Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning Definition and Philosophy

The Basics of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is more than ensuring your association will remain financially sound and be able to maintain its reservesits projecting where your association expects to be in five, ten, or fifteen yearsand how your association will get there. It is a systematic planning process involving a number of steps that identify the current status of the association, including its mission, vision for the future, operating values, needs (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), goals, prioritized actions and strategies, action plans, and monitoring plans. Strategic planning is the cornerstone of every common-interest community. Without strategic planning, the community will never know where it is going much less know if it ever got there. An important concept of strategic planning is an understanding that in order for the community to flourish, everyone needs to work to ensure the teams goals are met. Team members include all association homeowners, the board of directors, professional managementwhether onsite or through a management company

and various service professionals such as accountants and reserve professionals. This team needs to work as a collective body to be successful. Part of the team concept is the establishment of roles for the team players. Teams usually perform poorly if everyone or no one is trying to be the quarterback.

Components of Strategic Planning

Strategic plannings three main components are plan development, plan execution, and plan review. Many of the functional areas within these components are similar in that all three require a team concept that is based on: ensuring the members roles are defined, educating team members about the process, and using quality communication when interacting.
Plan Development

Plan development is the first component of strategic planning. During this stage, the following steps should be completed. 1. Assess the associations history and significant accomplishments. 2. Assess the associations current status. 3. Evaluate the associations current governance structure. 4. Develop mission and vision statements. 5. Determine operating values. 6. Perform a needs assessment. 7. Determine critical issues.

8. Define the roles of key players. 9. Educate and communicate the plan.. 10. Listen and take notes. 11. Develop and prioritize long-range goals. 12. Develop short-term goals and action plans. 13. Monitor the progress. .
Plan Execution

Plan execution is the second phase of strategic planning. In this step, an association puts its plan into action through the allocation of resources. This step has three components: 1. Programs. Association programs serve as blueprints for converting objectives into realities. 2. Procedures. Procedures are the specific sequence of tasks required to complete the programs.

characteristics of a useful strategic plan

A useful strategic plan exhibits many characteristics. Specifically, it should be: 1. A set of priorities. 2. Achievable, measurable, and time sensitive. 3. Flexible and responsive to changing conditions. 4. Short and simple. 5. A unit, not a menu. 6. The means to an end, not an end in itself. 7. Based on a three- to five-year period.

3. Budgets. An association should prepare budgets to fund programs. Instead, many develop programs based on their budgets. Simply put, an association should be strategy-driven, not budget-driven.
Plan Review

Plan review is required constantly to improve the plan and ensure its execution. Part of

the plan review occurs naturally when theres board turnover, a new homeowner, or changes in the law. In addition, plan review needs to be scheduled to ensure the plan is meeting the communitys goals. This can be achieved through surveys, management review conferences, or discussions at meetings. If the community fails to update the plan, the plan will eventually fail the community. Industry experts suggest that associations and their managers review their strategic plans annually and completely overhaul their strategic plans every three to five years.
Use of a Consultant

An outside consultant or professional facilitator brings impartiality, pointed questions, and the facilitation skills needed to balance differences of opinion. Associations should be aware that consultants will take different approaches to strategic planning as no one, right way exists. While hiring a consultant can be expensive, he or she will greatly accelerate the associations learning curve and help to ensure that the strategic planning

Master the basics of strategic planning

Here are some key steps to cover in your strategic planning. Make sure the company name fits. For your strategic plan to work, everyone in the company should be aligned around what your business is called. Sometimes, a nickname for a company or acronym starts becoming prevalent (like FedEx) or the inc. gets dropped in casual usage. Other

