tools in your toolbox. Many models suggest starting with a SWOT analysis or defining your vision and mission statements first. Depending on your goals, though, you may want to apply several different frameworks throughout the strategic planning process.

For example, if you’re applying a scenario-based strategic plan, you could start with a SWOT and PEST(LE) analysis to get a better overview of your current standing. If one of the weaknesses you identify has to do with your manufacturing process, you could apply the theory of constraints to improve bottlenecks and mitigate risks. 

Now that you know the difference between the two, learn more about the seven strategic planning models, as well as the eight most commonly used frameworks that go along with them.

1. Basic model

The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company’s vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

If it’s your first strategic planning session, the basic model is the way to go. Later on, you can embellish it with other models to adjust or rewrite your business strategy as needed. Let’s take a look at what kinds of businesses can benefit from this strategic planning model and how to apply it.

Small businesses or organizations

Companies with little to no strategic planning experience

Organizations with few resources 

Write your mission statement. Gather your planning team and have a brainstorming session. The more ideas you can collect early in this step, the more fun and rewarding the analysis phase will feel.

Identify your organization’s goals . Setting clear business goals will increase your team’s performance and positively impact their motivation.

Outline strategies that will help you reach your goals. Ask yourself what steps you have to take in order to reach these goals and break them down into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals .

Create action plans to implement each of the strategies above. Action plans will keep teams motivated and your organization on target.

Monitor and revise the plan as you go . As with any strategic plan, it’s important to closely monitor if your company is implementing it successfully and how you can adjust it for a better outcome.

2. Issue-based model

Also called goal-based planning model, this is essentially an extension of the basic strategic planning model. It’s a bit more dynamic and very popular for companies that want to create a more comprehensive plan.

Organizations with basic strategic planning experience

Businesses that are looking for a more comprehensive plan

Conduct a SWOT analysis . Assess your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a SWOT analysis to get a better overview of what your strategic plan should focus on. We’ll give into how to conduct a SWOT analysis when we get into the strategic planning frameworks below.

Identify and prioritize major issues and/or goals. Based on your SWOT analysis, identify and prioritize what your strategic plan should focus on this time around.

Develop your main strategies that address these issues and/or goals. Aim to develop one overarching strategy that addresses your highest-priority goal and/or issue to keep this process as simple as possible.

Update or create a mission and vision statement . Make sure that your business’s statements align with your new or updated strategy. If you haven’t already, this is also a chance for you to define your organization’s values.

Create action plans. These will help you address your organization’s goals, resource needs, roles, and responsibilities. 

Develop a yearly operational plan document. This model works best if your business repeats the strategic plan implementation process on an annual basis, so use a yearly operational plan to capture your goals, progress, and opportunities for next time.

Allocate resources for your year-one operational plan. Whether you need funding or dedicated team members to implement your first strategic plan, now is the time to allocate all the resources you’ll need.

Monitor and revise the strategic plan. Record your lessons learned in the operational plan so you can revisit and improve it for the next strategic planning phase.

The issue-based plan can repeat on an annual basis (or less often once you resolve the issues). It’s important to update the plan every time it’s in action to ensure it’s still doing the best it can for your organization.

You don’t have to repeat the full process every year—rather, focus on what’s a priority during this run.

3. Alignment model

This model is also called strategic alignment model (SAM) and is one of the most popular strategic planning models. It helps you align your business and IT strategies with your organization’s strategic goals. 

You’ll have to consider four equally important, yet different perspectives when applying the alignment strategic planning model:

Strategy execution: The business strategy driving the model

Technology potential: The IT strategy supporting the business strategy

Competitive potential: Emerging IT capabilities that can create new products and services

Service level: Team members dedicated to creating the best IT system in the organization

Ideally, your strategy will check off all the criteria above—however, it’s more likely you’ll have to find a compromise. 

Here’s how to create a strategic plan using the alignment model and what kinds of companies can benefit from it.

Organizations that need to fine-tune their strategies

Businesses that want to uncover issues that prevent them from aligning with their mission

Companies that want to reassess objectives or correct problem areas that prevent them from growing

Outline your organization’s mission, programs, resources, and where support is needed. Before you can improve your statements and approaches, you need to define what exactly they are.

Identify what internal processes are working and which ones aren’t. Pinpoint which processes are causing problems, creating bottlenecks , or could otherwise use improving. Then prioritize which internal processes will have the biggest positive impact on your business.

Identify solutions. Work with the respective teams when you’re creating a new strategy to benefit from their experience and perspective on the current situation.

Update your strategic plan with the solutions. Update your strategic plan and monitor if implementing it is setting your business up for improvement or growth. If not, you may have to return to the drawing board and update your strategic plan with new solutions.

4. Scenario model

The scenario model works great if you combine it with other models like the basic or issue-based model. This model is particularly helpful if you need to consider external factors as well. These can be government regulations, technical, or demographic changes that may impact your business.

Organizations trying to identify strategic issues and goals caused by external factors

Identify external factors that influence your organization. For example, you should consider demographic, regulation, or environmental factors.

Review the worst case scenario the above factors could have on your organization. If you know what the worst case scenario for your business looks like, it’ll be much easier to prepare for it. Besides, it’ll take some of the pressure and surprise out of the mix, should a scenario similar to the one you create actually occur.

Identify and discuss two additional hypothetical organizational scenarios. On top of your worst case scenario, you’ll also want to define the best case and average case scenarios. Keep in mind that the worst case scenario from the previous step can often provoke strong motivation to change your organization for the better. However, discussing the other two will allow you to focus on the positive—the opportunities your business may have ahead.

Identify and suggest potential strategies or solutions. Everyone on the team should now brainstorm different ways your business could potentially respond to each of the three scenarios. Discuss the proposed strategies as a team afterward.

Uncover common considerations or strategies for your organization. There’s a good chance that your teammates come up with similar solutions. Decide which ones you like best as a team or create a new one together.

Identify the most likely scenario and the most reasonable strategy. Finally, examine which of the three scenarios is most likely to occur in the next three to five years and how your business should respond to potential changes.

5. Self-organizing model

Also called the organic planning model, the self-organizing model is a bit different from the linear approaches of the other models. You’ll have to be very patient with this method. 

This strategic planning model is all about focusing on the learning and growing process rather than achieving a specific goal. Since the organic model concentrates on continuous improvement , the process is never really over.

Large organizations that can afford to take their time

Businesses that prefer a more naturalistic, organic planning approach that revolves around common values, communication, and shared reflection

Companies that have a clear understanding of their vision

Define and communicate your organization’s cultural values . Your team can only think clearly and with solutions in mind when they have a clear understanding of your organization's values.

Communicate the planning group’s vision for the organization. Define and communicate the vision with everyone involved in the strategic planning process. This will align everyone’s ideas with your company’s vision.

Discuss what processes will help realize the organization’s vision on a regular basis. Meet every quarter to discuss strategies or tactics that will move your organization closer to realizing your vision.

6. Real-time model

This fluid model can help organizations that deal with rapid changes to their work environment. There are three levels of success in the real-time model: 

Organizational: At the organizational level, you’re forming strategies in response to opportunities or trends.

Programmatic: At the programmatic level, you have to decide how to respond to specific outcomes or environmental changes.

Operational: On the operational level, you will study internal systems, policies, and people to develop a strategy for your company.

Figuring out your competitive advantage can be difficult, but this is absolutely crucial to ensure success. Whether it’s a unique asset or strength your organization has or an outstanding execution of services or programs—it’s important that you can set yourself apart from others in the industry to succeed.

Companies that need to react quickly to changing environments

Businesses that are seeking new tools to help them align with their organizational strategy

Define your mission and vision statement. If you ever feel stuck formulating your company’s mission or vision statement, take a look at those of others. Maybe Asana’s vision statement sparks some inspiration.

Research, understand, and learn from competitor strategy and market trends. Pick a handful of competitors in your industry and find out how they’ve created success for themselves. How did they handle setbacks or challenges? What kinds of challenges did they even encounter? Are these common scenarios in the market? Learn from your competitors by finding out as much as you can about them.

Study external environments. At this point, you can combine the real-time model with the scenario model to find solutions to threats and opportunities outside of your control.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your internal processes, systems, and resources. Besides the external factors your team has to consider, it’s also important to look at your company’s internal environment and how well you’re prepared for different scenarios.

Develop a strategy. Discuss the results of your SWOT analysis to develop a business strategy that builds toward organizational, programmatic, and operational success.

Rinse and repeat. Monitor how well the new strategy is working for your organization and repeat the planning process as needed to ensure you’re on top or, perhaps, ahead of the game. 

7. Inspirational model

This last strategic planning model is perfect to inspire and energize your team as they work toward your organization’s goals. It’s also a great way to introduce or reconnect your employees to your business strategy after a merger or acquisition.

Businesses with a dynamic and inspired start-up culture

Organizations looking for inspiration to reinvigorate the creative process

Companies looking for quick solutions and strategy shifts

Gather your team to discuss an inspirational vision for your organization. The more people you can gather for this process, the more input you will receive.

Brainstorm big, hairy audacious goals and ideas. Encouraging your team not to hold back with ideas that may seem ridiculous will do two things: for one, it will mitigate the fear of contributing bad ideas. But more importantly, it may lead to a genius idea or suggestion that your team wouldn’t have thought of if they felt like they had to think inside of the box.

Assess your organization’s resources. Find out if your company has the resources to implement your new ideas. If they don’t, you’ll have to either adjust your strategy or allocate more resources.

Develop a strategy balancing your resources and brainstorming ideas. Far-fetched ideas can grow into amazing opportunities but they can also bear great risk. Make sure to balance ideas with your strategic direction. 

Now, let’s dive into the most commonly used strategic frameworks.

8. SWOT analysis framework

One of the most popular strategic planning frameworks is the SWOT analysis . A SWOT analysis is a great first step in identifying areas of opportunity and risk—which can help you create a strategic plan that accounts for growth and prepares for threats.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Here’s an example:

9. OKRs framework

A big part of strategic planning is setting goals for your company. That’s where OKRs come into play. 

OKRs stand for objective and key results—this goal-setting framework helps your organization set and achieve goals. It provides a somewhat holistic approach that you can use to connect your team’s work to your organization’s big-picture goals.  When team members understand how their individual work contributes to the organization’s success, they tend to be more motivated and produce better results

10. Balanced scorecard (BSC) framework

The balanced scorecard is a popular strategic framework for businesses that want to take a more holistic approach rather than just focus on their financial performance. It was designed by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in the 1990s, it’s used by companies around the globe to: 

Communicate goals

Align their team’s daily work with their company’s strategy

Prioritize products, services, and projects

Monitor their progress toward their strategic goals

Your balanced scorecard will outline four main business perspectives:

Customers or clients , meaning their value, satisfaction, and/or retention

Financial , meaning your effectiveness in using resources and your financial performance

Internal process , meaning your business’s quality and efficiency

Organizational capacity , meaning your organizational culture, infrastructure and technology, and human resources

With the help of a strategy map, you can visualize and communicate how your company is creating value. A strategy map is a simple graphic that shows cause-and-effect connections between strategic objectives. 

The balanced scorecard framework is an amazing tool to use from outlining your mission, vision, and values all the way to implementing your strategic plan .

You can use an integration like Lucidchart to create strategy maps for your business in Asana.

11. Porter’s Five Forces framework

If you’re using the real-time strategic planning model, Porter’s Five Forces are a great framework to apply. You can use it to find out what your product’s or service’s competitive advantage is before entering the market.

Developed by Michael E. Porter , the framework outlines five forces you have to be aware of and monitor:

Threat of new industry entrants: Any new entry into the market results in increased pressure on prices and costs. 

Competition in the industry: The more competitors that exist, the more difficult it will be for you to create value in the market with your product or service.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers can wield more power if there are less alternatives for buyers or it’s expensive, time consuming, or difficult to switch to a different supplier.

Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers can wield more power if the same product or service is available elsewhere with little to no difference in quality.

Threat of substitutes: If another company already covers the market’s needs, you’ll have to create a better product or service or make it available for a lower price at the same quality in order to compete.

Remember, industry structures aren’t static. The more dynamic your strategic plan is, the better you’ll be able to compete in a market.

12. VRIO framework

The VRIO framework is another strategic planning tool designed to help you evaluate your competitive advantage. VRIO stands for value, rarity, imitability, and organization.

It’s a resource-based theory developed by Jay Barney. With this framework, you can study your firmed resources and find out whether or not your company can transform them into sustained competitive advantages. 

Firmed resources can be tangible (e.g., cash, tools, inventory, etc.) or intangible (e.g., copyrights, trademarks, organizational culture, etc.). Whether these resources will actually help your business once you enter the market depends on four qualities:

Valuable : Will this resource either increase your revenue or decrease your costs and thereby create value for your business?

Rare : Are the resources you’re using rare or can others use your resources as well and therefore easily provide the same product or service?

Inimitable : Are your resources either inimitable or non-substitutable? In other words, how unique and complex are your resources?

Organizational: Are you organized enough to use your resources in a way that captures their value, rarity, and inimitability?

It’s important that your resources check all the boxes above so you can ensure that you have sustained competitive advantage over others in the industry.

