Strategic Profitability Planning & Implementation
Strategic Profitability Planning & Implementation (SPPI) is a very intense, hands-on service offered by KCARD. During the SPPI process, KCARD helps the business identify opportunities to improve profitability, develop steps to address and follow-up on these opportunities, and monitor and guide the implementation of the action steps outlined. SPPI includes many strategic planning components, but it focuses more on short-term actions to improve profitability. And KCARD plays a much larger role that just a facilitator in the group’s planning. KCARD is very involved in the implementation of the action plan developed in the planning, and we stay involved after the initial implementation.
SPPI can be a very effective tool for a business to improve its operations, but the SPPI requires a lot of commitment from the business’ management team members for it to have a positive impact on the business’ bottom line. SPPI requires a series of working group meeting about 6-8 weeks apart, several conference calls, informal team meetings, and timely follow-up on assignment and opportunities identified in team meetings.
During this process KCARD will:
Perform SWOT Analysis: KCARD will assist the business in identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, & threats for the business through research, interviewing members, and analyzing business operations. This tool is often more effective after KCARD has performed a BMOA for a business because KCARD already has a good understanding of these for the business.
Identify and Define Core Capabilities and Competencies: Core capabilities are the capabilities and competencies necessary to execute your organization’s business model. An organization’s core capabilities are value-added efforts that should achieve results both internally (within the business unit – management, labor, sales, other) and externally (outside the business unit – customers, vendors, others) at two levels: product/service delivery and close integration with strategic and operational management.
Core competencies are fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject area or skill set. A core competency is something that your organization can do well and that meets the following conditions: it provides the customer benefits and/or value, it is difficult for the competition to imitate, it can be leveraged widely to many products/services and markets.
Build a Team Approach: KCARD will identify the 2-4 (normally 3) broad areas that the business to needs to address to improve profitability. Most commonly, these areas are cost reduction, increase pricing position, and improve marketing efforts. After these area have been identified, KCARD breaks the members or management team members into teams with each team responsible for one area. KCARD staff then work with the teams to identify opportunities for the business in that area and develop a list of suggested actions to address these opportunities.
Define Action Plan: KCARD will compile opportunities identified and suggested actions from each team to layout an action plan for the business. The plan will include a start and finish date and desired result for each item. KCARD will also provide an analysis of what effect these action items could have on the profitability of the business. At this point, the entire group will normally hold its second working meeting to approve of the action plan.
Provide Continued Involvement: After the action plan, each team, if so desired by the whole group, is responsible for investigating possibility and implementing each of the suggested actions from their team. KCARD staff will remain involved with each of the teams, and will closely monitor their progress. KCARD staff will also perform tasks for the team that have been identified as needed. After the business begins to implement its action plan and monitor the results, the process naturally lends itself to the development of a more formal long-term plan for the business that the members of the business have bought into because of the initial results.