times, the companys name no longer reflects what it actually does. In those cases, its time to consider modifying the name of the firm before you move onto other steps in your strategic planning. Analyze your opportunities and threats. While working on your annual strategic plan, ask yourself, What are the top three to five opportunities to wildly exceed our goals for the company in the next 24 to 36 months? Also ask: What are the top three to five threats that could derail us? If youre doing quarterly strategic planning, change your time frame to the next 12 months. Youll list these opportunities and threats in the upper right hand corner of the OnePage Strategic Plan. Dont rush through this part of your strategic planning. If you take sufficient time with them, most of your quarterly, annual and even three- to five-year priorities should fall into place. At a one-day quarterly strategic planning session, I suggest devoting 45 minutes to this part of your discussion. At a two-day annual session, I recommend spending 1.5 hours. Some teams opt to spend the evening before at a dinner having an informal discussion of opportunities and threats, so they have an additional night to sleep on the ideas under discussion. Sometimes it is hard to decide, during your strategic planning, if something is an opportunity or a threat. Thats because some of the biggest opportunities can become threats and vice versa. Use your best judgment to decide how to list each factor in your One-Page Strategic Plan. List your core values. If you dont have your companys core values nailed down yet, read Jim Collinss Building a Company Vision, article in Harvard Business Review . It will help you identify your core values, core purpose and Big Hairy Audacious Goal in your strategic planning. To bring your core values to life in your strategic planning session and make them more memorable have each executive write each down and have your leadership team make a one or two-word note next to each that remind them of a recent time when an individual or team lived that value. Then take 20 minutes and have them share stories for each core value, with someone taking notes. This will help to reinforce the core values; indicate where a core value might be weakening (if there is a lack of stories); and provide ongoing legends to add to your employee handbook, freshen-up your orientation, and provide stories for an internal or external newsletter. And it provides stories you will recall at the quarterly or annual all-hands meeting to reinforce the core values. Pay particular attention to a core value for which the team couldnt think of any recent stories. If youre new to core values, a dearth of anecdotes might indicate that a value is not core If youre confident that a value is essential but no stories surface, then it may be a sign of bigger underlying problems. A weakening core value is an early, early warning sign of trouble so pay attention and act. List your core purpose and Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Your core purpose and BHAG discussed in the Jim Collins article I mentioned -- are the big WHY for getting up in the morning and slugging away. The core purpose is what you continue to strive to achieve, but never reach.

The late Mother Theresa urged that we love the poor, for instance, but she didnt reach them all. The BHAG is the measurable 10- to 30 -year goal that you intend to achieve. Your core purpose and BHAG serve as the heart of the vision behind your strategic planning. Discuss what youre doing to attain both of them during your strategic planning session. List specific 90-day actions in the actions boxes on the One-Page Strategic Plan. Strategic planning: Looking ahead for the longer term Focus on your three to five year goals/Financial outcomes. Pick a comfortable point 3 to 5 years from now (i.e. Future Date: Dec 31, 2015) and determine the revenues, profits, and market capitalization you hope to achieve by that date (or, if youre not a public company, your market share, number of Fortune 500 clients, number of offices, etc. These are your desired financial outcomes. List them in the One-Page Strategic Plan. Name the sandbox you plan to dominate within three to five years. What will be your primary geographical reach? What are your primary products and services? And what is your market/distribution channel/customer-type? List your companys three brand promises. These are the three ways you matter to your customers and differ from the competition. There is always one lead Brand Promise the one that truly sets you apart from the competition and leads your marketing messaging. Either list it first, or circle it on your One-Page Strategic Plan. Specify your smart numbers: List three key metrics (often called Key Performance Indicators) that your team will look at daily and/or weekly to know that the company is progressing toward your goals. The three key numbers to monitor daily should measure if youre keeping your promises to customers. Quantify what matters, not what is easy to measure. Highlight your capabilities/key thrusts. What are the handful of priorities for the next 3 5 years necessary to reach your targeted outcomes in revenues, profits and market share; dominate your sandbox, and deliver on your Brand Promises? Focus on the Who, what, when and how? From an annual perspective, select metrics that will indicate to you that youre using your resources to the fullest extent. For some companies, it might be inventory. For a professional services firm, it might be utilization rate. There is a space for these metrics in the One-Page Strategic Plan. Pick one or two critical numbers that you need to achieve to drive all of the other desired outcomes in your strategic planning. This is the single most important decision you will make in your strategic planning. If you are not sure what critical numbers to select, youll find some clues by asking yourself questions like: What is the key weakness in your business model that must be fixed? What is the major rock in your shoe? What is keeping you awake at night? What is causing you to lose customers?