13. Theory of Constraints (TOC) framework

If the reason you’re currently in a strategic planning process is because you’re trying to mitigate risks or uncover issues that could hurt your business—this framework should be in your toolkit.

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a problem-solving framework that can help you identify limiting factors or bottlenecks preventing your organization from hitting OKRs or KPIs . 

Whether it’s a policy, market, or recourse constraint—you can apply the theory of constraints to solve potential problems, respond to issues, and empower your team to improve their work with the resources they have.

14. PEST/PESTLE analysis framework

The idea of the PEST analysis is similar to that of the SWOT analysis except that you’re focusing on external factors and solutions. It’s a great framework to combine with the scenario-based strategic planning model as it helps you define external factors connected to your business’s success.

PEST stands for political, economic, sociological, and technological factors. Depending on your business model, you may want to expand this framework to include legal and environmental factors as well (PESTLE). These are the most common factors you can include in a PESTLE analysis:

Political: Taxes, trade tariffs, conflicts

Economic: Interest and inflation rate, economic growth patterns, unemployment rate

Social: Demographics, education, media, health

Technological: Communication, information technology, research and development, patents

Legal: Regulatory bodies, environmental regulations, consumer protection

Environmental: Climate, geographical location, environmental offsets

15. Hoshin Kanri framework

Hoshin Kanri is a great tool to communicate and implement strategic goals. It’s a planning system that involves the entire organization in the strategic planning process. The term is Japanese and stands for “compass management” and is also known as policy management. 

This strategic planning framework is a top-down approach that starts with your leadership team defining long-term goals which are then aligned and communicated with every team member in the company. 

You should hold regular meetings to monitor progress and update the timeline to ensure that every teammate’s contributions are aligned with the overarching company goals.

Stick to your strategic goals

Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a nonprofit organization with decades of experience, strategic planning is a crucial step in your journey to success. 

If you’re looking for a tool that can help you and your team define, organize, and implement your strategic goals, Asana is here to help. Our goal-setting software allows you to connect all of your team members in one place, visualize progress, and stay on target.

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How to create a winning marketing plan (with examples)

Your AI blueprint: How to build a transformational strategy from the ground up

Strategic Planning Models: The 5 Best Strategy Models

New business models, global disruptions, and a need for rapid changes inspired various approaches to strategic planning, also known as strategic planning models. 

What all planning models have in common is that they help you translate strategies into action and aim to provide you with structure in the process of creating a strategic plan. But there are now countless frameworks, each with its own approach.

We summarized the 5 most popular strategic planning models in one place so you can start building your own strategic plan in no time.

To get there, let’s explore: 

• What is a Strategic Planning Model?
• Planning or strategy: Where to start?

The Cascade Model

The hoshin kanri model, balanced scorecard, strategic planning process model vs strategic frameworks.

• Strategy Model: Which One Is Right For You?

What is a Strategic Planning Model? 

A strategic planning model is a collective term for several elements contributing to the strategic planning process . The core components of a strategic planning model include:

• A templated structure for creating strategic goals.
• A loose structure of governance to help you manage and track your strategy.

You can think of strategic planning models as “templates” into which you can drop your own ideas. In the end, you'll come out with a strategic plan which is sensibly structured and gives you a clear strategic roadmap to hit your business goals. 

Now that we've defined what a strategic planning model actually is, let's look a bit deeper into each element that one should contain.

2 essential elements of any effective strategic planning model

• Structure refers to the different elements of your strategic plan and how they all fit together. For example, your structure may start with a Vision and Mission Statement, then flow into Values, Focus Areas, and any number of Goal levels.
• Governance refers to how you'll go about actually tracking and reporting on the execution of your strategy.

Planning or strategy: Where to start? 

Before we move into the planning section of this article, let’s clarify a common confusion around strategy and strategic planning. What’s the difference and what comes first?  

First, do not mistake strategy for a plan. In short, strategy is the act of making strategic choices, while a plan is a roadmap with timelines, owners, and deliverables. 

Before laying out your plan, you should get a better understanding of your internal and external business environment so you can make strategic choices and prioritize initiatives. 

“ The heart of the strategy is the matched pair of Where-to-Play and How-to-Win. ” - Roger Martin , Bestselling Author and Strategy Advisor

You should always start with strategic analysis. Through this process, you will be able to identify competitive advantage, assess organizational capacity, analyze external factors that might impact your strategy, and find other opportunities you could exploit.  

Feel free to use multiple strategic analysis tools since each has its own purpose. 

📚Here’s a list of the most popular strategic tools and frameworks that can help you brainstorm your strategy:  

• VRIO Framework 
• SWOT Analysis
• PESTLE Analysis
• Porter’s Five Forces  
• Ansoff Matrix
• McKinsey 7S Model
• Blue Ocean Strategy 

Once you have a clear picture of where you want your organization to be in the short-term and long-term future (and where you do NOT want it to be), you can start building a strategic plan that will take you to your destination. And this is where strategic planning models come into play.  

Note: Every organization is unique and has different stakeholder needs. Thus, every strategic plan is unique. The goal here is to give you perspective on how you can approach your planning before you dive into the details.

Below, you’ll find examples of strategic planning models that include both Structure & Governance since both are critical to implementing your strategic plan. Because, what's the point in having an awesome strategy on paper if you have no effective way to actually execute it?

The Cascade model is hands-down the most effective example of a strategic planning model that you can find. 

It is simple to understand and easy to implement, facilitating the execution of your strategy. Its straightforward structure is suitable for organizations and teams of any size and industry. 

Here's a snippet of the structure:

Let's dive into the key elements of the Cascade Strategic Planning Model, its structure and governance.

The structural elements of the Cascade strategic model:

• Identify your vision statement . This statement(s) describes why the organization exists, i.e., its basic purpose.
• Define your company’s values . Describe how you want your organization to behave as it strives towards its Vision.
• Craft your focus areas . They articulate the key areas on which you'll be focusing your efforts to help deliver your Vision.
• Create your objectives . Your strategic objectives define more specifically the outcomes you want to achieve under each of your Focus Areas.
• Define your KPIs . Each of your Objectives should contain at least one or two KPIs to help you measure whether or not you're close to reaching your desired outcomes (Objectives).
• Create your projects . These are one of the most critical elements in your strategic planning model, as they state exactly what actions you will take to deliver against your Objectives.

The governance elements of the Cascade strategic model:

• Monthly Strategic Reports . Team members can create reports at the objective, team, individual, KPI, and action levels. Using Cascade, users can add text, charts, and tables to their reports to provide more context for the reader.
• Project Updates. These are ad hoc updates made against the Project level of the plan and include general project management updates and progress.
• KPI Dashboards. In addition to providing real-time data, they allow users to look back and understand what happened over time using data sources that are available. Live dashboards are essential for identifying deviations from KPI tolerance levels, explaining the difference, and setting an action plan to resolve the issue.

When you combine the goal and the governance elements of this strategic planning model, you get a comprehensive set of tools that you can use not just for creating your plan but also for executing it.

📚 Recommened reading: 

• How To Write A Strategic Plan + Example
• 18 Free Strategic Plan Templates (Excel & Cascade) 2023

The Hoshin Kanri model is a strategic planning model that organizations use to drive a consistent focus throughout many levels of their structure.

This makes it ideal for large organizations with different layers of management, including “top-level” executive management, “middle managers,” and “front-line” staff.

Much of the work we did to create the Cascade Strategic Model was inspired by Hoshin Kanri.

So it's certainly a strategic planning model that we respect and admire here at Cascade. Let's dive into the detail of the Hoshin strategic planning model with a quick visual:

The structural elements of the Hoshin Kanri strategic model:

• The first level of the Hoshin Kanri strategic planning model refers to your vision . A distant horizon that will guide everything that sits beneath.
• Then you move on to your 3-5 Year Strategies . These are high-level summaries of what you want to achieve (qualitatively and quantitatively).
• Beneath that, you define Annual Objectives , which will be split between different departments.
• Finally, you determine your Action Items . They are specific things you are going to do to reach your Annual Objectives.

The governance elements of the Hoshin Kanri strategic model:

• Monthly Reviews . These are done against the Annual Objectives and require the goals' owners to provide descriptive progress updates.
• Annual Reviews . These are also done against the Annual Objectives. However, they happen at the end of the time period and encompass a decision point on whether to mark the Annual Objective as complete or roll it over into another year.

There are many different ways to implement the Hoshin Kanri strategic planning model. Above is a simplified explanation that covers most of the core elements.

• Hoshin Kanri: Close Strategy Execution Gap In 7 Steps

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)

The OKR model is a goal-setting and planning framework that focuses on quarterly sets of OKRs and is reviewed by every management level in the organization. 

The basic structure of the OKR strategic planning model looks something like this:

As with the Cascade Strategic Planning Model and Hoshin Kanri, the OKR strategy model has the following key elements.

The structural elements of the OKRs strategic model:

• Objectives. These describe the outcome you are looking for in the current quarter.
• Key Results. These are specific metrics that describe your progress toward your Objective in numerical terms.
• Initiatives. These are tasks or projects that sit against each of your Key Results. Once completed, they should help you reach your Key Results.

The governance elements of the OKRs strategic model:

• Weekly Check-Ins. Each Key Result should have a weekly check-in that covers your confidence level in achieving that OKR, action plan, and general progress updates.
• Quarterly Review. For each Objective, a formal quarterly review should be undertaken where that OKR is given a “score” (usually from 0 to 1) and a decision is made on what to do with that OKR in the next quarter.
• OKRs: How To Avoid The Trap That Kills Performance
• The OKR Framework: How To Implement It & Mistakes To Avoid
• Using Cascade as your OKR Software

Balanced scorecard (also known as BSC) helps organizations drive and assess business performance by organizing key performance indicators (KPIs) into four focus areas: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning & Growth.  

Here is an example of a basic Balanced Scorecard structure:

The structural elements of the Balanced Scorecard:

• Four perspectives that act as your focus areas.
• Strategic objectives where you define your desired outcomes.
• Projects that outline specific initiatives, timelines, and resources.
• KPIs that measure progress and success.

The governance elements of Balanced Scorecard: 

• Strategy dashboards where you should see the real-time status of each perspective and a summary of your key objectives, projects, and KPIs. 
• Weekly or Monthly reports where each owner provides progress updates and short-term action plans.  
• The strategy map shows how are four perspectives layered and cause-and-effect connections between strategic objectives.

📚Recommended reading: 

• How To Implement The Balanced Scorecard Framework (With Examples)
• Balanced Scorecard Template (Free)

V2MOM is one of the most simple strategic planning and alignment models out there. Developed by Salesforce's cofounder, Marc Benioff, it helps you implement and drive alignment across your organization. 

The model can be used in a variety of organizations, including small businesses, startups, and nonprofits.

As a top-down approach, V2MOM scales across your organization at all levels, including the business unit, department, team, or individual. However, this model won't work if your organization is siloed, as each V2MOM document should be aligned with the top-level V2MOM plan.

An example of a basic V2MOM structure would look like this:

The structural elements of the V2MOM:

• Vision. Like with the Cascade Model, this is where you define your vision of the future. 
• Values. A set of values that drive your company’s culture.
• Methods . Strategic objectives, projects, or other strategic initiatives that will help your organization get one step closer to its vision. 
• Obstacles. Compared to other models, this is a unique element. It should identify all possible obstacles and risks that can prevent you execute the plan. 
• Measures. A set of KPIs that will measure your performance and progress. 

The governance elements of V2MOM: 

The original V2MOM approach only outlines the structure, but it does not offer a solution to track and measure performance. To meet the needs of our clients, we leveled up V2MOM to help teams measure their performance against set goals in a strategy execution platform : 

• Customizable strategy dashboards where leadership teams and team members can get insight into what’s happening across the organization or with specific initiatives.  
• Reports that analyze in-depth raw data of the past, and turns it into actionable narratives for regular review meetings and faster decision-making.

📚 Recommended reading: 

• The V2MOM: Overview, How To Use It, Examples (2022)

It's important to distinguish between strategy frameworks and strategic planning models before you jump into the strategic planning process. Online resources use these terms interchangeably, but they are in fact quite different.

Strategic planning models provide a way to structure the information of your strategy and the content of your strategic plan. 

Strategic frameworks , including analysis tools, provide the context that surrounds your strategic plan, and the information that helps you define your strategy. 

There are a few different views on this subject, but here is what we think makes the most sense:

• A strategic framework is a general term that covers different types of frameworks, including strategic analysis frameworks, goal-based frameworks, and strategic planning frameworks (in this case, also called strategic planning models). 
• A strategic planning model refers to the overall structure you apply to your strategic planning process. It roughly describes the various components and how they interact with one another. For example, imagine an architect building an airport.

A model of the airport would show you at a high level how the approach roads connect to the departure hall and how the departure hall connects to immigration, which then connects to the terminals, the runways, etc.

A strategic planning model functions much the same way in that it describes each of the elements of a coherent strategy: what they do, how they fit together, and in what order.

Strategy Model: Which One Is Right For You? 👀

The examples of strategic planning models we've picked have a lot in common. There's a good reason for it.

The best strategic planning models are simple, contain all the right elements, and combine goal setting with governance. 

As a result, they serve you well when it comes to building a highly effective strategic management process and executing your strategy.

