IASP SPP - IASPStrategy Planning Professional Exam

Thefirst and most critical stepwhen initiating organizational change is tocommunicate clearly why the change is necessary. This step establishes urgency, aligns understanding, and prepares the organization emotionally and cognitively for transition. The IASP SPP curriculum, aligning with Kotter’s change model, emphasizes that clear communication of the rationale reduces resistance and mobilizes stakeholders toward shared objectives. Other activities like interviews or analyses come after establishing a compelling case for change.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Change Management】【Kotter, Leading Change】

ABalanced Scorecard strategy mapis a generic architecture that graphically describes an organization’s strategy, showing cause-and-effect relationships among strategic objectives across perspectives such as financial, customer, internal processes, and learning/growth. The IASP SPP curriculum highlights its utility for communicating and aligning strategy across levels. It is more comprehensive than an inventory or matrix.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Balanced Scorecard】【Kaplan & Norton, Balanced Scorecard】

Collaborative online tools enhance customer interactions by enablinginstant and continuous two-way communication, allowing organizations to respond promptly, gather feedback, and engage customers in real-time. The IASP SPP curriculum recognizes that such tools are increasingly critical for improving customer experience, building loyalty, and fostering co-creation of value. While these tools can have downsides if mismanaged, their primary effect is to expand communication capabilities, supporting transparency and responsiveness that differentiate organizations competitively.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Customer Engagement】【Prahalad & Ramaswamy, Co-creation of Value】

The first step in strategic planning is to developvision and mission statements, which establish the organization’s purpose, values, and aspirational future. These foundational elements guide subsequent steps such as setting objectives, initiatives, and performance measures. The IASP SPP curriculum emphasizes that clear vision and mission are prerequisites for coherent strategy formulation and alignment.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Vision and Mission】【Drucker, The Practice of Management】

Buildingdepartmental plans around organizational strategic objectives and initiativesensures alignment and coherence. The IASP SPP curriculum highlights that departmental plans must directly support corporate strategy for optimized resource allocation and goal achievement. Creating plans in isolation or deferring integration can cause misalignment and inefficiency.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Strategy Alignment】【Kaplan & Norton, Balanced Scorecard】

An effective communication plan clearlyarticulates what the organization wants to achieve, ensuring stakeholders understand goals and rationale for the new strategy. The IASP SPP curriculum stresses clarity and focus in communication as critical for building alignment, motivation, and reducing uncertainty during change. Tactical explanations or consultant involvement, while potentially useful, are secondary to clear messaging.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Change Communication】【Kotter, Leading Change】

Addressing potential obstacles earlyduring the current state assessment phaseallows organizations to proactively identify risks and challenges before formal planning or implementation begins. This foresight enables development of mitigation strategies and contingency plans embedded into the strategic plan. The IASP SPP curriculum highlights integrating risk assessment throughout the planning lifecycle to enhance resilience and reduce surprises. Waiting until kickoff or operational planning limits flexibility and responsiveness, increasing the likelihood of delays or failure.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Risk Management】【PMI, PMBOK Guide】

Quality planningis the phase where teams define quality standards, finalize roles and responsibilities, and assemble the project team. This step establishes accountability frameworks and prepares the team to meet quality objectives. The IASP SPP curriculum emphasizes quality planning as foundational for ensuring that subsequent control and improvement activities are effective and aligned with strategy. Quality control, assurance, and continuous improvement follow, focusing on monitoring, compliance, and enhancements.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Quality Management】【Deming, Total Quality Management】

Abroad environmental scanis the first step in strategic planning, providing critical insights into external and internal factors that influence organizational success. This scan informs SWOT analysis, opportunity identification, and risk assessment. The IASP SPP curriculum stresses environmental scanning as foundational for informed, relevant strategy development before formulating goals, measures, or action plans.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Environmental Scanning】【Aguilar, Scanning the Business Environment】

Value chain analysis isa systematic process that helps organizations identify and calculate the value added at each step of delivering products or services. It dissects primary and support activities to evaluate how they contribute to competitive advantage and customer value. The IASP SPP curriculum underscores that value chain analysis is a strategic tool enabling organizations to pinpoint strengths, inefficiencies, and differentiation opportunities. It is broader than just financial summaries or cost listings and involves qualitative and quantitative assessment.【IASP SPP Study Guide - Value Chain Analysis】【Porter, Competitive Advantage】