Its also important to commit to three to five initiatives for the next year to support the Critical Number and desired annual outcomes while making progress on your longer-term Capabilities/Key Thrusts. On a quarterly basis, youll also want to select quarterly metrics, critical numbers and rocks you have to move to achieve your key goals during your strategic planning session. Less is more. Many firms are finding three priorities are enough for the quarter and the year. Dont list items that are part of your ongoing business, whether its raising money or launching upgrades, etc. The idea of priorities is to do something DIFFERENT so youre getting different results. Select your "themes." First, read the chapter Mastering the Quarterly Theme in my book. Whats the deadline for the theme? It doesnt have to be the end of a quarter or year. One entrepreneur made it his birthday If we hit 200 contracts a week by my birthday, then ). Whats the measurable target? Whats the name of the Theme (Make it catchy. This is where you put your marketing cap on)? Whats the scoreboard going to look like? And what will the reward/celebration be when the goal is reached? Establish accountability. LAST COLUMN (WHO/WHEN) After the plan is completed, each executive should list a handful of his or her priorities for the next quarter in the last column of the One-Page Strategic Plan (Who/When). Its likely that some of these priorities come from having accountability for a critical number or a quarterly or annual priority. Each box on the planning document should technically have an accountable person associated with it and I mean every box. Who has accountability for revenue? Who has accountability for a particular threat? Who has accountability for a specific action that will be taken to re-enforce a weakened core value? Good luck with your strategic planning!

BUSINESS PLANNING

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Business planning, also known as strategic planning or long-range planning, is a management-directed process that is intended to determine a desired future state for a business entity and to define overall strategies for accomplishing the desired state.

Through planning, management decides what objectives to pursue during a future period, and what actions to undertake to achieve those objectives. Successful business planning requires concentrated time and effort in a systematic approach that involves: assessing the present situation; anticipating future profitability and market conditions; determining objectives and goals; outlining a course of action; and analyzing the financial implications of these actions. From an array of alternatives, management distills a broad set of interrelated choices to form its long-term strategy. This strategy is implemented through the annual budgeting process, in which detailed, short-term plans are formulated to guide day-to-day activities in order to attain the company's long-term objectives and goals. For entrepreneurs and small business owners, the first step in successful business planning involves creating a formal business plan, of the type commonly used to attract investors and secure bank loans. Careful preparation of this document forces a small business owner to examine his or her own goals as well as the market conditions in which the business operates. It also includes a detailed financial analysis, a look at current staffing levels and future needs, and information about management's expertise. "All the elements can be folded together to formulate a strategic plan that focuses on where you want your company to be in the long run, and how you plan to get there," Vince Maietta wrote in The Business Journal. "That also helps entrepreneurs focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the firm, as well as opportunities and threats." The use of formal business planning has increased significantly over the past few decades. The increase in the use of formal long-range plans reflects a number of significant factors:
Competitors engage in long-range planning. Global economic expansion is a long-range effort. Taxing authorities and investors require more detailed reports about future prospects and annual performance. Investors assess risk/reward according to long-range plans and expectations. Availability of computers and sophisticated mathematical models add to the potential and precision of long-range planning.

Expenditures for research and development increased dramatically, resulting in the need for longer planning horizons and huge investments in capital equipment.

Steady economic growth has made longer-term planning more realistic.

BENEFITS OF PLANNING
Planning provides a means for actively involving personnel from all areas of the business enterprise in the management of the organization. Company-wide participation improves the quality of the plans. Employee involvement enhances their overall understanding of the organization's objectives and goals. The employees' knowledge of the broad plan and awareness of the expected outcomes for their responsibility centers minimizes friction between departments, sections, and individuals. Involvement in planning fosters a greater personal commitment to the plan and to the organization. These positive attitudes improve overall organizational morale and loyalty. Managerial performance also benefits from planning. Planning focuses the energies and activities of managers in the utilization of scarce resources in a competitive and demanding marketplace. Able to clearly identify goals and objectives, managers perform better, are more productive, and their operations are more profitable. In addition, planning is a mental exercise from which managers attain experience and knowledge. It prepares them for the rigors of the marketplace by forcing them to think in a future- and contingency-oriented manner.

THE PLANNING HORIZON

Basically, there are two timetables for planning. The first is long range, extending beyond one year and normally less than five or ten years. Often called the strategic plan or investment plan, it establishes the objectives and goals from which short-range plans are made. Long-range plans support the organizational purpose by providing clear statements of where the organization is going. The second planning horizon is short-range, covering a period of up to one year. Shortrange plans are derived from an in-depth evaluation of the long-range plan. The annual budget is a quantified expression of the enterprise's plans for the fiscal year. It generally is divided into quarters, and is used to guide and control day-to-day activities. It is often

called the tactical plan because it sets priorities, in the near term, for the long-range plans through the allocation of resources to specific activities.