You can't really go wrong with any of the strategic planning model examples we've outlined above: Cascade Model, Balanced Scorecard,  V2MOM, Hoshin Kanri, or OKRs. 

In the Cascade strategy execution platform , you can import or create a strategic plan no matter the model you use since our strategic planning tool is sophisticated enough to customize it to your way of doing strategy.  

Interested in seeing Cascade in action? Start building your strategic plan for free or book a demo with a Cascade expert.

What is the difference between strategic planning and strategic management?

The main difference between strategic planning and strategic management is that strategic planning is just a stage within the strategic management process. 

What are the 5 models of strategic management? 

There are more than five models of strategic management. A strategic management process involves multiple stages, including strategic analysis, strategy formulation, strategy execution, and strategy evaluation. There are multiple models and frameworks suitable for each stage of the strategic process.  

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Strategic Planning Models, Tools & Frameworks (With Templates)

Organizations are always looking for ways to improve. It’s how they stay relevant and, more importantly, profitable. But you don’t get better just by desiring it. It takes strategy, and then a model to implement that strategy.

No surprise, there are models to accomplish this called strategic planning models. They’re great for businesses, big and small, and assist in project planning and implementing organizational goals in a thorough and structured manner. Once you have decided on an objective, then you must plan a model that will execute it successfully.

There are quite a few strategic planning models, and they can be very different from one another. Often the type of organization will dictate which strategic planning model is used. After a brief explanation, we’ll dig into five of the more popular ones. You’re sure to find a strategic planning model among them that works for you.

What Is a Strategic Planning Model?

It’s easy to define what a strategic planning model is because the definition is embedded in its name! A strategic planning model is how an organization takes its strategy and creates a plan to implement it to improve operations and better meet its goals.

How they get to this point requires identifying what the company wants, and how it hopes to achieve those goals in the near term. Once they have that target clearly defined, then it’s a matter of working backward to figure out how to get there.

This, of course, is easy to say and extremely difficult to do. Sometimes the complexity involved in trying to put together a plan to strategically meet your goals can feel like it needs a strategic planning model all its own! That’s why there are classic models already in place to help you accomplish your goals.

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Do You Need a Strategic Planning Model?

If all this sounds like a fancy way of saying you need a plan to achieve your goals, well, you’re right. But that doesn’t dismiss its usefulness in achieving those objectives. No matter if you’re a startup or an established, market-dominant brand, if you don’t have a plan to reach your goals, you’re bound to fail. That could be losing market share or shuttering, neither of which is a path forward for a viable enterprise.

The benefits of having a strategic planning model are manyfold. For one, it provides a clear path that the organization uses for operational planning which determines what work will be done by everyone on the staff. Having all departments work together for a common goal is powerful. The opposite is disastrous. You can’t hit your target, whether it’s a year or five or 10 years in the future if everyone doesn’t know what it is and how you plan to get there.

Think of it as being focused. There are a lot of distractions that occur every day in every business. Knowing what your topline is helps you prioritize and keep your energies directed on the overall strategy for the company and the right strategic initiatives .

Another positive of having a strategic planning model is that it improves your knowledge of what works best in the organization. You know your strengths and weaknesses, as well as get a clear picture of where you are in the marketplace. It even helps you get a clear idea of who your competition is and how you can differentiate yourself from them.

Best Practices for Strategic Planning Models & Frameworks

We’ll get to the examples in a moment, but regardless of which you choose as most appropriate for your needs, there are best practices to make sure you succeed. When doing the research, assemble a group that is diverse but also appropriate for the goal. Diversity brings more ideas to the table. You’ll want between six and 10 people.

Once you start, give it time. The team needs to come up with creative solutions, and then season them, to make sure they’re the right course of action. You might want to remove the team from the work site. A change of environment, without the distractions of the office, can help them settle into a more contemplative state where they can come up with better ideas.

Of course, you need to get buy-in from the team or else your hard work will be for naught. Once you have them fully on board, build trust. You want everyone to participate, and to do so in a free and open discussion. That means from the boss on down. It might help to hire an outside facilitator to manage the process.

When you have a plan, it must be realistic. If you can’t execute it, then you’ve not done your job. Therefore, it must be actionable, with clearly defined goals , tasks, responsibilities outlined, accountability, deadlines—and all this must be clear to everyone involved. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible. Plans change, so it’s best to not be rigid about it.

Finally, don’t think of creating a strategic planning model for your business as a one-and-done process. Not only must your plan be open to editing as internal and external forces demand, but these meetings should be regularly scheduled. Think of it as a process. Meet monthly if you can, or at least quarterly. You can discuss how the plan is being executed and hold people accountable for what they’ve been tasked to execute. This is how you ensure your plan becomes a reality.

Strategic Planning Models

As we said, there are many models that we encourage you to explore. You never know what you might find. For our purposes, let’s narrow the scope down to five with proven results.

Alignment Model

This strategic alignment model (SAM) is among the most used. It’s made up of two parts—strategic fit and functional integration. What that means is that the model aligns business and IT strategies . To do this requires identifying the key goals of an organization and then what the steps are to reach those goals. The plan must maximize the process to best achieve those goals.

There are four perspectives to guide you in this model:

• Strategy execution is when the business strategy is driving the model.
• Technology potential, which also sees the business strategy as the driver, but with an IT strategy to support it.
• Competitive potential deals with using emerging IT capabilities to create new products and services.
• Lastly, there’s the service level, which focuses on creating the best IT system in the organization.

Here, business strategy is important, but only the launching pad.

Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is made up of clear communications on what is being accomplished. It aligns the work with the overall strategy and prioritizes, measures and monitors progress. The idea is that the model balances strategy with financial measurements. One of the reasons to use BSC is that it helps you see the connections between various parts of your strategic management and planning .

Using BSC means exploring four different aspects of your organization.

• One is the financial performance of the company and what financial resources have been most effective.
• You also want to gauge the performance of your stakeholders or customers and how you serve them.
• Internal processes should be judged on their efficiency, too, but also on quality.
• Then there’s the organizational capacity, which looks at your personnel, infrastructure, tech, culture and whatever else can be used to meet your goals.

We’ve created a free balanced scorecard template for Excel to help you get started with this tool.

Basic Model

Also called the simple model, this is often used by newer organizations that don’t have a history of strategic planning to help guide them in making decisions. But it’s also a fine model for any organization that doesn’t have the time or resources to spend on deep and extensive strategic planning .

First, you establish the mission statement for your organization, if you don’t already have one. That is a summary of your goals that are created to inspire and transform the organization. Next, you want to figure out what goals must be achieved to fulfill the mission statement. From that, break down the tasks that will reach those goals. Schedule, monitor and report on your progress.

Blue Ocean Strategy

The blue ocean strategy is designed to take your product to a market where there is no or little competition. Therefore, the research is heavily tilted towards finding a niche that can be exploited for profit, such as where few businesses are offering a product people have expressed an interest in, and there is little to no pricing pressure.

Unlike red ocean strategy, which describes a market that is saturated and products are threatened by pricing pressure that could threaten the business, blue ocean strategy looks for markets where there’s room to grow. You’re looking to capture new demand, where your product is either unique or so much better as to make competition irrelevant.

Issue (Or Goal) Based

The issue-based model (also called goal-based) is the next step up from the basic strategic planning model. It builds on the basic model and is intended for businesses that are more established. Thus, it’s more in-depth and possibly the most popular of all the models we’ve highlighted.

To begin, use a SWOT analysis, which is an acronym standing for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It helps you identify and analyze internal and external factors that impact your business, product or service. Next comes the mission statement, then planning, creating a budget and a schedule to implement it. After a year, you’ll want to monitor the results and report on its progress , making adjustments as needed.

PEST Analysis

A PEST analysis consists of identifying any political, economic, social and technological factors that can affect a business. It’s especially useful for larger organizations, such as multinational companies whose strategic project management initiatives are the most affected by these types of issues.

It’s important to conduct a PEST analysis before or as you create a strategic plan, so you don’t fail to acknowledge any significant political, economic, social or technological risk that could affect your organization and its ability to achieve its goals.

Hoshin Kanri

This is a strategic planning model that ensures that all levels within an organization understand what the organization’s strategic objectives are. Then those strategic objectives are broken down into specific goals and action plans for employees at all levels of the organization, from executives to production floor employees.

Another important aspect of this strategic planning model is that it involves constant performance tracking and communication between employees and their supervisor which helps track the completion of strategic goals and evaluate their feasibility. This strategic planning model is mostly used by manufacturers who implement lean manufacturing best practices, but it can be used by any type of business.

Porter’s Five Forces Model

This is a fundamental strategic planning model that should be used by any business. It allows business owners, executives and other decision-makers to understand the competitive forces that shape an industry and what they mean for a business.

This model analyzes the rivalry among existing companies, the threat of substitute products, the threat of new competitors, the bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of buyers. Together, these five variables create the business environment to which your organization’s strategy should adapt.

Strategic Planning Tools

Now, here’s a quick overview of some tools that can help you as you go through the process of planning your organizational strategy.

1. Strategic Plan

A strategic plan is a document that describes the strategic direction of an organization by outlining its vision, mission and long-term strategic objectives. It’s a fundamental tool when defining the strategy of your organization for the next three to five years.

The main purpose of a strategic plan is to provide high-level goals for the organization as a whole, known as strategic objectives, which will guide the efforts of the various departments within the organization.

This free strategic plan template for Word helps you capture some of the most important elements of your strategic plan such as your business goals, mission and vision statements, a SWOT analysis, and the operational actions that will be taken to achieve your objectives.

2. Strategy Map

A strategy map is a tool that can help you visualize the strategic objectives of your organization and the relationship between them and group them into the four balanced scorecard perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes and learning and growth.

These four categories help you establish the relationship between strategic objectives. For example, a strategic objective that’s related to improving your internal business processes will have a positive impact on the customer and financial areas.

3. Strategic Roadmap

A strategic roadmap is a tool that can help you turn your strategic objectives into action plans. To create a strategic roadmap, you’ll need to think about all the different tasks that your team will need to execute to reach its strategic objectives.

Next, you’ll need to estimate the duration of each of those tasks and based on that information, create a timeline. Strategic roadmaps are usually created with Gantt charts, which allow you to create a visual timeline that shows all the different actions your organization will take to achieve its strategic objectives.

4. SWOT Matrix

A SWOT matrix is a simple yet effective strategic planning chart with four quadrants that allow you to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your organization. These four categories describe the internal and external factors that may affect your business’s ability to compete in the market either positively or negatively. Here’s what they mean.

Strengths refer to the internal capabilities of your business which might give it an advantage over its competitors, such as, for example, lower production costs or intellectual property. Weaknesses on the other hand describe the areas of improvement for your business, which can be anything like having higher operational costs than your competitors or lack of brand awareness.

Opportunities refer to the positive external factors such as an underserved market niche or reduced costs of supplies and finally, threats are negative external conditions such as new technologies or new competitors that might replace your product. You must consider these factors before making the strategic plan of your organization so you don’t steer your business in the wrong direction. Our SWOT analysis template helps you document the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business or project.

5. VRIO Framework

VRIO stands for value, rarity, imitability and organization, which are the four lenses the VRIO framework uses to determine whether your organization has a competitive organizational strategy. It can help you audit the competitiveness of your business and find weaknesses in your operational strategy .

By analyzing your organization from these four perspectives, you’ll be able to determine whether your business provides value to customers in a way that’s rare and costly to imitate for your competitors. If so, you have a competitive business strategy that can be sustained over time.

6. Ansoff Matrix

An Ansoff matrix or product-market expansion grid is a strategic planning tool that can help you gauge the risk-reward ratio of growth strategies that involve new products and new markets. It’s got four quadrants that show four different strategies: market penetration, product development, market development and diversification.

It’s a great tool to help you decide which of these strategies is the best for your business. You can create a separate Ansoff matrix for different business units or product lines.

7. GE Matrix

A GE matrix or McKinsey matrix is a tool that helps executives and other decision-makers prioritize which business units within an organization should be invested further and which should be divested based on the industry attractiveness and strength of each business unit. It can also be used for prioritizing what projects are approved and executed by an organization, which is a decision that’s made by executives and the board of directors, as advised by project managers and project management offices (PMOs), who are responsible for their success and ensuring they bring the benefits that are expected.

In simple terms, a GE matrix contrasts the potential benefits of an industry with the current positioning of a business unit to determine whether it will be profitable to invest in it. To do so, you’ll need to analyze variables such as the market size, growth rate, competition level and industry trends. It’s ideal for aligning your projects and business strategy .

How ProjectManager Executes Strategic Planning Models

Now that you know about strategic planning models, and have chosen one to reach your organization’s objective, you have a lot of work ahead of you. ProjectManager is an award-winning tool that organizes strategic plans, so you can execute, monitor and report on their progress.

Start Planning In-Depth With Gantt Charts

You have decided on your target, now you need to know how you get there. That’s as simple as breaking down the goal into realistic tasks, or steps, that end at your objective. You can use a work breakdown structure or collect them on a spreadsheet. Now the fun starts. Upload your tasks into our software, and you get to the planning part of your strategic planning model.

Add duration to your tasks, and they instantly populate the Gantt chart tool timeline. Now, you can see your whole project from start to finish. Add priorities, so your team knows what’s important, and break up the project into phases with our milestone feature. There’s a space on each task to write descriptions that guide your team, and they can collaborate by commenting with one another at the task level to facilitate productivity.

