Your team will create a strategic plan that outlines your vision, mission, and objectives for completing the assignment. The strategic plan is a road map focused on the what and how your team will work together. The strategic plan is NOT the companys strategic plan. Your final deliverable for this assignment must include a mission statement for your team, team objectives, and a work plan (an outline is provided).

As an example, is your teams objective to get an A on the assignment? If so what steps are you going to take to accomplish that?

The strategic plan must be tied to concepts outlined in the course text, include three external scholarly references, and follow APA guidelines. The final document must be 2.5 to 3 pages in length (not including reference page or title page), and follow the guidelines in the Strategic Management Writing Guide download. Where appropriate, the use of tables or bulleted lists is encouraged but should not be the entire paper. It is not expected that you answer every question from the suggested outline of the Group Strategic Plan. Instead, you should find a balance between answering the questions in detail yet within the page requirements. Remember, being concise is valued in business communication. The Group Strategic Plan is worth 50 pts.

Hint: Think of your team as the executive c-suite (CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.); the product is the written case assignment, measures of success are grades and feedback, the consumer is your peers (for the peer review) and the course instructor.

Suggested Outline of Group Strategic Plan

• Vision Statement (created & written by your group)
• Why is your groups vision statement effective?
• Compare and then discuss how well your team followed the dos and donts of wording a vision statement?
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• Why is a vision statement critical to success?
• Mission Statement (created & written by your group)
• Why is this a sound mission statement?
• In what ways are the mission and vision statements different?
• How are your groups mission and vision statements tied together?
• Objectives (ignore financial objectives and concentrate on strategic objectives)
• How are these objectives quantifiable?
• What are your teams deadlines for these objectives?
• How will you measure your groups ability to meet these objectives?

Strategy

• How is your strategy unique?
• Why do you feel this strategy is a winner?
• How will following it support your groups success?

Work plan

• How will your teams strategy, mission, and vision be executed?
• Does your team have roles? If so, what are they?
• What happens if someone doesnt fulfill their responsibility to the team or meet the deadlines?
• How will your group ensure each team member across campuses is able to be heard and/or included?
• When your group has completed the Strategic Plan, one member from each group should submit the file to this assignment by the date specified in the course calendar.

TABLE 2.1 Wording a Vision Statement-the Dos and Don'ts The Dos The Don'ts Be graphic. Paint a clear picture of where the company is headed and the market position(s) the company is striving to stake out. Don't be vague or incomplete. Never skimp on specifics about where the company is headed or how the company intends to prepare for the future. Be forward-looking and directional. Describe the strategic course that will help the company prepare for the future. Don't dwell on the present. A vision is not about what a company once did or does now; it's about where we are going." Keep it focused. Focus on providing managers with guidance in making decisions and allocating resources. Don't use overly broad language. Avoid all-inclusive language that gives the company license to pursue any opportunity. Have some wiggle room. Language that allows some flexibility allows the directional course to be adjusted as market, customer, and technology circumstances change. Don't state the vision in bland or uninspiring terms. The best vision statements have the power to motivate company personnel and inspire shareholder confidence about the company's future. Be sure the journey is feasible. The path and direction should be within the realm of what the company can accomplish; over time, a company should be able to demonstrate measurable progress in achieving the vision. Don't be generic. A vision statement that could apply to companies in any of several industries (or to any of several companies in the same industry) is not specific enough to provide any guidance. Indicate why the directional path makes good business sense. The directional path should be in the long-term interests of stakeholders (especially shareholders, employees, and suppliers). Don't rely on superlatives. Visions that claim the company's strategic course is the "best" or "most successful" usually lack specifics about the path the company is taking to get there. Make it memorable. A well-stated vision is short, easily communicated, and memorable. Ideally, it should be reducible to a few choice lines or a one-phrase slogan. Don't run on and on. A vision statement that is not concise and to the point will tend to lose its audience