TYPES OF PLANS
In addition to differentiation by planning horizon, plans are often classified by the business function they provide. All functional plans emanate from the strategic plan and define themselves in the tactical plans. Four common functional plans are:
1. Sales and marketing: for developing new products and services, and for devising marketing plans to sell in the present and in the future. 2. Production: for producing the desired product and services within the plan period. 3. Financial: for meeting the financing needs and providing for capital expenditures. 4. Personnel: for organizing and training human resources.

Each functional plan is interrelated and interdependent. For example, the financial plan deals with moneys resulting from production and sales. Well-trained and efficient personnel meet production schedules. Motivated salespersons successfully market products. Two other types of plans are strategic plans and tactical plans. Strategic plans cover a relatively long period and affect every part of the organization by defining its purposes and objectives and the means of attaining them. Tactical plans focus on the functional strategies through the annual budget. The annual budget is a compilation of many smaller budgets of the individual responsibility centers. Therefore, tactical plans deal with the micro-organizational aspects, while strategic plans take a macro-view.

STEPS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS

The planning process is directly related to organizational considerations, management style, maturity of the organization, and employee professionalism. These factors vary among industries and even among similar companies. Yet all management, when applying a scientific method to planning, perform similar steps. The time spent on each step will vary by company. Completion of each step, however, is prerequisite to successful planning. The main steps in the planning process are:
Conducting a self-audit to determine capabilities and unique qualities

Evaluating the business environment for possible risks and rewards Setting objectives that give direction Establishing goals that quantify objectives and time-frames Forecasting market conditions that affect goals and objectives Stating actions and resources needed to accomplish goals Evaluating proposed actions and selecting the most appropriate ones Instituting procedures to control the implementation and execution of the plan.

THE SELF-AUDIT In order to create

an effective over-all plan, management must first

know the functional qualities of the organization and what business opportunities it has the ability to exploit. Management conducts a self-audit to evaluate all factors relevant to the organization's internal workings and structure. A functional audit explores such factors as: sales and marketing (competitive position, market share and position, quality and service); production (operational strategies, productivity, use and condition of equipment and facilities, maintenance costs); financial (capital structure, financial resources, credit facilities, investments, cash flow, working capital, net worth, profitability, debt service); and personnel (quantity and quality of employees, organizational structure, decision making policies and procedures).
THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Management surveys the factors that exist

independently of the enterprise but which it must consider for profitable advantage. Management also evaluates the relationships among departments in order to coordinate their activities. Some general areas of the external environment considered by management include: demographic changes (sex, age, absolute numbers, location, movement, ethnicity); economic conditions (employment level, regional performance, sex, age, wage levels, spending patterns, consumer debt); government fiscal policy and regulations (level of spending and entitlements, war and peace, tax policies, environmental regulations); labor supply (age, sex, education, cultural factors, work ethics, training); competition (market penetration and position, market share, commodity or niche product); and vendors (financial soundness, quality and quantity of

product, research and development capabilities, alternatives, foreign, domestic, just-intime capabilities).
SETTING OBJECTIVES AND ESTABLISHING GOALS

The setting of objectives is a decision-making process that reflects the aims of the entire organization. Generally, it begins at the top with a clear statement of the organization's purpose. If well communicated and clearly defined throughout the company, this statement becomes the basis for short-range objectives in the annual budget. Management articulates the overall goals to and throughout the organization in order to coordinate all business activities efficiently and effectively. It does this by: formulating and distributing a clear, concise statement of the central purpose of the business; leading in the formulation of long-range organizational goals; coordinating the activities of each department and division in developing derivative objectives; ensuring that each subdivision participates in the budget process; directing the establishment of short-term objectives through constructing the annual budget; and evaluating actual results on the basis of the plans. The organization must know why it exists and how its current business can be profitable in the future. Successful businesses define themselves according to customer needs and satisfaction with products and services. Management identifies the customers, their buying preferences, product sophistication, geographical locations, and market level. Analyzing this data in relation to the expected business environment, management determines the future market potential, the economic variables affecting this market, potential changes in buying habits, and unmet needs existing now and those to groom in the future. In order to synchronize interdepartmental planning with overall plans, management reviews each department's objectives to ensure that they are subordinate to the objectives of the next higher level. Management quantifies objectives by establishing goals that are: specific and concrete, measurable, time-specific, realistic and attainable, open to modification, and flexible in their adaptation. Because goals are objective-oriented, management generally lists them together. Some examples of goals might include:

1. Profitability. Profit objectives state performance in terms of profits, earnings, return on investments, etc. A goal might call for an annual increase in profits of 15 percent for each of the next five years. 2. Human resources. This broad topic includes training, deployment, benefits, work issues, and qualifications. In an architectural consulting firm, management might have a goal of in-house computer-aided design (CAD) training for a specified number of hours in order to reach a certain level of competence. 3. Customer service. Management can look at improvements in customer service by stating the number of hours or the percentage of complaints it seeks to reduce. The cost or cost savings are stated in dollar terms. If the business sells service contracts for its products, sales goals can be calculated in percentage and dollar increases by type and level of contract. 4. Social responsibility. Management may desire to increase volunteerism or contributions to community efforts. It would calculate the number of hours or dollars within a given time frame.
FORECASTING MARKET CONDITIONS Forecasting

methods and levels of sophistication

vary greatly. Each portends to assess future events or situations that will affect either positively or negatively the business's efforts. Managers prepare forecasts to determine the type and level of demand for products currently produced or that can be produced. Management analyzes a broad spectrum of economic, demographic, political, and financial data for indications of growing and profitable markets. Forecasting involves the collection and analysis of hard data, and their interpretation by managers with proven business judgment. Individual departments such as sales, and divisions such as manufacturing, also engage in forecasting. Sales forecasting is essential to setting production volume. Production fore-casting determines the materials, labor, and machines needed.
STATING ACTIONS AND RESOURCES REQUIRED

With the objectives and forecasts in place, management decides what actions and resources are necessary in order to bring the forecast in line with the objectives. The basic steps management plans to take in order to reach an objective are its strategies.

Strategies exist at different levels in an organization and are classified according to the level at which they allocate resources. The overall strategy outlines how to pursue objectives in light of the expected business environment and the business's own capabilities. From the overall strategy, managers develop a number of more specific strategies.
Corporate strategies address what business(es) an organization will conduct and how it will allocate its aggregate resources, such as finances, personnel, and capital assets. These are long-term in nature. Growth strategies describe how management plans to expand sales, product line, employees, capacity, and so forth. Especially necessary for dynamic markets where product life cycles are short, growth strategies can be a) in the expansion of the current business line, b) in vertical integration of suppliers and end-users, and c) in diversifying into a different line of business. Stability strategies reflect a management satisfied with the present course of action and determined to maintain the status quo. Successful in environments changing very slowly this strategy does not preclude working toward operational efficiencies and productivity increases.

Defensive strategies, or retrenchment, are necessary to reduce overall exposure and activity. Defensive strategies are used to reverse negative trends in profitability by decreasing costs and turning around the business operations; to divest part or all of a business to raise cash; and to liquidate an entire company for an acceptable profit.
Business strategies focus on sales and production schemes designed to enhance competition and increase profits. Functional strategies deal with finance, marketing, personnel, organization, etc. These are expressed in the annual budget and address day-to-day operations.
EVALUATING PROPOSED PLANS Management undertakes

a complete review and

evaluation of the proposed strategies to determine their feasibility and desirability. Some evaluations call for the application of good judgmentthe use of common sense. Others use sophisticated and complex mathematical models.
ASSESSING ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIC PLANS

Because of the financial implications inherent in the allocation of resources, management approaches the evaluation of strategic alternatives and plans using comprehensive profit planning and control. Management quantifies the relevant strategies in pro forma statements that demonstrate the possible future financial impact of the various courses of action available. Some examples of pro forma statements are: budgets, income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. The competing strategic long-range plans constitute simulation models that are quite useful in evaluating the financial effects of the different alternatives under consideration. Based on different sets of assumptions regarding the interaction of the company with the outside world, these plans propose various scenarios of sales, production costs, profitability, and viability. Generally categorized as normal (expected results), above normal (best case), and below normal (worst case), the competing plans project possible outcomes at input/output levels within specified operating ranges attainable within the fiscal year. Management selects courses of action relative to pricing policy, advertising campaigns, capital expenditure programs, available financing, R&D, and so forth based on the overall return on investment (ROI) objective, the growth objective, and other dominant objectives. In choosing between alternative plans, management considers:
the volume of sales likely attainable, the volume of production currently sustainable, the size and abilities of the sales forces, the quality and quantity of distribution channels, competitors' activities and products, the pace and likelihood of technological advances, changes in consumer demand, the costs and time horizon of implementing changes, capital required by the plan, and the ability of current employees to execute proposed plans.