Multiple Views to Tackle Your Projects

There are many ways to work, and we have many tools to get that work done. Besides the Gantt, you can use a task list, calendar or kanban board to manage your work. The board view is especially helpful, as it breaks production into phases and provides transparency into the process, so you can keep traffic flowing and avoid costly bottlenecks.

Monitor Your Progress With Real-Time Dashboards

Part of any strategic planning model isn’t just the planning and execution, but monitoring progress to make sure you’re hitting your targets. We have a real-time dashboard that tracks several project metrics, including project variance, which automatically calculates your planned vs. actual progress.

Related Strategic Planning Content

We’ve created dozens of blogs, templates and guides on project management, operational management and strategic planning. Here’s some content that relates to the strategic planning models and tools we explored above.

• How to Create a Strategic Roadmap for Your Organization
• Operational Strategy: A Quick Guide
• Strategic Project Management: Planning Strategic Projects
• A Quick Guide to Strategic Initiatives

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9 effective strategic planning models for your business

Leapsome Team

Strategic planning models can make a big difference to your organization. That remains true whether you’re a startup developing an overall strategy or an established business fine-tuning internal processes.

But there are many strategic planning models, and it’s vital to pick one that suits your purpose and needs. The right framework will help you streamline processes, drive alignment, and propel your business.

To help your research process, we’ve compiled a list of the most effective strategic planning models and their top use cases. Let’s take a look.

🧐 Looking for a flexible framework to help you reach your business objectives? Leapsome’s goal management tools fit any strategic planning process. 👉 Learn more

What is a strategic planning model?

A strategic planning model is a framework that allows organizations to map out their short- and long-term business plans. They can help:

• Identify and overcome obstacles 
• Improve and streamline operations
• Reach overarching business goals
• Create alignment between different departments
• Track progress over time

And you don’t have to limit your organization to one strategic planning model. Businesses can benefit from using multiple approaches, even simultaneously. But different strategic planning models are best suited for different situations, so make your choice based on your business type, growth stage, priorities, and goals. 

9 models for strategic planning

These are some of the most popular strategic planning models. Our list covers a definition of each model, an example of it in action, and which use cases it works best for.

1. Objectives & key results (OKRs)

OKRs are a popular goal-setting framework that organizations, teams, and individuals use to define long-term objectives and track progress. To better understand the meaning of OKRs , let’s unpack the acronym:

• Objectives — ambitious but achievable long-term goals
• Key results — milestones used to measure progress toward each objective

When establishing your OKRs, create quarterly objectives for all company levels — Leapsome has a free OKR template to help you get started. Then, revisit your OKRs regularly to monitor your progress and make adjustments if necessary. You can also introduce regular OKR meetings to your organization’s internal processes.

OKR example

Here’s an example of an OKR for a B2B SaaS company:

Objective | Significantly scale our customer base and deliver our great product to more people

• Key results: 
• Increase sales conversion rate from 25% to 30%
• Reduce user churn from 5% to 3%
• Publish a successful case study on our website every quarter
• Achieve a minimum of 4.7 out of 5 rating across all major review sites

OKRs work best for organizations that want to create more alignment behind their goals. By breaking down company-wide objectives into smaller, more manageable tasks, OKRs ensure everyone works toward a common purpose.

‍ OKRs also show employees how their work contributes to the big picture, giving them a sense of purpose and boosting employee engagement . Research by Gallup links engaged employees to lower turnover rates, better work performance, and a thriving work culture. Consequently, OKRs help companies build successful workplaces.

💡 Wondering how to introduce OKRs to your organization? Use Leapsome’s flexible framework to set company-wide objectives and track them in one intuitive place. 👉 Learn more

2. SWOT analysis

SWOT stands for strengths , weaknesses , opportunities , and threats . Use the SWOT model to define internal and external factors affecting your business. Then, compare the different factors to assess the risk of a potential strategy. 

For example, if your organization’s strengths match opportunities in the market — say, you have a lot of capital, and your competitors don’t — you know you have a competitive advantage. In that scenario, you can take an offensive business strategy with relatively low risk.

SWOT example

Here’s a SWOT example for a sales-based organization:

• Strengths — We have an excellent rapport with our customers and a loyal customer base.
• Weaknesses — Our current supply chain is inadequate.
• Opportunities — There’s high customer demand for one of our products.
• Threat — Our main competitor is developing a similar product.

Based on this SWOT analysis, our example organization isn’t in a strong strategic position. There’s a risk they won’t produce or distribute enough of their product to meet demand, and their competitor has the potential to outperform them. They should prioritize optimizing their product offering and solving supply chain issues over generating leads or working on an aggressive marketing campaign.

Any business can benefit from SWOT analysis. However, it’s best to use it at the beginning stages of a new strategy and with a specific goal in mind. You could try a SWOT approach when deciding priorities, like implementing new technology or restructuring your organization.

3. PEST or PESTLE analysis

PEST analysis focuses on external factors that can affect your organization. The letters stand for:

• Socio-cultural
• Technological

And depending on your industry, you might add legal and environmental factors to make PESTLE. 

PEST or PESTLE example

Here’s an example of a PESTLE analysis for a multinational confectionery company:

• Political factors — The government of a country where we sell many products is planning to raise import tariffs.
• Economic factors — Our target demographic (13 to 21-year-olds) has more disposable income now that Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.
• Socio-cultural factors — Surveys report that customers consider our products healthy.
• Technological factors — Engineers devised a more efficient way to farm the main ingredient in half our products.
• Legal factors — The FDA approved our latest chocolate bar.
• Environmental factors — NGOs are pressuring us to use more environmentally friendly processes.

PEST analysis lets you assess the business environment for a product or service, so it’s best used during the beginning stages of a project.

4. The Balanced Scorecard framework

The Balanced Scorecard framework lets you take a holistic approach to business planning that doesn’t just focus on economic performance. Instead, you look at four perspectives: 

• Financial perspective — how well your organization is performing economically
• Customer perspective — your customer satisfaction and retention levels
• Internal business perspective — the quality and efficiency of your internal operations
• Innovation and learning perspective — your ability to improve, pivot, and grow your business

Then, create objectives and define measures to track your progress for each perspective. Those measures will support you in planning and executing initiatives to achieve your goals. And as you carry out this strategy, you can update your scorecard to show your progress.

Balanced Scorecard example

The management at ECI (Electronic Circuits Inc.) wanted to improve their delivery times. But when they talked to customers about the issue, the organization received unreliable feedback — different people had different definitions of being ‘on time.’

Using the Balanced Scorecard framework, managers shifted focus to their operations and checked the efficiency of their manufacturing process. They discovered ways to optimize the business’s cycle time, yield, and costs. 

Despite not having a reliable customer perspective, the Balanced Scorecard’s comprehensive overview of the ECI organization provided a versatile solution for reducing delivery times and streamlining the business’s overall operations.

The Balanced Scorecard framework is best for understanding your business health and creating alignment across your company.

5. Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s Five Forces is an approach that lets you assess your product or service’s competitive advantage in the market. Identifying potential threats can guide your organization in developing a more dynamic strategic plan.

The ‘Five Forces’ that may affect your product are:

• The threat of new competitors — Are many new businesses popping up in your industry? How easy is it for new companies to develop a product or service similar to yours?
• The number of existing competitors — How many direct competitors are you contending with? What about adjacent competitors? Are any of them growing quickly?
• The bargaining power of suppliers — Could suppliers put pressure on you to lower costs or change your business model?
• The bargaining power of customers — Are your products or services available elsewhere? Is there a demand for them? Do people have issues with your pricing or quality?
• The threat of a substitute — How likely is a similar product or service to enter the market?

Porter’s Five Forces example

Let’s take the example of a cosmetics company planning to release a shampoo with SPF 50:

• The threat of new competitors — The shampoo requires expertise to develop, which is an obstacle for competitors entering the market.
• The number of existing competitors — Two companies with similar products are poised to grow. They could create an almost identical product and pressure them to lower costs.
• The bargaining power of suppliers — There’s a large number of suppliers, so they have little bargaining power.
• The bargaining power of customers — Depending on where customers live, they’ll consider the shampoo a seasonal product. As it’s almost winter in the countries with the largest customer base, demand is lower.
• The threat of a substitute — Research suggests that no products currently in development could fill the same need (protecting the scalp from sunburn).

Porter’s Five Forces are best for evaluating your product or service after development but before entering the market. It’s also helpful for assessing an organization’s overall competitive position. 

6. The VRIO framework

The VRIO framework helps organizations determine whether they can turn a resource into a competitive advantage. These can be physical resources like inventory, tools, and technology, or nonphysical ones like patents, skills, and work culture.

Let’s break down the VRIO acronym to understand how to evaluate each resource:

• Valuable — The resource increases revenue or decreases operational costs.
• Rare — The resource is limited or you control the supply.
• Inimitable — The resource is unique or complex, meaning it’s difficult for competitors to copy.
• Organizational — Your organization can exploit the full potential of the resource.

VRIO example

Here’s an example of a delivery company determining whether they can exploit their resource — distribution centers — to gain a competitive advantage:

• Valuable — All the distribution centers are in strategic positions, which makes them a valuable resource as the company can use their location to create more efficient delivery routes.
• Rare — The distribution network is a scarce resource because there are only a few ports for international delivery.
• Inimitable — Competitors could build distribution centers in nearby locations.
• Organizational — Delivery drivers aren’t using the most efficient routes between distribution centers.

The delivery company could have a temporary competitive advantage, but they’re not exploiting this resource. Management needs to address whatever stops delivery drivers from using the fastest route before rival delivery companies copy and control the same resource. ‍

The VRIO framework works best for businesses deciding how to launch a new product or service or determining how to improve their existing business model. 

Specifically, the organizational metric shows how efficiently your organization uses its resources. If you have a high score for the first three metrics but consistently fail to capture the value of your resources, it’s a sign you need to improve your internal processes.

Combine the VRIO framework with Porter’s Five Forces for a clear strategic direction when launching a new product.

7. The Hoshin Planning framework

The Hoshin Planning framework is mainly a top-down approach. This method outlines seven strategic planning stages, which are:

• Define your vision to clarify your organization’s primary purpose.
• Develop your main objectives to give your organization a competitive advantage.
• Break down objectives into smaller annual goals.
• Set goals across your entire organization — at C-level, managerial, departmental, and individual levels.
• Implement your plans.
• Perform monthly reviews to reflect and monitor progress.
• Do an annual review to determine if you’ve achieved your goals and what to work on next.

It’s worth noting that the Hoshin Planning framework doesn’t have to be strictly top-down. Another core idea behind this method is that managers should ‘play catch ball’ — that is, bounce ideas between management, department heads, and team members during the first four stages.

Hoshin Planning example

Here’s how a car manufacturer might implement the Hoshin Planning framework:

• Management shares their vision of developing the most innovative technology on the market.
• They decide their main goal is to develop the first self-driving car by the end of 2025. But when leadership talks to the head of engineering, they say this breakthrough won’t be possible by 2025. They collectively adjust the deadline to 2027.
• Management breaks this goal down into smaller targets. One of them is mapping out what the self-driving car should be able to do in every scenario. The engineering department agrees with this plan.
• ​​Those targets inform detailed initiatives, like observing real-life driving incidents and collecting data on traffic and accidents.
• All parties carry out the agreed-upon initiatives. After a month, management conducts a meeting to check everyone’s progress.
• A year later, the engineering department has data on most scenarios the self-driving car would encounter on the road.

Companies with complex processes — like manufacturing and tech businesses — are more likely to use the Hoshin Planning framework. Their operations benefit from the ‘catch ball’ idea because it’s easier to spot problems when you filter them through diverse teams.

The Hoshin Planning Framework is also ideal for creating alignment within your company. Consider it for a larger organization that’s experienced project issues and bottlenecks.

8. The Theory of Change model

The Theory of Change model involves establishing long-term goals and working backward. Start with your desired outcome and go through all preconditions necessary for it to become a reality. During this process, you determine what needs to change to reach your objectives.

Theory of Change example

Nonprofit organizations with specific missions often use the Theory of Change model. Take adult literacy, for example. The project team would start with an ideal situation — like their country having a 100% literacy rate — and work backward to find out what’s preventing them from achieving that aim. The issues might range from a lack of funding to a need to increase awareness about resources that are already available. Then, the nonprofit team could start addressing the issues they identified.

Any organization can benefit from the Theory of Change framework. Still, it works best for specific projects, like expanding your company abroad or opening a new department, as it involves scenario planning. 

9. The Blue Ocean strategy

The Blue Ocean strategy is a strategic planning model that’s become popular recently. Developed in 2004, this method assesses whether your organization operates in a saturated market. If so, the underlying assumption of the Blue Ocean strategy is that it’s better to create new demand.

In the strategy, the ‘ocean’ is a metaphor for the market. The ‘red ocean’ is full of predators (large companies) competing for food (customers) and turning the water red, whereas the ‘blue ocean’ is deep, unexplored water that’s full of potential (uncontested market space). Here’s a list of indicators that you’re in a ‘blue ocean’:

• You’ve found uncontested market space
• You’ve made the competition irrelevant
• You’re creating and capturing new demand
• You’re breaking the value-cost trade-off

Blue Ocean example

Apple is a famous example of a business that operates in a ‘blue ocean.’ Although it’s one of the leading technology companies in the world, the Apple team still prefers to innovate new products rather than beat the competition.

