Strategy Analysis

Description of Strategy Analysis. Explanation.

Definition Strategy Analysis. Description.

Strategy Analysis is is a tool that helps to evaluate alternative strategies to reach one or more goals.

The Strategy Analysis, also called Alternatives Analysis Tool or Strategic Options Analysis, is part of a typical project planning approach.

Together with Problem Analysis, Objective Analysis, Project Planning Matrix and Project Implementation it constitutes the so called Logical Framework Approach.

All strategies identified in an Objective Analysis Tree are analyzed, evaluated and ranked during Strategy Analysis. As each project has limited resources, it is important that project planners examine all alternative strategic options and pick only the most appropriate, feasible and promising ones among them.

The Process Steps to Implement a Strategy Analysis are the following:

Select and define decision criteria to be applied in order to skim the most adequate strategic options to accomplish a goal.
List all alternative strategies, as emerged from the Objective Analysis.
Skim those strategic options using the defined decision criteria.
Discuss the implications of each selected alternative in groups.
Use the selected strategic alternatives to develop the whole project strategy and action strategies, i.e. translation of strategies into operational actions.

For a correct implementation of this technique it is important that decision criteria and relative choices made must reflect the means-ends relationships showed on the Objective Analysis Tree.

Alternative frameworks to help in the analysis of strategies are Strategy Maps and the Kepner-Tregoe Matrix.