AI-Driven Strategic Planning
We have begun a project that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to take over the entire corporate strategic planning function. This website will describe that project and report on its progress.
Is It Time to Reinvent Corporate Strategic Planning?
The purpose of the corporate strategic planning function is to prepare for the future. The performance of this function is essential to the long-term success of every organization that does not operate in a competitive vacuum. This includes for-profit corporations, non-profit institutions, faith-based entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and public agencies.
Is strategic planning working as well as it could? Could we do better?
The concept of “strategy” originated in ancient Greek military history reflected in the Greek word “strategos”. The first scholarly exploration of this term occurred in the 1920s. The Harvard Business School developed the Harvard Policy Model, a systematic strategic planning methodology for profit-driven organizations. The model derscribed a network of company resources, senior management, market information, and social obligations that summarized a unifying premise for a business organization. It argued that the organization would flourish if it carried out appropriate strategies within that model.
In the 1950s, strategic planning moved away from an emphasis on organizational resources and policies, and began paying attention to more dynamic factors like risk management, industry growth, and market share. This approach was called the Portfolio Model.
This was followed in the 1960s by the Industrial Economics Model that is based on analysis of competitive power relationships incorporating consumersand suppliers, substitute products and services, and new industry entrants and rivals. These elements were captured in Michael Porter’s Five Forces Framework.
By the end of that decade, strategic planning was an accepted management function in every business organization in the US.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Porter at the Harvard Business School wrote several books that redefined and more clearly articulated a systematic beginning-to-end process for planning a business’s journey into the future. The elements of this process underlie the strategic planning activities of most corporations.
The theory behind corporate strategy has been debated and evolved over the last century. What has not changed significantly is the methodology by which strategies are planned.
How It Works Now...
Some businesses take this responsibility very seriously. They implement every step of the traditional strategic planning process professionally and thoroughly. This includes formulating thoughtful plans, implementing them competently, and tracking their progress. These tend to be larger for-profit entities with the necessary resources.
Many other organizations engage in less robust variations of strategic planning. Their data collection is limited, environmental assessments are less thorough, strategizing is not guided by a clear vision, implementation is weak and sometimes does not take place at all, and there is no follow-up or progress measurement. This group is composed of profit-driven businesses of all sizes, as well as those not-for-profits who are making initial efforts to think and act strategically.
The remaining institutions are not yet giving serious attention to the strategic dimension of their business. They are focused on current operations and practice little meaningful strategic planning. They may not recognize its value, or feel that they lack the resources of time and expertise.
Even the best of these organizations have significant weaknesses in their strategic planning efforts. For example …
- The planning event takes place too infrequently (once a year or not at all).
- Planning rarely responds promptly to current market or competitive conditions.
- The planning process is supported by insufficient data that are incomplete, inaccurate, and biased.
- The reasoning that leads to strategic decisions is based on executive intuition and experience.
- Instead, strategic decisions are often unscientific, misguided, and irrational.
- Once strategies are chosen and implementation begins, progress is rarely monitored.
Through neglect of the strategic planning function, many organizations are sacrificing revenues and profits, compromising corporate missions, surrendering to competitive forces, and conceding their futures.
The corporation that is the first to correct these weaknesses will have a head start on the competition – Michael Porter calls it a “competitive advantage”.
What We Propose...
We will develop an automated cloud-based system that will use artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP) to automate the entire strategic planning process for every organization in the world. Algorithms will moderate every step of the process. They will import data from multiple internal and external sources, process them, look for patterns, trends, and interrelationships, and report conclusions to management. There will be appropriate opportunities for human intervention and decision-making. The system will be tailor made to each organization. The final result will be strategic plans that take into account organizational resources and competencies, markets, customers, competitors, and environmental factors (e.g., economics, law, regulatory, technology).
The result will be superior to anything that is possible today.
What We Will Accomplish...
Through the availability of this AI-driven system, the strategic planning process will be transformed in these ways.
- A comprehensive, well-reasoned, evidence-based planning process will actually take place. It will not be postponed, minimized, ignored, or cancelled.
- Most of the process can occur without human intervention, unless management chooses otherwise.
- The process will use much larger volumes of relevant data; they will be much more accurate.
- The process will take into account many more influential factors.
- More logical conclusions will be drawn from the data gathered. Human bias and distortion will be greatly reduced.
- The resulting strategic plans will be based as much as possible on scientific evidence.
- The process will respond automatically and more quickly to signals for strategic action.
- Strategic decisions can be made at any time (24/7) year-round.
- A larger number of strategic options will be considered.
- Strategic decisions are more likely to produce positive results.
- The validity of assumptions on which plans are based are regularly reviewed.
- The implementation and performance of the plans are regularly monitored.
- The organization is more likely to achieve a competitive advantage through strategic action.
A Video Story of Our Project…
Moving Forward...
Progress Updates
This is a section of the website where we post news and updates about the progress regarding the project. You can find them sorted by date.
Reach Us
Are you interested to hear more about the project? Do you have an idea how to improve and/or participate in the development? Is this something that could help your business or organization? Something else?
We encourage you to send us a message.