The Blue Ocean strategy is ideal for small businesses and start-ups trying to establish themselves among larger organizations. Established companies in dynamic industries like tech can also use it to stay ahead of their competition.

How to implement a strategic planning model

Once you’ve set up your strategic plan, you’ll want to utilize it to its full potential. Here are some tips to make sure your strategy goes into action.

Align your approach to strategic planning with your values

There are many strategic planning models to choose from, and your organization can only implement so many. Although all of them have pros and cons, none are necessarily better than the others. So, choose the strategic planning models that reflect your organization’s values. That way, it’ll be easier to introduce your strategy and get all team members on board.

If you’re a people-first organization, OKRs are an ideal choice. OKRs involve your employees in company initiatives, make internal decisions more transparent, and give everyone a sense of purpose. 

Allocate resources to the strategic planning process

Strategic planning is like any other task: It requires resources like funding, time, and research. You should have a budget and schedule for every part of the process.

The employees helping you with strategic planning and implementation are also vital assets — offer them training and consistent support. Free up their schedule for strategic planning and create a timeline for the entire process to set your team up for success. ‍

Review your progress

Aside from planning and implementing your strategy, you’ll need to check on your progress regularly. That means monthly and annual reviews at all levels.

Many strategic planning models already have reviews built into their stages. But even if they don’t, you should reevaluate at regular intervals. You can define some key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your initiatives and your overall business health. Popular KPIs include revenue growth, client retention rate, and employee satisfaction.

Be ready to adjust your strategic plan

As the saying goes, even the best-laid plans often go awry. You may find that conditions change as you implement your strategic plan or that you didn’t predict certain issues. The key isn’t necessarily to strategize better, but to have a dynamic strategy. This will allow you to adjust your plan and deal with problems as they arise.

For instance, you might opt for the PEST analysis, but be open to considering important legal and environmental factors when they come up. You can try to predict what new legislation or world events may affect your industry. Then, if any conditions arise that affect your business, you’ll be able to pivot your strategy without too much additional effort.

Boost your organization’s performance with strategic planning models

Strategic planning models help you assess the current state of your organization, decide which direction to take in the future, and communicate your plans to your employees. They can be the difference between your business merely sustaining itself and thriving.

If you’re wondering how to implement a new strategic planning model, Leapsome can offer professional support. Our Goals and OKR Management Software provides an adaptable framework for your chosen strategic model.

🚀 Kickstart your strategic plan with Leapsome Our goals and OKR management tools make it easy to implement your strategy of choice. 👉 Book a demo

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How to Use Strategic Planning Frameworks and Models

By Joe Weller | April 12, 2019 (updated July 26, 2021)

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Strategic planning models and frameworks can help guide you through the strategic planning process. In this article, seasoned industry experts explain the models and frameworks to help you identify which is best for you.

Included on this page, you'll find different types of models and frameworks , tools to help you decide which models and frameworks to use , and details on how to use strategic planning models .

Strategic Planning Basics

Strategic planning is a team process that sets up how your company will accomplish its goals. When you deploy it correctly, strategic planning highlights problems, helps find solutions, and monitors progress. To learn more about the basics of strategic planning, read this article.

A strategic plan includes many sections. When done well, a strategic plan can help you prioritize your company’s functions and stay in line with your mission and vision.

There are different ways to present a strategic plan — for example, it can be a written document, a spreadsheet, or an animated presentation. To learn how to write a strategic plan, read this article.

Strategic Planning Frameworks and Models

Just as there are many approaches to presenting a strategic plan, you have several ways to frame or model your plan.

The terms strategic planning framework and strategic framing models are often used interchangeably, but some say they are different.

“Think of models as a way of ideating strategy. [A model is] a template: You use it at the beginning of the planning process. The idea behind a model is to tease out the ideas,” says Tom Wright, CEO and Co-Founder of Cascade Strategy , a software company based in Sydney, Australia, with offices all over the world. “Frameworks are like a lens to help you see different perspectives, whereas the model is a process you would use from the beginning. You add a framework on top of the [strategic plan] to slice and dice the model.”

There are many strategic planning models and frameworks — some are tried and true, others are newer and more adaptive, and planners and managers may be more familiar with some methods than others. There is no one right or wrong way to create a strategic plan, and you can modify models and frameworks based on your company culture, your current situation, and the purpose behind your planning.

“The major driver [for picking a model or framework] is what type of business you are and what you want to accomplish,” Wright explains.

Strategic planners often utilize different frameworks or customize particular models as they move through the planning process. But be careful; customizing models or frameworks too much might confuse people who are familiar with a particular planning process.

Below is a list of some of the most common frameworks and models:

Alignment Model: This model helps align your mission statement with available resources. It is particularly effective for businesses facing internal struggles.

Balanced Scorecard (BSC): The balanced scorecard system strives to connect big-picture elements with operational elements. BSC is well-known and works for companies of varying sizes.

The Basic Model: Sometimes called a simple strategic planning model , the basic model  involves creating a mission statement, goals, and strategies.

Blue Ocean Strategy: This framework emphasizes new markets and uncontested space.

Gap Planning: A strategy gap is the distance between how a company is currently performing and its desired goal. Gap planning is the analysis and evaluation of that difference.

Inspirational Model: This is a somewhat quick method of strategic planning that begins by coming up with a highly inspirational vision for the organization and the goals to match.

Issue-Based or Goal-Based Model: A step up from the basic model, this model is better for more established businesses. It incorporates SWOT or other types of assessments to determine goals, mission statements, action plans, and other steps.

Organic Model: As the name implies, this model does not necessarily follow a set plan, instead evolving and changing as conditions warrant.

PEST Model: The PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) approach looks at elements of the external environment, including the forces in its name.

Porter’s Five Forces: This model looks at five competitive forces that are present in every industry and helps to determine strengths and weaknesses: competition in the industry, the potential of new entrants into the industry, the power of suppliers, the power of customers, and the threat of substitute products.

Real-Time Model: This a fluid process that works best for companies that operate in a rapidly changing environment.

Scenario Model: When used in conjunction with other models, the scenario model can help you identify goals, as well as issues around them, by using scenarios that might arise. Some experts say this is more of a technique than a model.

Strategy Mapping: This approach helps organizations design and communicate their strategies. Strategy mapping often falls under the umbrella of a BSC, but strategy maps can also stand alone.

SWOT Analysis or SWOT Matrix: SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) offers a way to examine both internal and external forces impacting your company.

VRIO Framework: This approach looks at the questions of value, rarity, imitability, and organization concerning the competitive potential of a company.

Using Strategic Planning Models

In this section, you’ll learn the specifics of the different strategic planning models and frameworks. Sometimes, models can serve as a visual guide. In contrast, frameworks function as an overlay to a model that helps clarify particular items, such as goals.

The Basic Model

The basic model of strategic planning is the most common and simplistic approach. The basic model works well for companies that are small, do not have much time to plan, don’t need to address many serious issues, or operate in stable external environments. It also works for companies that are new to strategic planning.

The basic model is not meant for organizations with significant resources to pursue ambitious visions and goals.

The basic model centers on the mission and vision statements. The vision statement identifies your company’s purpose on a higher level, and the mission statement outlines what happens within the organization to achieve that vision. It makes sense to build the rest of your plan from these statements.

The next step is to come up with goals you must achieve to live up to your mission and make it a reality, then outline what must happen to achieve those goals. Next, list the specific activities you must implement and who will participate in those activities. Lastly, create a simple monitoring plan to make sure your organization stays on track.

The Issue-Based or Goal-Based Model

The issue- or goal-based model evolves from the basic model and results in a more comprehensive plan. The steps vary.

This approach is dynamic and fluid, and it works well for businesses that want to go deeper into strategic planning but have the following concerns:

Limited resources for planning

Several issues to address

Limited past success reaching ambitious goals

No buy-in for the strategic planning process

The issue-based model requires organizations to identify their most important current issues, suggest action plans to address those issues, and include that information in the strategic plan.

The goal-based model often includes the following:

A way to monitor and amend the plan

Action plans, including objectives, resources, and implementation roles

Core values

Major issues and goals, along with ways to address them

Mission statement

SWOT analysis

Vision statement

Yearly operating plan, including a budget

The Alignment Model

The alignment model focuses on making sure an organization’s actions align with its vision. In the plan, you outline the mission, resources, programs, and support your organization needs to ensure it fulfills its vision.

The alignment model works well for organizations that are trying to figure out what is and isn’t working well, along with what needs adjusting. The process can help identify issues, such as internal inefficiencies and productivity problems. However, some critics of this model say it functions more like an internal development plan than a strategic plan.

The Scenario Model

The scenario model looks at what is happening outside of an organization, including regulatory, demographic, or political forces, to determine how they can impact what is happening inside of a company.

The scenario model works best when used in combination with other models and is more of a technique than a model.

For each change in an external force, discuss how it could impact the future of your organization in the following three ways:

A best-case scenario

A worst-case scenario

A reasonable-case scenario

After looking at the three potential impacts, figure out how to best respond to each. Then pick the most likely scenario and discuss strategies to address it.

The scenario model works well for businesses that need help planning for several potential situations.

The Organic Model

If your company wants to stay away from strict and formal strategic planning, the organic model might be a good fit. As the name implies, the organic model of strategic planning is more of a free-spirited conversation, rather than a set process. It emphasizes the journey over the destination.

The organic model relies on everyone having a shared vision and being willing to openly discuss how to get there using common values. This less systematic model requires patience since it involves constant dialogue and is never really finished.

The organic model works well for organizations where traditional methods feel static and obsolete. If you are looking for a set plan outlining steps to follow, the organic model is not for you.

Storyboarding techniques and open dialogue are often a part of the organic model, and everyone is encouraged to participate openly. The focus is more on learning and less about the method of strategic planning.

Real-Time Strategic Planning

The real-time method of strategic planning is even more fluid than the organic model. It helps articulate an organization’s mission and, sometimes, its vision and values. Real-time strategic planning often involves presenting lists to board members or management for further discussion.

Like the organic model, real-time strategic planning is a continuous process and works best for rapidly changing organizations that might not have the need for set, detailed, or traditional strategic planning.

Inspirational Model

Like the name implies, the inspirational model can be energizing to participants, but also have less of a strategic impact on an organization than other, more formal models.

The process works by gathering people to talk about a highly inspirational vision for the company. Leaders encourage participants to brainstorm exciting and far-reaching goals, then capture the details using powerful and poignant wording.

The inspirational model works well for organizations looking to lift the spirits of a staff or to quickly produce a plan.

Strategic Planning Frameworks

Like models, strategic planning frameworks help an organization through the strategic planning process. Most frameworks cover the basics of strategic planning (mission, vision, goals), but include additional sections and have more specific focus areas.

Balanced Scorecard Framework

One of the more popular strategic planning frameworks is the balanced scorecard. It functions as both a strategic planning and management system, and it helps connect a company’s plan to the operational elements that make it happen. The balanced scorecard takes more than financial profits into account when measuring success.

Companies use the balanced scorecard to do the following:

Align the daily work to the longer-term strategy.

Communicate where they are doing and why.

Set priorities.

Monitor progress and measure success.

When Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton created the balanced scorecard in the 1990s, it changed the way many companies do their strategic planning because it focused on more than one performance metric.

Companies that use the balanced scorecard try to look at themselves using four unique perspectives to get a better understanding of their planning:

Financial performance

Stakeholders and customers the company is serving

An internal review of how the company is operating

Learning and growth (including capacity, infrastructure, technology, and culture)

The key to the balanced scorecard is that a business should be a balance of the four quadrants.

Cascade’s Wright says the balanced scorecard works well for medium and large companies that don’t change very quickly or don’t need to make radical changes.

To learn more about the balanced scorecard and find free templates and examples, read this article .

Strategy Mapping

Strategy mapping can help an organization reach its goals by providing a visual tool to communicate a strategic plan. Strategy mapping is often part of (but is not exclusive to) the balanced scorecard framework.

Because the graphic is visual and simple, it is an easy way to show how one objective impacts others.

Strategy mapping helps you identify key goals and unify those goals into strategies. People can refer back to it in order to stick to the overall plan when working on tasks or making decisions.

The map shows how different items interact with each other in various ways, including a cause-and-effect relationship.

Strategy maps are often set up in the following manner:

List the four perspectives (financial, customer, process and learning, and growth) horizontally.

Place objectives within those perspectives.

Write sets of linked objectives across different perspectives (these are called strategic themes ).

Show cause-and-effect impacts between objectives and across perspectives.

Image credit: Clearpoint Strategy

Use this template to help you organize your thoughts visually. By thinking of how different perspectives relate to each other, you can come up with your objectives.

‌ Download Strategy Map Template

Excel | Smartsheet

Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s Five Forces approach helps companies assess the competitiveness of the market. Introduced in 1979, it is one of the oldest strategic planning frameworks.

This approach focuses on the five forces that can impact the profitability of an organization:

The Threat of Entry: Can new companies enter the market?

