Strategy isn't the same thing as a plan on paper — it's a product of leadership intelligence: the ability to read the surrounding environment and an organization's real capabilities in a way others simply don't see, even when they're looking at the same information. This Training Course from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy is built around that distinction, walking participants toward becoming a well-rounded leader through practical, evidence-based steps rather than theory alone.

Strategic planning on its own is often reduced to writing a plan and following standard textbook procedures, while strategic thinking is the wider, forward-looking vision of where an organization is actually heading. This programme is designed for anyone who wants to sharpen their leadership skills using current global best practice and build that vision-driven, strategic mindset.

Who Should Attend?

• Managers and department heads within commercial institutions and companies.
• All staff working in control and monitoring sections.
• Business administration students at universities.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain what strategic thinking is, why it matters, and how it fits within integrated management planning.
• Read the organizational pyramid through a contemporary management lens and apply strategic thinking in a genuinely creative way.
• Recognize what excellence in strategic thinking looks like and the factors that help an organization achieve it, including building and managing service quality.
• Build a clear vision and mission, and translate them into strategic and SMART objectives with mechanisms to check their quality.
• Use creative performance to shape strategy and apply strategic thinking to anticipate and prepare for the future.

Module 1: The Mindset of Strategic Thinking

• What strategic thinking is and why it matters.
• Strategic thinking within integrated management planning.
• The organizational pyramid in contemporary management thought.
• Applying strategic thinking in a genuinely creative way, and what excellence in strategic thinking looks like.
• The factors that help an organization achieve that excellence.

Module 2: Vision, Mission and Strategic Objectives

• The importance of a clear vision in strategic thinking.
• The importance of a clear mission in strategic thinking.
• Building strategic objectives.
• SMART objectives and mechanisms for checking their quality.

Module 3: Environmental Scanning and Internal Review

• Steps of strategic thinking and planning: environmental scanning, internal review of the organization, defining the situation and formulating objectives.
• Identifying the resources required for implementation, evaluation and monitoring the plan.
• Gathering information on the internal and external environment and identifying strengths and weaknesses.
• Balance analysis, with practical cases and applications.

Module 4: Defining the Strategic Position and Choosing Between Alternatives

• Steps for identifying the strategic position, with a practical application.
• Strategic alternatives, and how to test the validity of each one through a practical case.
• Selecting a strategy and the supporting systems needed to implement it.
• Criteria for the final selection of a strategy, and the factors that shape it.
• How suitable the administrative structure, human resources and information systems are for implementing the chosen strategy, with practical cases.

Module 5: Creative Performance in Building and Delivering Strategy

• Creative performance in building strategy, and building and managing service quality.
• Using strategic thinking to anticipate and prepare for the future.
• Methods of creative and innovative thinking, how to apply them, and how to involve those responsible for implementation.
• Using brainstorming to solve administrative problems and support decision-making.

Module 6: Putting It Into Practice

• A dedicated strategic thinking and planning lab.
• Practical exercises on strategic thinking and creative performance in achieving goals.