CONTROLLING THE PLAN THROUGH THE ANNUAL BUDGET Control of the business

entity is essentially a managerial and supervisory function. Control consists of those actions necessary to assure that the company's resources and operations are focused on attaining established objectives, goals, and plans. Control compares actual performance to predetermined standards and takes action when necessary to correct variances from the standards. Exercised continuously, control flags potential problems so that crises may be prevented. It also standardizes the quality and quantity of output, and provides managers with objective information about employee performance. In recent years some of these functions have been assigned to the point of action, the lowest level at which decisions are made. This is possible because management carefully grooms and motivates employees through all levels to accept the organization's way of conducting business. The planning process provides for two types of control mechanisms: feedforward, which provides a basis for control at the point of action (the decision point); and feedback, which provides a basis for measuring the effectiveness of control after implementation. Management's role is to feedforward a futuristic vision of where the company is going and how it is to get there, and to make purposeful decisions coordinating and directing employee activities. Effective management control results from leading people by force of personality and through persuasion; providing and maintaining proper training, planning, and resources; and improving quality and results through evaluation and feedback. Effective management means goal attainment. In a profit-making business or any income generating endeavor, success is measured in dollars and dollar-derivative percentages. The comparison of actual results to budget expectations becomes a formalized, routine process that:
measures performance against predetermined objectives, plans, and standards, communicates results to appropriate personnel, analyzes variations from the plans in order to determine the underlying causes, corrects deficiencies and maximizes successes, chooses and implements the most promising alternatives,

implements follow-up to appraise the effectiveness of corrective actions, and solicits and encourages feedback to improve ongoing and future operations.

SUMMARY
Business planning is more than simply fore-casting future events and activities. Planning is a rigorous, formal, intellectual, and standardized process. Planning is a dynamic, complex decision-making process where management evaluates its ability to manipulate controllable factors and to respond to uncontrollable factors in an environment of uncertainty. Management evaluates and compares different possible courses of action it believes will be profitable. It employs a number of analytical tools and personnel, especially in accounting, to prepare the appropriate data, make forecasts, construct plans, evaluate competing plans, make revisions, choose a course of action, and implement that course of action. After implementation managerial control consists of efforts to prevent unwanted variances from planned outcomes, to record events and their results, and to take action in response to this information.

Read more: Business Planning - advantage, percentage, type, benefits, cost, Benefits of planning http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Bo-Co/Business-Planning.html#ixzz1oES1NXJQ

Strategic Plan Critical to Successful Implementation of Key Decisions

Overview A solid strategic planning process will take the participants from the 10,000-foot level to the place where the rubber meets the road. {No more metaphors, I promise.} The most critical element for a successful strategic plan is the extent to which everyone in the company can see a direct link between high performance in what they do every day and the long-term prosperity of the company. Achieve this and the world is your oyster. {Man, that promise had a shorter shelf life than the average New Years Resolution.} Who Should Participate? This is both a who and a how many question. One of the best ways to overcome resistance to change is to have those who will be implementing the changes participate in determining what those changes will be. Therefore, if possible, everyone who can have a significant impact on the achievement of the companys Vision, Mission and Long-Term Goals should be part of the strategic planning process. It is, nevertheless, well established that any working group begins to lose efficiency and effectiveness when it gets bigger than 17 participants. Depending on the size and complexity of your company, an ideal strategic planning group size is 5-15. How Long Should This Process Take? Some professional facilitators recommend telescoping the entire process into a single weekend. I think this is a mistake. My recommendation is to conduct a series of three one-day meetings, spaced about one month apart. After a couple of weeks, the facilitator should issue a preliminary report summarizing the results to date. At that point, each individual will be able to review this report as a reader rather than as a writer a key factor in objectivity and be prepared to suggest changes, if appropriate, at the next meeting.