The Threat of Other Substitute Products or Services: Is there a competitor on the market that your customers could use instead of your product or service?

Customers’ Bargaining Power: Can customers pressure you to react to their demands?

Suppliers’ Bargaining Power: Can suppliers apply pressure to your company?

Competitive Rivalry Among Companies: If a rival company changes its strategy, will it impact yours?

The key is to look at the amount of pressure each force applies to a company in order to determine that company’s future.

Download Five Forces Model Template

Excel | PDF

SWOT Analysis

Most strategic planning processes include a SWOT analysis. Many companies perform a SWOT analysis at the beginning of the strategic planning process, as it offers them a look at what they are doing well and where they can improve.

A SWOT analysis examines the following:

Strengths: What the business does well to achieve its objectives

Weaknesses: What activities could keep a business from achieving its objectives

Opportunities: The external factors that could help achieve its objectives

Threats: Possible external factors that could keep the company from achieving its objectives

Strengths and weaknesses are internal characteristics, while opportunities and threats are external.

You've seen how the four quadrants of a SWOT analysis work. Use this template to write down each factor, so you can view your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

‌ Download SWOT Analysis Strategy

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

PEST/PESTEL Planning

PEST stands for political, economic, sociocultural, and technological factors. There are several variations based on the idea, including PESTEL or PESTLE (when you also consider environmental and legal factors) or STEEPLED, where you consider sociocultural, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, education, and demographic information.

These frameworks look at an industry or business environment and see what factors could impact an organization’s overall health and well-being. These do not stand alone and often go along with a SWOT analysis and other frameworks.

Below are some possible examples of these factors:

Political: Changes in tax laws, trading relationships, grant changes

Economic: Interest rate changes, inflation, consumer demand

Social: Changing lifestyle trends, demographic shifts

Technological: Competing technologies, productivity changes

Legal: Changes in regulations, employment laws

Environmental: Changes in customer expectations or regulations

Download PEST Analysis Template

Gap Planning

Gap planning allows you to compare an organization’s current position to its goal, then identify ways to bridge that gap. Gap planning can also help you identify internal deficiencies. Gap planning is sometimes known as gap analysis, needs assessment, or a strategic planning gap.

For a more detailed look at gap planning, read this article .

Blue Ocean Strategy

Created by professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in 2005, the blue ocean strategy is a relatively new planning framework. The idea of a blue ocean is to create an uncontested market space for your company. By contrast, a red ocean is a market space that is already developed and saturated.

A blue ocean is the unknown. A company creates demand for a product or service instead of fighting over it, so there is plenty of opportunity for everyone. The idea is to pursue differentiation, thereby creating market share instead of trying to beat competitors.

A red ocean is the known market space. Industries in that space define and accept the boundaries that exist, and they play by the rules. The only way to get ahead is to outperform rivals to claim a bigger share of the market. The competition can be bloody, which leads to the term red ocean .

An example of an organization that found a blue ocean is Cirque du Soleil. Instead of operating as a typical circus, it found and expanded on a niche. The key to the blue ocean strategy is to make the competition irrelevant because you are doing something the others are not.

VRIO Framework

VRIO (value, rarity, imitability, and organization) is a framework that deals primarily with the vision statement, rather than the entire strategy for a company. By answering four main questions, an organization should be able to create a vision statement to take it through the rest of the planning process. This results in a competitive advantage in your marketplace.

Below are the four main questions:

Value: Using a particular resource, can you exploit an opportunity or get rid of a threat?

Rarity: Is there a lot of competition in your market, or do a few entities control most of the market?

Imitability: Can anyone else do what you do?

Organization: Are you organized enough as a company to adequately exploit your product or service?

Companies can use the VRIO framework to evaluate its resources and capabilities as part of the overall strategic planning process. VRIO comes into play after a company creates a vision statement, but before the rest of the planning process. The advantages you identify help determine what you need to do in order to achieve them.

McKinsey’s Strategic Horizons

McKinsey’s Strategic Horizons framework focuses on growth and innovation by categorizing goals into three categories: the core business, emerging opportunities, and new business.

Image credit: CASCADE

“McKinsey’s is one of my favorites because it applies to businesses small to large and generates excitement,” says Wright. He adds that it is an easy model because it does not involve much jargon and focuses on the future.

The first horizon deals mostly with core activities in which a company is already engaged. Existing revenue is placed here, so goals mostly deal with improving margins and processes, as well as maintaining incoming cash flow. The second horizon involves taking what is already happening and expanding it into new areas. The third horizon involves new directions, possibly including research and new programs. Wright recommends a 70/20/10 split between the three horizons.

Fast-growing and startup organizations might find McKinsey’s framework helpful.

The Ansoff Matrix

Sometimes called the product-market matrix , the Ansoff matrix looks at market penetration and potential future growth. It helps companies that want to try to grow sales volumes or have it as a major focus area.

In this matrix, market development concerns selling more of an existing product or service to a new group of people. Market penetration focuses on selling even more of a current product or service to the same people. Product development focuses on developing new products for current customers. Diversification is all about new products and services and new markets; this carries the most risk, but potentially offers large gains.

Wright says this framework helps companies think deeply about how they will achieve growth instead of merely saying they want to grow.

The Bryson Model or Strategy Change Cycle

John M. Bryson, McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement , created the Bryson model. Some people, himself included, call it the Strategy Change Cycle.

“It’s a framework, not a recipe. It’s a reference point, the logic does not go step by step from one to 10,” Bryson says. “You start with purposes in mind and then figure out how to get there.”

There are 10 standard steps in the cycle, but Bryson stresses they are not sequential and often happen simultaneously.

Initiate and agree on a strategic planning process

Identify organizational mandates

Clarify organizational mission and values

Assess the external and internal environment to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)

Identify the issues facing the organization

Formulate strategies to manage the issues

Review and adopt the strategies or strategic plan

Establish an effective organizational vision

Develop an effective implementation process

Reassess the strategies and the strategic planning process

Using this cycle, changes to the norm often happen. “You might think you know what your mission and goals are, and after you go through the process, you might need to change your mission and goals,” Bryson explains. “We try to let the mission and goals emerge from the conversations rather than starting there.”

Other Planning Models and Frameworks

In addition to the models and frameworks listed above, there are several other types, including the following:

The Stakeholder Theory: This approach focuses on adding value to specific groups of people, including employees, customers, the community, shareholders, and society. Organizations can add groups as necessary since the model is very flexible.

Kaufman Model: Also called mega planning, the Kaufman Model relies on a needs assessment. This model focuses on the impact an organization can have on society and clients.

Global Model: As the name implies, global strategic planning includes what is necessary to compete in an international marketplace. It involves looking at both the internal and external environments of multinational organizations.

Maturity Model: The maturity model assesses how strategic management is working within an organization and how it stands up to other organizations.

Diamond-E Framework: The Diamond-E framework helps identify possible gaps in an organization to decide whether or not to pursue an opportunity.

Value Migration: This model helps companies plan ahead of the competition. Its creator, Adrian Slywotzky, defines value migration as the shifting of forces that create value, and that shift goes from an outdated business model to a better-designed model that satisfies customers.

Value Disciplines: This flexible framework focuses on what an organization is already good at and builds on it. Three areas of focus are operational excellence, customer intimacy, and product leadership.

Agile Strategic Planning Model: The flexibility of Agile planning allows for growth and change in strategic planning. The cornerstone of Agile is being able to respond quickly to change, which seems like the antithesis of strategic planning. The Agile approach to strategic planning involves reviewing and adapting your strategic plan at regular intervals and whenever conditions warrant it.

General Electric Model: Also known as the McKinsey Matrix, this model looks at the industry externally versus the internal forces. Since it helps to identify the attractiveness of an industry and a firm’s strengths, the grid can help evaluate market share and identify areas for development.

How to Decide Which Strategic Planning Model or Framework to Use

Though strategic planning has changed over the years, the need remains for organizations to have some kind of vision and mission, as well as an outline about how to achieve them.

There is no right or wrong way to decide which model or framework to use for your strategic planning process. The key is to figure out which one best applies to your company and its needs — for example, VRIO can help you create a vision statement, and BSC can help keep plans on track. Additionally, some methods work well together.

“The perfect plan is the one that actually gets done,” says Wright. “A poor plan well executed is worth more than a great plan that never gets off the ground. Most people know what they need to do; it’s getting the traction and about democratizing the process. Constantly, people undervalue the role of buy-in with strategic planning. People need to be involved.”

“The framework you choose would have to deal with the sophistication of your business,” says Ted Jackson, founder and managing partner of ClearPoint Strategy . He recommends adapting a model or framework to meet your needs, rather than attempting to stick to hard and fast rules that might come from a book or a similar source. “I think if you read a book and try to implement it exactly [as the book outlines it] to your organization, you will fail,” he says.

Jackson advises simplifying some frameworks and adapting them, but he has some cautionary advice about trying to combine parts of different frameworks. “One mistake is not picking one framework. You can’t be so flexible that you’re implementing multiple frameworks together. People within an organization get really confused,” Jackson says, adding that people who have some knowledge of specific models or frameworks will not understand different terms and ideas, and they’ll probably be afraid to ask.

Some organizations might not get to choose the framework they use. For example, governmental organizations or companies that receive grant funding might need to produce a strategic plan that fits into a formula the government dictates.

Even though you should not use a strategic plan solely because a similar company does, it might help to look at their preferred framework to pick the one that is right for you.

Below are other criteria to help you decide:

Check the size of your organization and the resources you can devote to planning.

If your organization is in trouble, you might want to focus on a framework or model that addresses immediate issues rather than tackles the longer term.

Look at the health of your organization and its developmental stage.

See who is excited about the planning process.

“If you have a cultural challenge in your organization about getting excited about planning, the model you pick is important. Some models are sexier than others,” Wright explains.

Wright does not recommend changing models during the planning process. “[The model] is a template you use to get your ideas on paper. The model is just a vehicle. If you’re struggling with the model, it might be you.”

It isn’t the same for frameworks, according to Wright. “There is a ton of value in changing frameworks and using multiple frameworks at the same time [to view things differently],” he says. Though Wright encourages using different frameworks, he echoes Jackson’s warning to not use different models at the same time.

In certain cases, strategic planning is not an immediate need — for instance, when a company is failing financially or is autocratic, or when a major upheaval is occurring.

Strategic Planning for Specific Areas

Strategic planning for specific departments is a bit different than planning for a company as a whole. In this section, we’ll explain the basics of how some departments typically approach strategic planning.

IT Strategic Planning

A strategic plan for the IT department details how technology will help a company succeed in reaching its goals and objectives. You can think of it as a technology roadmap that outlines where IT can do its part to implement a company’s strategies.

The IT plan must align with the company’s overall mission and vision statements, but it has a secondary mission statement that states how the IT strategy relates to the overall plans for the organization.

The IT plan should also include a SWOT analysis, goals, and objectives. The plan will help make sure you purchase the right assets and work with existing technology effectively. Use the template below to draft a strong, comprehensive IT strategic plan.

Download IT Strategic Planning Template - Excel

Strategic Human Capital Planning

Strategic human capital planning refers to when a company looks at how people — and how to manage them — go along with the organization’s strategic goals. The end result is a plan to help attract and maintain the talent necessary to achieve the company’s mission and vision.

You can use the following HR strategic plan to list, assess, and plan for future program strategies.

Download HR Strategic Planning Template - Excel

Succession Planning

At its core, succession planning relies on developing and identifying new leaders. Because employees move on or retire, a company needs to have a plan in place to assume new and important roles.

Often, succession planning happens as a part of the overarching strategic planning process — for example, when you look at the resources available to a company and their productivity.

Note that available human resources can be both strengths and weaknesses. The planning process can help companies identify specific hiring needs.

For more about human resources management, this article can help. Additionally, you can find templates for succession planning here .

Healthcare Strategic Planning

The world of healthcare is changing, and healthcare organizations have to adapt. Still, the following general ideas persist:

There will be a continued need to provide quality patient care.

Operating costs and government regulations will impact the bottom line.

The volume and demographics of patients will change.

There will be a change in the labor supply, especially in the number of primary care physicians available.

Wellness and prevention will gain importance.

New technologies will continue to emerge.

Even with the ever-changing healthcare industry, strategic plans will continue to help organizations stay focused on their goals and objectives. By having a structured planning process, rather than following models that are more organic and reactionary, healthcare entities can survive and succeed.

But be careful with metrics that only consider financial success — there is much more to healthcare than profit.

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Must-known Strategic Planning Frameworks and Models

Dec 19, 2024

Strategic planning is the foundation of success in personal and professional settings. Whether running a business, managing a team, or striving for personal growth, a structured strategy ensures clarity and focus. Strategic planning models and frameworks provide the tools to align efforts, set measurable goals, and navigate challenges effectively, fostering a sense of collaboration and shared objectives among team members.

This guide explores the most impactful strategic planning models and frameworks, offering insights into how they work and how tools like Xmind and Xmind AI can bring them to life.

What Are Strategic Planning Frameworks and Models?

Strategic planning models and frameworks are comprehensive and organized methodologies designed to assist organizations in the systematic development, execution, and evaluation of their strategies. These structured approaches play roles in different stages, including situational analysis, goal setting, strategy formulation, implementation planning, and performance assessment.

