Sometimes overlooked in Strategic Planning efforts, the Industry / Environmental Assessments the best way to for an organization to avoid obsolescence. By purposely focusing outside the organization and beyond its own market place, leaders gain an understanding of the three factors that can and will impact their own organization:

• Issues: When an aspect of the operating environment (regulation, economics, customer preferences, etc.) changes in a way that makes it difficult for the organization to accommodate or function as it has in the past.
• Trends: When a pattern of behavior emerges, either among organizations or an aspect of their environment, often in response to one or more issues.
• Innovations and Best Practices: When an organization responds to trends or issues in a proven and superior way. Innovations and Best Practices are of high interest in an industry, becoming a blue print for high performance.

There are a variety of sources of issue, trend, and Innovation / Best Practice information. Typically, information from multiple sources is consolidated into list form summaries, painting a concise view of how the industry is evolving, and influencing (not prescribing), where the organization should go. SCS can prepare an Industry / Environmental Assessment for your organization, or help you prepare a summary digest of relevant material you have collected.