Essentials of Strategic Management
Analyse your organisation's position, choose where and how to compete, test options with clear criteria and turn a strategy into measures your team can act on.
What you'll learn
- Explain what a strategy is and tell it apart from a budget, a project list or a vision statement
- Write or critique a vision, mission and values statement that guides real decisions
- Analyse an organisation's external environment using PESTEL and Porter's Five Forces
- Assess internal strengths with the value chain, resources and capabilities, and VRIO
- Build a SWOT that is prioritised and evidence-based, and turn it into options with TOWS
- Choose between cost leadership, differentiation and focus, and recognise when a blue ocean move makes sense
- Compare growth options using the Ansoff matrix and weigh organic growth, acquisition and partnership
- Evaluate strategic options with the suitability, acceptability and feasibility tests and link the chosen strategy to a simple Balanced Scorecard
Who this course is for
- Managers and heads of department asked to contribute to or deliver a strategic plan
- Team leads and supervisors who want to understand the thinking behind the targets they are given
- Aspiring managers preparing for promotion or a management trainee programme
- Owners and managers of growing SMEs who want a structured way to decide where to go next
- Officers in NGOs and public institutions who work on corporate or medium-term plans
Course content
8 sections · 42 lessons · 6h 52mStart here 3 lessons · 15 min
Module 1: What strategy is, and where it starts 6 lessons · 52 min
Module 2: Reading the world outside: PESTEL and Five Forces 6 lessons · 58 min
Module 3: Looking inside: capabilities, VRIO and SWOT done properly 6 lessons · 55 min
Module 4: How to compete: cost, differentiation, focus and blue oceans 6 lessons · 55 min
Module 5: Where to grow: Ansoff, diversification and partnerships 6 lessons · 52 min
Module 6: Choosing and delivering: option testing and the Balanced Scorecard 6 lessons · 1h 5m
Final module: your strategy toolkit in action 3 lessons · 1h
Before you start
- Some work experience, either in a team or running a small business, is helpful but not required
- Basic comfort with percentages and simple figures in cedis
- Access to a computer or smartphone and about 6 to 7 hours spread over two to four weeks
- A notebook, paper or digital, for the exercises you will apply to your own organisation
About this course
Most managers in Ghana are handed a strategic plan at some point, usually as a thick document from a retreat, and asked to 'align' with it. Very few are ever taught how strategy is actually made: how to read the market, how to judge what the organisation is good at, how to choose between options that all sound reasonable, and how to tell a real strategy from a list of hopes.
This course fills that gap. It is the foundation course in the SkillsPillar strategy library, written for managers, team leads and people preparing for their first management role. You will learn the core tools used by strategy teams and consultants, including PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, the value chain, VRIO, SWOT with TOWS, the generic strategies, the Ansoff matrix, the suitability, acceptability and feasibility tests, and the Balanced Scorecard. Each one is explained in plain language and applied to one running case: Nkoso Agro-Processing Ltd, a mid-sized cassava and maize processor in Techiman facing a crowded gari market, a powerful brewery customer and a board that wants growth.
You will practise with branching scenarios, sorting and marking exercises, worked examples with real numbers in cedis, and a final action plan you can download and use at work. By the end you will be able to sit in a strategy session and add something useful: a sharper question, a better analysis, or a clearer way to decide.
Implementation and strategic leadership are covered in depth in other courses in the library. Here you get a solid introduction to both so you can see how the pieces connect.
Your instructor
SkillsPillar Faculty
Practitioners and trainers in strategy, public service, enterprise and workplace compliance
SkillsPillar courses are written by practitioners who have trained graduates, managers, public servants and business owners across Ghana. Every course is built around real situations, practical tools and activities that test judgement, not memory.
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Frequently asked
How do I pay for a course?
Pay securely with MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AT Money, Visa or Mastercard through Hubtel. You get access straight after payment.
How long do I have access?
For life. Once you enrol, the course stays in your account and you can learn at your own pace, including any updates we make.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes. Finish every lesson in a course and a certificate is issued automatically. Each one has a QR code and a public link employers can use to check it.
Can I learn on my phone?
Yes. Everything works on a phone, tablet or computer, and your progress follows you between devices.
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