• Strategic Planning Frameworks : Flexible structures used to analyze internal and external factors, enabling continuous refinement of strategies.
• Strategic Planning Models are structured approaches companies and teams use to decide their short-term and long-term strategies and guide the overall implementations.

Models serve as detailed guides that outline the specific steps and processes involved in strategic planning, effectively answering the question of "how to" implement various strategies. In contrast, frameworks provide a broader perspective by highlighting essential factors and considerations that must be considered during the planning process, addressing the question of "what to consider."

These two elements are complementary, as models offer practical execution methods and frameworks that essential contextual elements are not overlooked.

Why Use Strategic Planning Frameworks and Models?

Strategic planning models and frameworks make it easier to turn visions into actionable steps. Their benefits include:

• Clarity in Decision-Making : Structured processes reduce ambiguity, ensuring data-driven and goal-oriented decisions.
• Efficiency : Models streamline planning, saving time and reducing redundant efforts.
• Adaptability : Frameworks make it flexible to adjust strategies as circumstances change.
• Team Alignment : Collaborative models ensure stakeholders work toward shared objectives.
• Consistency : Standardized approaches maintain focus and alignment across departments or teams.

10 Strategic Planning Frameworks

Swot analysis framework.

SWOT Analysis helps organizations identify their internal Strengths and Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats.

• Strengths are the internal attributes that give the organization an advantage, such as a strong brand, unique technology, or skilled workforce.
• Weaknesses are internal factors that disadvantage the organization, such as limited resources, gaps in expertise, or poor location.
• Opportunities are external factors that the organization can capitalize on, such as market trends, economic conditions, or changes in consumer behavior.
• Threats are external challenges that could harm the organization's performance, such as competition, regulatory changes, or economic downturns.

By analyzing these four areas, organizations can develop strategies that leverage their strengths, improve weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate threats.

PEST/PESTLE Analysis Framework

The PEST/PESTLE Analysis Framework is a strategic tool used to understand the external factors affecting an organization. It examines six key categories:

• Political : Analyzes how government policies, political stability, and regulations impact the business environment.
• Economic : Assesses factors such as the organization's business operations' inflation rates, exchange rates, and overall economic growth.
• Social : This section examines social trends, cultural aspects, demographics, and consumer behavior that affect market demand.
• Technological : Evaluates the impact of technological advancements, innovation, and the rate of technological change on the industry.
• Legal : Considers laws and regulations that businesses must comply with, including labor laws, consumer protection laws, and health and safety standards.
• Environmental : Examines ecological and environmental factors that might influence business practices, including climate change and sustainability issues.

Overall, PESTLE helps organizations identify potential risks and opportunities by looking at the broader external environment in which they operate.

Porter’s Five Forces

Porter's Five Forces is a framework used to analyze the competitive dynamics within an industry. It helps businesses understand the different factors affecting their market position and profitability. The five forces are:

• Threat of New Entrants : This refers to the ease with which new competitors can enter the market. High barriers to entry can protect established companies, while low barriers can increase competition.
• Bargaining Power of Suppliers : This force assesses how much power suppliers have over the price of goods and services. If there are few suppliers or if they offer unique products, they can demand higher prices.
• Bargaining Power of Buyers : This examines the influence customers have on pricing and quality. When customers have many options, they can negotiate for better prices or higher quality.
• Threat of Substitute Products or Services : This looks at the likelihood of customers finding a different way to meet their needs. High availability of substitutes can limit pricing power and market share.
• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors : This force evaluates the intensity of competition within the industry. High rivalry can lead to price wars, increased marketing efforts, and innovation.

Together, these forces provide insights into the competitive landscape, helping businesses develop strategies to enhance their market position.

Ansoff Matrix

Ansoff Matrix is a strategic planning tool used by businesses to decide on their growth strategies. It consists of four quadrants based on two dimensions: product growth (existing vs. new) and market growth (existing vs. new).

• Market Penetration : Focuses on increasing sales of existing products in existing markets. Strategies may include enhancing marketing efforts or lowering prices.
• Market Development : Involves expanding into new markets with existing products. This could include exploring new geographic areas or targeting different customer segments.
• Product Development : Entails creating new products for existing markets. This might involve innovating new features or launching entirely new products.
• Diversification : Involves introducing new products into new markets. This is often seen as the riskiest strategy, as it entails exploring unknown areas.

The Ansoff Matrix helps businesses assess risk and consider their options for growth in a structured way.

The BCG Matrix , also known as the Boston Consulting Group Matrix, is a strategic tool used for portfolio management and business analysis. It categorizes a company’s products or business units into four quadrants based on market growth and market share:

• Stars : High market share and high growth. These are the leading products that require investment to maintain their position but also generate significant revenue.
• Cash Cows : High market share but low growth. These products are well-established and generate more cash than is needed to maintain their market position, making them key funding sources for other areas.
• Question Marks : Low market share but high growth. These are products with potential but require significant investment to increase market share. Decisions need to be made whether to invest for growth or divest.
• Dogs : Low market share and low growth. These products typically do not generate much profit and may be candidates for divestiture or discontinuation.

The matrix helps companies prioritize resource allocation and strategy development based on the performance and potential of their various products.

OKRs Framework

The OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) framework is a goal-setting methodology for organizations and individuals to define and track their objectives and measurable outcomes. It consists of two main components:

• Objectives : These are clear, concise, and ambitious goals an organization aims to achieve. Objectives should be inspirational and provide direction for the team.
• Key Results : These are specific, measurable outcomes that indicate how success will be defined for each objective. Key results should be measurable and time-bound, enabling teams to track progress over time and determine whether they can meet their goals.

OKRs encourage alignment and engagement by ensuring all team members are focused on the same goals. They also promote transparency and accountability. This framework often assesses individual and team performance and fosters a results-oriented culture.

VRIO Framework

The VRIO Framework is a strategic analysis theory used to evaluate a company's resources and capabilities to determine its potential for creating a sustained competitive advantage. It stands for:

• Value : Does the resource or capability add value to the company by helping it exploit opportunities or counter threats?
• Rarity : Is the resource or capability rare, meaning that competitors do not widely possess it?
• Imitability : Is it difficult for competitors to imitate the resource or capability?
• Organization : Is the company organized to effectively exploit the resource or capability?

If a resource meets all four criteria, it can ensure competitive advantage and superior performance sustained.

Hoshin Kanri Framework

The Hoshin Kanri Framework is a strategic planning methodology used to align an organization’s goals and objectives with its day-to-day operations. It aims to ensure that every individual in the team or company is working in the same direction and that resources are effectively allocated to achieve long-term goals. The process includes setting key objectives (often called "Hoskins"), cascading those goals down through the organization, and regularly reviewing progress. This framework emphasizes a continuous improvement cycle involving both top-down planning and bottom-up feedback, helping organizations to adapt to changes while staying focused on their strategic priorities.

• How It Works : Encourages collaboration across departments to achieve unified goals.
• Example : A manufacturing company uses Hoshin Kanri to streamline production while focusing on quality improvement.

Lean Canvas

The Lean Canvas is a strategic planning tool used to develop and validate business models. It is a one-page framework that helps entrepreneurs summarize key aspects of their startup, such as the problem being solved, the target customer segments, value propositions, revenue streams, cost structure, and key metrics. By focusing on these elements, the Lean Canvas promotes quick iterations and customer feedback, enabling startups to adapt their strategies effectively and efficiently. It is particularly useful for lean startups looking to minimize waste and maximize learning throughout their early stages.

• Overview : Focues on customer problems, solutions, and value proposition.
• Example : A fintech startup uses Lean Canvas to outline its business model and target audience.

7S Framework

The 7S Framework is a management model designed to help organizations align key elements to achieve their goals. It consists of seven interdependent components:

• Strategy : The plan devised to maintain a competitive advantage.
• Structure : The organizational hierarchy and how roles and responsibilities are arranged.
• Systems : The processes and procedures that support daily operations.
• Shared Values : The core beliefs and culture of the organization that guide behavior and decision-making.
• Style : The leadership approach and management style within the organization.
• Staff : The human resources and their capabilities in the organization.
• Skills : The competencies and expertise of the employees.

The framework emphasizes that these elements must be aligned and mutually reinforcing for an organization to be effective and successful.

5 Strategic Planning Models

Basic model.

The Basic Model is an effective and uncomplicated strategic planning strategy suited for small organizations or individuals just starting. This model streamlines the process by concentrating on the essential elements, making it easier for users to navigate and implement their strategies successfully.

• Overview : This model defines the mission, identifies goals, and creates an action plan. Its simplicity eliminates complexity, making it ideal for those new to planning.
• Define your mission and vision.
• Identify short-term and long-term goals.
• Develop an actionable plan with clear steps and timelines.
• Example : A small nonprofit organization can use this model to define its mission, set annual fundraising goals, and plan specific events.

Alignment Model

The Alignment Model connects all internal processes and systems to the organization's strategic goals. This framework ensures that each operational function, from resource management to communication practices, effectively supports and advances these overarching objectives. Thus, it fosters a unified approach that enhances overall performance and drives success.

• Overview : This model bridges gaps between departments or teams to achieve unified objectives.
• Assess current operations and their alignment with strategic goals.
• Identify areas of misalignment or inefficiency.
• Streamline workflows and processes to ensure consistency with objectives.
• Example : A medium-sized company with siloed departments can use this model to align its revenue goals with its marketing, sales, and customer service teams.

Balanced Scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and management framework that translates an organization's vision and strategy into performance measures. The concept emphasizes that financial metrics alone do not provide a comprehensive view of business performance, so it incorporates multiple perspectives to assess overall effectiveness.

The Balanced Scorecard typically includes four main perspectives:

• Financial : Assess profitability and economic viability.
• Customer : Evaluate how well the organization meets customer needs.
• Internal Processes : Monitor operational efficiency.
• Learning and Growth : Focus on innovation and long-term sustainability.
• How It Works : This model encourages balanced goal-setting, ensuring no critical area is neglected.
• Example : A tech company could use this model to improve customer satisfaction while balancing product innovation and profitability.

Issue-Based Model

The Issue-Based Model is often used in problem-solving and decision-making processes. This model focuses on identifying and addressing specific issues rather than getting lost in broader topics.

• Identify the issue at hand.
• Analyze its causes and potential solutions.
• Develop a targeted action plan to resolve the problem.
• Example : A retail chain experiencing declining sales in one region can use this model to diagnose the issue and implement corrective actions.

Scenario Model

The Scenario Model aims to explore various potential futures based on different variables and uncertainties. By considering multiple scenarios, organizations can better understand possible risks and opportunities, allowing them to develop more robust and resilient strategies. This model emphasizes flexibility and readiness for unforeseen circumstances.

• Identify potential future scenarios (e.g., market changes, economic downturns).
• Develop strategies to address each scenario.
• Regularly update scenarios based on new data or trends.
• Example : A financial services company anticipating regulatory changes uses this model to create contingency plans.

How Xmind and Xmind AI Enhance Strategic Planning

Xmind offers a powerful way to convert complex strategic models into clear, visually engaging diagrams that simplify the thought process. This capability allows users to effectively organize their ideas, making it easier to break down intricate concepts into manageable components. Through intuitive design features, users can easily create and modify diagrams, which facilitates brainstorming sessions and helps track progress over time.

Additionally, Xmind AI significantly enhances this process by integrating automation features, which streamline repetitive tasks. This means users can focus more on strategic thinking and less on manual working. The AI assists in real-time collaboration, allowing teams to work together seamlessly, regardless of their physical location. Team members can contribute simultaneously, share comments, and make edits, which fosters a dynamic exchange of ideas.

Strategic planning models and frameworks are vital for achieving long-term success. From SWOT analyses to Lean Canvas, these tools provide the structure needed to align efforts and optimize outcomes. Tools like Xmind and Xmind AI make implementing these models seamless, transforming ideas into actionable strategies.

👉 Start planning smarter today with Xmind.

5 effective strategic planning models for your business

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Strategic planning models are a catalyst for successful teams. Companies use these models to achieve their goals, steer through transitions, or make impactful changes. Imagine a roadmap guiding every decision, action, and initiative — a strategic blueprint illuminating your path to success. 

That’s what a strategic planning model is for your team.

This article delves into the five most common strategic planning models. By using one of these models in your own strategic planning, you’ll align objectives, foster collaboration, and drive tangible results.

1. Basic strategic planning model

The basic strategic planning model is a foundational model for strategic planning. It starts with establishing or refining fundamental elements — mission, vision, values, and objectives — that set the direction for the entire organization. 

Who uses this model?

This method is cost-effective and straightforward, making it most helpful for: 

• Teams with no strategic planning experience: Because of its simplicity, the basic model is best if you’ve never created a strategy from scratch before. 
• Companies with limited resources: It offers an efficient way to develop a strategic plan without requiring extensive investments or lengthy training sessions.

How to use the basic strategic planning model

Teams don’t need fancy tools or software to follow this model. Its simplicity helps you prioritize and focus on the most critical aspects of your strategy without being overwhelmed by complex frameworks. 

