LSM503

Scenario Planning

Use scenario planning to evaluate your organization’s strategic position and competencies. Develop plans for expansion in an uncertain future.

Description

The complexities of rapidly expanding technology and economic globalization make it necessary for organizations to develop tools for strategic analysis to ensure their ability to compete as an industry leader. Scenario planning is a powerful tool used by the most successful corporations for strategic analysis and decision making, enabling an organization to chart a course or optimize its resource allocation in complex situations when the future is uncertain.

In this course, participants learn to evaluate an organization's strategic position, competencies, and plans for expansion across a full range of potential future developments.

Who Should Take This Course?

This course is vital for senior management and other key leaders of organizations in virtually any industry as they face the responsibilities of guiding their organizations to success in uncertain times.

Course Format

eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

This course contains the following modules:

• Context and Preparation for Scenario Planning
  • Introduction to the concept of scenario planning and its usefulness
  • Key elements of scenario planning (e.g., trends and uncertainties)
  • Organizing data: identifying how uncertainties may interact with each other, and addressing different levels of confidence in the data
• Scenario Planning in Practice
  • Developing scenarios that integrate trends and uncertainties into alternate possibilities for your industry
  • Applying strategic frameworks to determine core competencies and key success factors for each scenario
  • Assessing an organization's current competencies and creating a development plan to acquire new competencies
  • Early warning systems to accelerate the conversion of uncertainties into trends

Benefits to the Learner

Participants who complete this course will be able to:

• Assess whether scenario planning is right for their organization
• Collect and arrange the data necessary for planning a scenario
• Organize an effective team for scenario planning
• Assess their organization's current competencies and develop robust strategies for multiple scenarios
• Develop early warning indicators to identify emerging scenarios
• Identify new competencies and courses of action that will give their organization the greatest strategic advantage

Authoring Faculty

Michael J. Hostetler, Lecturer of Leadership

Sponsoring School

Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management

Total Learning Time

Approximately five to six hours over a period of two weeks.

Certificate Information

This course can be applied toward the following certificates:

• Business Leadership Skills
• Executive Leadership

Prerequisites

This course is most valuable if the student is familiar with strategic thinking and concepts. If you are unfamiliar with this topic, we recommend completing Strategic Thinking (LSM502) prior to enrolling in this course.

ACE CREDIT Recommendation

The American Council on Education recommends courses ILRSM509-512 in this series this Certificate Program for 2 semester hours in Leadership, Management, or Business Administration in the upper division baccalaureate degree category. A review of courses ILRSM513-514 is planned for late 2007.

HRCI Recertification

This course been approved for six (6) Strategic Management recertification credit hours toward SPHR and GPHR recertification and six (6) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute. Please contact the Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI) for further information about certification or recertification.

Project Management Institute Professional Development Units

This course qualifies for 6.50 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) for Professional Project Managers (PMPs) seeking ongoing education and professional development for continuing certification. eCornell is a Global Registered Education Provider of PMI. PDUs are designated as Category 3.