Strategic Planning: Mission, SBUs, and SWOT

Mission Statement

• Defines goals and direction for the company.

Corporate Level

• Senior managers (CEO, CFO, VP, etc.) translate the mission into action plans.

Strategic Business Units (SBUs)

• SBU = Strategic Business Unit; stand-alone profit centers within the company.
• Purpose: identify which units contribute to the bottom line.
• Analogy: colleges have departments seen as separate units (business, math, English) with measurable needs (courses, students, faculty).
• Honda example: multiple SBUs; each operates as its own profit center to assess contribution to overall profitability.

Examples and Analogies

• College analogy demonstrates how different areas can be treated as separate units for planning and resource needs.
• Stony Brook University example (and others) used to illustrate separate units within a university structure.

SWOT Analysis

• SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
• Used to analyze the company or each SBU.
• Honda example: strengths like car quality and parts.
• Can apply SWOT to each SBU and to functional areas (marketing, production, etc.).

From Mission to Action

• Process: Mission guides corporate planning; SBUs analyze and implement; then move to marketing, production, etc. to build a framework for success.