• Write (or refine) your vision, mission, and values: Hold a collaborative meeting with stakeholders to establish or refine these business components so they align with your current direction and aspirations.
• Set clear goals: Use the SMART goal framework , which involves setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
• Identify a strategy to reach your goal(s): Along with your leadership team, develop an actionable and attainable strategy. For instance, if your goal is to increase customer satisfaction by 15% in the next year, an actionable strategy might be to implement a customer feedback system and launch a customer loyalty program.
• Create an action plan to implement the strategy: Break down your strategy into tasks and milestones. Create a clear roadmap for implementation by assigning responsibilities and deadlines to team members. 

Related: The 5 steps of the strategic planning process

2. Goal-based strategic planning model

The goal-based strategic planning model emphasizes setting clear and measurable objectives. Teams use this model because the data-driven approach leads to more informed strategic choices. 

While this model is similar to the basic strategic planning model, it’s slightly more comprehensive and requires more time and resources. It’s useful for: 

• Teams that need more nuance than the basic model: If you want to take a more detailed approach to your strategy, the goal-based model provides a slightly more structured framework than the basic model. 
• Teams with limited strategic planning experience: This model doesn’t require specialized tools or extensive resources, making it accessible for teams that are still new to strategic planning.

How to use the goal-based strategic planning model

This goal-based model uses a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) as the foundation for creating an effective strategy. 

• Carry out a SWOT analysis: A SWOT analysis helps you identify key areas for improvement and growth. Pro-tip: Use the Mural template to save time and easily collaborate with other stakeholders. 
• Set goals based on SWOT: Define specific, measurable goals that address your challenges (weaknesses and threats) and leverage your strengths and opportunities.
• Establish the strategies to help you meet these goals: Brainstorm and prioritize actionable strategies aligned with your goals. For instance, if your goal is to expand market reach, your strategies could include launching targeted marketing campaigns or exploring new distribution channels.
• Create an action plan: Develop a detailed action plan outlining specific steps, responsibilities, and timelines for achieving the established goals over the next year. 
• Allocate resources: Allocate the necessary resources, including budget and personnel, to support the action plan’s implementation.  

3. Strategic alignment model

This model helps you closely align your strategies with overall business goals and values to create an integrated approach. It allows everyone in the company to work together better by making sure they all share the same goals and values. 

If your existing strategies aren’t helping you meet your goals, the strategic alignment model will help you reassess and adjust them. It’s most helpful for: 

• Teams undergoing a transition: If your company is going through a merger or acquisition, this model can foster a smoother transition and alignment with the new strategic direction. 
• Teams that need to refine existing strategies: This model offers a structured approach for reassessing and improving current strategies, which is especially important if you’re trying to adapt to evolving market conditions, shifting customer demands, or internal changes. 

How to use the strategic alignment model

This model emphasizes the alignment of your strategy with your company’s mission, vision, culture, structure, processes, and resources.

• Identify which existing elements are misaligned: Conduct a comprehensive review of your company, including its existing mission, vision, culture, processes, and resources. This process will help you identify exactly where the misalignment is so you can align these elements with your strategy. 
• Identify solutions for each misalignment: Collaborate with relevant stakeholders and teams to propose actionable solutions for each identified misalignment. For example, if there’s a discrepancy between the company’s stated culture and actual practices, your solution could involve revising policies or conducting more thorough employee training.
• Create a strategic plan that implements solutions: Develop a strategic plan that incorporates your proposed solutions. Clearly outline steps, responsibilities, and timelines for integrating these solutions into your existing strategy and company framework.

Related: Mural’s Strategy Map template helps you visualize your goals across each area of your business

4. Balanced scorecard model

The balanced scorecard model gives a holistic view of your company’s performance by considering four main components: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth. This method makes sure that organizations consider a wide range of factors and goals rather than focusing on just one. 

The balanced scorecard model is particularly beneficial for companies that want to establish or refine strategies in more than one area. It works best for:

• Large companies that need to align objectives across several areas: Large companies with diverse operations and multiple strategic priorities benefit from the holistic view of the balanced scorecard. For instance, conglomerates or multinational corporations that operate across various industries can use this model to align objectives from different sectors.
• Cross-functional teams: This model helps diverse teams work together in sync, ensuring everyone is on the same page to achieve big-picture goals.

How to use the balanced scorecard model

To use the balanced scorecard model, you’ll outline the objectives, KPIs, and strategic initiatives for each component (financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth): 

• Write the objectives: Define specific goals for each component. For example, for the financial component, your objective could be to increase revenue by diversifying revenue streams, expanding market share in specific segments, and optimizing pricing strategies.
• Determine the KPIs and targets: Identify the KPIs corresponding to each objective. For instance, using the same financial example as above, your KPIs may include revenue growth rate and market share.
• Outline strategic initiatives to meet your objectives: Establish the strategic initiatives or actions you’ll use to achieve the defined goals and KPIs. 

Related: OKRs vs. KPIs: What’s the difference?

5. Theory of change model

The theory of change model focuses on defining the cause-and-effect relationships between an organization’s activities and its intended outcomes. It helps companies articulate how their actions will lead to their desired changes and improvements.

This model helps companies establish clear pathways for improvements, making it beneficial for specific teams, including: 

• Teams undergoing large transformations: This model is particularly beneficial for teams navigating significant changes, such as restructuring or organizational overhauls.
• Teams that need to implement large-scale changes: This model is ideal for teams aiming to make substantial changes across departments or within the organizational structure, giving teams a clear roadmap for achieving these broad changes.

How to use the theory of change model

Using the theory of change model starts with prioritizing your desired outcome or result. 

• Write your desired outcome: Clearly define the specific change or improvement you want to achieve. For instance, if the desired result is to enhance employee satisfaction, outline the specific areas or factors contributing to this improvement. Conduct a change impact assessment to help your team map out how and when the change will happen.
• Establish steps to reach the desired outcome: Break down the overarching outcome into manageable steps or milestones. Identify the necessary conditions or actions required at each stage.
• Identify your KPIs: Your KPIs should effectively measure your progress and success toward achieving your desired outcome.

Choose a model for your next strategic planning session

Whether it’s the simplicity of the basic strategic planning model or the transformative power of the theory of change model, each one offers a unique pathway to enhance the impact of your team’s strategic planning.

Choose a model that resonates with your team’s needs and goals. By adopting a deliberate model tailored to your organization’s mission and values, you’ll pave the way for a more direct pursuit of your objectives.

And if you need help running an effective strategic planning meeting , look no further. Our guide has all the answers and insights you need.

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Top frameworks for strategic planning

Lucid Content

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If you want to stay ahead in business, you need to constantly be improving. It’s how you stay relevant and remain profitable. But improvement and success don’t come just because you want them enough—you need to develop a strategic plan that details:

Where you are right now: Look at your current strategic position relative to your competition. Describe your current problems keeping you from progressing. Define your mission, vision, and values.  

Where you want to go: Describe your competitive advantage and understand where your organization is currently headed. Look for ways to solve your current problems.

How you will get there: Define your goals, objectives, and the steps you will need to take to achieve your goals.

This is an oversimplification of the strategic planning process. There are many different strategic planning models you can use that expand on these three basic elements.

Let’s look at some strategic planning frameworks that will help you to see where you can improve, define your goals, and map out the processes and procedures you will use to keep achieving your goals.

Strategic planning models vs. strategic planning frameworks

A strategic planning model maps out how your company plans to implement a strategy for improving operations, delivering quality, and meeting specific goals. It is like a template or a tool you use at the beginning of the planning process. It helps you flesh out the ideas that will take you where you want to go. 

A strategic planning framework outlines how you will conceptually approach your strategic plan. Frameworks tend to be visual and detail the activities that are performed in your organization’s strategy plan. Think of the framework as a blueprint or the foundation for your messaging and brand narrative. The idea is to communicate to internal and external stakeholders the aspirations of your strategic plan. 

Common strategic planning models

Why is a planning model important? Because it’s hard to achieve your company’s goals if your employees don’t know what the goals are or how you plan to reach them. 

Strategic planning models are the roadmaps that keep your team focused on what needs to be completed to reach your goals. And you will need to constantly monitor and review your plans to ensure that you quickly address issues and realign processes as necessary to keep your production working as smoothly as possible.

The following are a few strategic planning process models that can help you to create the roadmap your team will follow to success.

Basic model

Sometimes called the simple model, the basic model is often used by companies that:

• Are new and don’t have a lot of experience with or are new to strategic planning
• Are small and don’t have the resources to develop complex plans
• Don’t have too many serious problems to solve
• Don’t have a lot of time to create an extensive plan

This model focuses on establishing your company vision and mission statement, setting goals to make the vision a reality, outlining specific steps to take to reach the goals, and monitoring progress to keep everybody on track and to address issues when they come up.

Issue-based model

This model is also known as the goal-based model. It’s essentially an extension of the basic model. The issue-based model is more dynamic and popular with established companies to develop more comprehensive plans.

Alignment model

The goal of this model is to align your business and IT strategies with the company’s strategic goals. This model is good for organizations that need to reassess objectives or correct problem areas that impede progress.

Like the issue-based model, this model has you look at your internal operations to develop a strategy. The model involves the following steps:

• Review your vision, mission statement, and company goals.
• Determine what is currently working well and what needs to be realigned.
• Make suggestions for improving the problem areas.
• Implement changes to improve or eliminate weak areas.

Scenario model

This model looks at different outside influences that could have an impact on your organization. For example, government regulations can have a big impact on a manufacturer, such as what materials can be used to make their products. 

The idea is to look at how outside influences might impact your operations from the following perspectives: best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, and reasonable-case scenario.

These scenarios help you to figure out the best way to respond to each. Determine which would be the most likely scenario and determine how you will address it. Then add it to your strategic plan.

Organic model

This model is not linear or structured like the other models. Its focus is on your company’s shared vision and values instead of plans and processes. The idea is that a company’s vision is achieved more organically when teams are able to openly and continuously discuss what steps to take. This requires a clear understanding of the vision, frequent and consistent communication, and dialogue among various stakeholders.

The model might include the following three basic steps:

• Clarify shared vision and values.
• Based on shared values, determine the actions and responsibilities for each person so they can work toward the vision.
• Stakeholders report the results of the action plans.

The organic model can work in large organizations that can afford to take a long time to achieve their vision and who can work well in a less structured environment. 

Real-time model

This model is fluid and designed for organizations that need to react quickly to a rapidly changing work environment. Long-term, detailed plans quickly become irrelevant because of rapid changes.

Real-time strategic planning involves the following:

• Organizational strategy: Define your mission and vision, understand your competitors, and know what the current market trends are.
• Programmatic strategy: Research external environments, list opportunities and threats, and brainstorm the best ways to approach each.
• Operational strategy: Analyze internal processes, resources, and systems. Develop a strategy that addresses internal strengths and weaknesses.

Inspirational model

This model is designed to inspire your people to energize them as they work toward goals. People come together to discuss an inspirational vision for your company. Then, participants are encouraged to brainstorm far-reaching, exciting goals to realize your company vision. 

The inspirational model works well for organizations looking to lift the spirits of its staff or quickly produce a plan.

Types of strategic planning frameworks

Without a strategic framework, you risk inconsistent messaging that can confuse customers and stakeholders. If your message and purpose are not completely understood, you can alienate stakeholders and lose employee motivation.

Here are some of the different types of strategic planning frameworks that you can use:

Balanced scorecards: Works as a strategic planning and management system. The balanced scorecard helps companies to align daily tasks with long-term strategy, communicate progress, set priorities, monitor progress, and measure success.

Strategy mapping: Provides a visual document to communicate your strategic plan. A strategy map make it easy to show relationships among various takes and objectives.

Porter’s Five Forces: Helps you to assess how competitive the market is. Porter’s Five Forces focuses on your company’s ability to enter a market, similar products customers can buy instead of yours, buyer power, supplier power, and the effect a competitor’s change in strategy would have on your company.

SWOT analysis: With this strategic planning framework, you analyze your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

PEST/PESTLE analysis: This framework looks at a business environment to see if there are any factors that could impact your organization’s health. PEST analysis includes political, economic, sociocultural, and technological factors.

Ansoff matrix: This strategic planning framework analyzes four potential opportunities for growth: market penetration, product development, market development, and diversification. Try the Ansoff matrix when seeking out new opportunities.

Objectives and key results ( OKRs ): In The objectives refer to what you want to achieve. The key results indicate how you’ll measure your progress toward your objectives.

Blue Ocean Strategy: With this framework, your company creates demand for products in an uncontested market space. You focus on differentiating your product from the competition rather than trying to beat them.

Value, Rarity, Imitability, and Organization (VRIO): This strategic planning framework answers questions concerning your product’s value, the amount of competition in your market, how easily your product can be imitated, and how well-organized your company is.

Hoshin Kanri: This framework is used to align goals with tasks, keeping everything coordinated and ensuring that everybody is working toward the same end result.

If strategic planning models and frameworks seem similar, it’s because they are. While strategic planning models outline the high-level structure of your plan, the strategic framework describes the design concepts and the plan’s details. 

It doesn’t matter which model and framework you choose to use. You can even combine aspects of several models or frameworks to meet your needs. The important thing to remember is that strategic models and frameworks are vital to creating and communicating a clear strategic plan that will keep your company relevant and competitive.

See how Lucidchart can help you through the strategic planning process, especially when it comes time to take action.

About Lucidchart

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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