Chapter 2

STRATEGIC FINANCES

by: josavere

In a strategic plan, resources are combined to obtain results through an execution process to generate value. A strategy, without a good financial footing, can become a great frustration for the executive team.

In this document, we combined strategic planning with the Plan of Value Generation, which must be complemented with the pursuit that allows continuous improvement in all areas of the company.

1. STRATEGIC PLANNING

The sufficiently judicious thing begins with a diagnosis process to answer three basic questions:

Where are we?
Where do we want to go?
How we are going to do it?

It ends with the Balanced Scorecard (integral control panel) designed by Kaplan and Norton, adapted to the particular case. The planning implies necessarily, the handling of a great number of measurable variables through perfectly quantifiable indicators, which are complemented with another one of the qualitative types which they aim fundamentally at the handling of the long term (strategic vectors).

In the long term, good management of trade takes us to a solid financial situation, which allows the positioning as well. Finances and trade with an efficient operation, are feedback, the reason why a holistic vision of the company is required; It consists of a global approach, understanding it as a community of people, dedicated to obtaining profits by means of teamwork, interacted to generate value.

The strategist needs to know the macroeconomic situation in the country to take advantage of tailwinds or to swim against the flow when it touches him. In other words, to know the development plan of the country and to study the economies of the nations with which it trades or it projects to initiate a trade (see the quality of life in a country) to define the bases for the elaboration of projections.
The general directives constitute the first level, which we are going to call the strategic vectors in the control panel; they show a relation towards where we want to go in the long term.

In order to follow the direction of the vectors, the macro processes must have a management that is moderate by the performance indicators. They correspond to the second level. The pursuit controls (third level) indicate if the specific tasks are being fulfilled according to the needs of the strategy and the performance. The first question is answered with the indicators of the result that was obtained in the period base.

They show how it happened and they constitute a photograph of the closing, a static concept, with little value of prediction. Second, it is answered after a conscientious analysis of matrix DOFA

INTERNAL	EXTERNAL
STRENGTHS	OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES	THREATS

The strengths offer growth opportunities and the weaknesses imply risks based on the strengths of the competition reason why they are constituted in threats of which we are due to protect ourselves.

To know itself if the same is the first responsibility of the organization to elaborate an action plan. For it, the indicators of the company and those of the sector are needed to practice benchmarking.

As far as possible, all the goals must be quantified with indicators that are constituted in objectives (very especially those of short term). The long term is the result of successive short terms.

In order to respond to the third question the company must choose a strategy that responds to its particular conditions and to the basic direction that it wants to take within three big categories, that were proposed by Michael Tracy and Fred Wierre in its discipline book you lead; that is to say:

a. OPERATIVE EXCELLENCE
b. PRODUCT INNOVATION
c. GET CLOSE TO CLIENT (specialized Attention)

Of course, the discipline to choose depends, among other things, on the analysis of matrix DOFA and must be expressed in terms of the mission, the vision, and the values.

Using the organizational philosophy, that is, the set of ideas that arise in order to establish beliefs and practices that enable good organizational performance and quality of response to the needs of society, the mission, vision, values, and strategies are defined. for the optimal functioning of an organization or company as a basis for defining the objectives to be met and its principles, which in turn allows its evolution and competitiveness.

Organizations and companies have an economic and social commitment. To achieve recognition, competitiveness, and importance in a sector, they must have a series of internal policies recognized and complied with by all workers.

THE MISSION: it corresponds to the reason to be of the company.

THE VISION: it constitutes the field for soccer players; what can become; the goals that we set out; to archived, they must be joined with the strategy.¹

THE VALUES: represent inviolate norms; no matter how attractive the objective may seem to be.

When defining the previous postulates requires originality, authenticity, knowledge, and honesty, not to fall in being leaders with downtrodden phrases... as they commonly write to fill out a requirement. The value discipline must agree with the expectations of the clients for products or services, which the company offers. It must be feasible, be focused, flexible, and publishable.

2. STRATEGIC VECTORS

A. HUMAN RESOURCE: recognized by all the theoreticians in administration, as most valuable the human resource and it constitutes a critical variable that must go as a strategic vector based on competition because the results of the dedicated efforts to increase the satisfaction and the knowledge of the employees to take shelter in the long term.

The personal quality of the workers is increased by means of their capacity to work as a team generating synergy that the active company as the intellectual capital through the institutionalization of the conjunction of individual knowledge contributes to the search of the common objective of value generation (see intellectual capital).

The human group will have the responsibility of an agreed carrying out of the strategy which implies decision and fulfillment of the corresponding commitments with the interpersonal relations, the processes, the technology, and the enterprise culture.
Combining the institutional matrix DOFA, mission, vision, and values with the discipline of value and the capacity to negotiate in terms of the watch, price, opportunity, and degree of positioning and complementing it with the investigation of markets, we proceed to define the strategic units of businesses and to fix the objectives of each one of them to terms of:
a. Yield
b. Growth
c. Liquidation

Based on the previous statements we can make the projection of sales, but the important tool to prepare the plan of value generation, which at heart constitutes a simulation process until finding the alternative that comes near the objectives proposed in the questions for where do we go? And how we are going to do it?

Combining initial desires with the objective possibilities found in the plan of value generation, we defined what the company calls SUCCESS; it must be made based on quantifiable indicators to clearly prepare the control chart that facilitates the periodic pursuit and the taking of remedial actions to implement a continuous improvement.

B. INTERNATIONALIZATION: the phenomenon of globalization and the worldwide perspective in the commercial area essential control is taken in the strategic plan. It implies a certain degree of bilingualism, certifications of quality, good corporative government, and a high degree of efficiency.

C. MANAGEMENT BY VALUE: the reason for being of all organizations.

D. EXCELLENCE IN THE PERFORMANCE: defined according to the criteria, the proposal of value (an implicit promise to the clients), the model of operation, and the discipline that the organization chooses.

E. FINANCIER: is moderate based on the cash flow that the company generates; in it a complete instance and in concrete terms affluent, the money represents the average one to fulfill the commitments with the public with those with whom the company interacts, that is to say:

Commitment with the government (Forced Partner)
Commitment with the workers (protected by the legislation)
The commitment of operation (otherwise it would not have how to generate resources for anyone)
Commitment with the suppliers (fundamental support)
Commitment with the partners (to those with whom all the responsibility falls of the business, via risk)

QUALIFICATION

With shared criteria, we proceed to weigh each one of the strategic vectors and to determine a proportional score of the value of the indicator to place a note based on 100, that is to say, percentage.

For example:

	Strategic Vector	Value %	Goal	Result	Points
1	Human Resource	20	100	70	70
2	Internationalization	20	100	80	80
3	Management by value	20	100	65	65
4	Get close to the client	20	100	90	90
5	Results	20	100	45	45
	TOTAL POINTS				350	35%