Selection of a Facilitator Every strategic planning process needs a facilitator. A highly effective facilitator must possess all of the following skill sets and personal qualities.
Highly knowledgeable about your business and industry High self-esteem Not easily intimidated by higher-ups in the organization or their opinions Well organized Excellent listener with first-class summary skills Excellent at drawing out all participants, including the wallflowers Articulate Clear writer Not the CEO

If you are the CEO, try to avoid revealing your position on various issues for as long as possible. You will always have the power to pursue a particular course of action. But, when you do, you want to be certain that you have had the benefit of the broadest set of opinions and options. Key Elements of the Strategic Plan The strategic planning process involves the following key elements:
Vision Mission Long-range Goals Short-term Objectives Task Assignments Action Items Follow-up to compare actual performance with plan

Vision At least 3 Years in the Future Often at End of Accounting Year (Calendar or Fiscal) Any worthwhile strategic planning process must begin with the Vision for the company at some specific date in the future. What will be the companys identity? When customers, suppliers or professionals hear the companys name, what image do you want them to conjure up? What overriding quality do you want front of mind? In other words: Who is this company? Here are a few examples of Vision statements that speak to this identity question.
1. We make the defense of the U.S. homeland stronger and more flexible. 2. We help our clients teams to function more cohesively and effectively. 3. We improve the quality of health care in America. 4. We make transit passengers safer.

When your employees fully understand (intellectually and viscerally) your companys Vision, they will be able to see how the optimum performance of their individual jobs will contribute to

the fulfillment of that Vision. This connection is critical for long-term job satisfaction, high achievement and career track progress. Mission (Same Date) The Mission statement describes your companys function in concrete terms. Using the same examples, here is a group of Mission statements that address the question What does this company do, and for whom?
1. We train dogs to assist Customs inspectors to locate drugs and explosives. 2. We deliver workshops to privately held companies on verbal and written communication, listening skills and teamwork. 3. We make timely delivery of top-quality components to medical instrumentation OEMs. 4. We manufacture shatter-proof glass for public transit vehicles.

Marrying the Vision and Mission statements is essential, because it helps to get across to your employees how truly important each of their jobs is in the grand scheme of things. For example, these dog trainers are obviously in support of the drug and explosive interdiction business. But, interdiction is a means, not an end. The end is that we are all safer in this country. In this example, you want your employee to make the connection that If I do my job really well, I will be saving lives. Long-Range Goals (Same Date) The Long-Range Goals (LRGs) cover as wide a range as you and your group deem appropriate, including such categories as:
Sales Gross Margins Overhead structure Pretax profit Market share Market niche(s) Key new customers Improved product quality Improved delivery times Customer satisfaction Geographical outreach, including additional facilities Breadth and depth of management company-wide Technology Technology management and infrastructure Reducing employee turnover

These goals should be quite specific and measurable. For example, improved customer satisfaction could be measured by two distinctly different kinds of yardsticks.
1. Reduction of customer turnover by 30% over three years.

2. Improvement in customer survey numerical responses by 30% over the same period.

Both provide numerical measures, but surveys rely on subjective personal judgments. Improved delivery times are much easier to measure than, say, product quality. However, the latter can be measured by customer returns, customer complaints or other means. This, of course, requires that you have a system to capture these data 100% of the time. Whatever your system, ensure that your Long-Range Goals are inextricably linked to day-to-day performance. Short-Term Objectives To be Achieved Within 12 Months The successful completion of your short-term objectives should provide some tangible improvement in company operations. However, the primary strategic payoff will be a head start on achieving the Long-Range Goals. If you are going to make a mistake, err on the low side of commitment, not the high side. You can always add something later, but lack of achievement in one part of the strategic plan can cause problems elsewhere and, at the same time, create morale problems for the team. Carrying on with the example of Improved Customer Satisfaction (and assuming that progress in each of the measured categories is linear) the Short-Term Objective for customer turnover and survey results could be 10% per year. However, inertia may preclude linear progress. As a result, 5%, 10% and 15% in years 1, 2 and 3 respectively may be more realistic. Try to ensure that your Short-Term Objectives are achievable, and give yourself and your team enough time to get the job done. Task Assignments (Quarterly) The achievement of quarterly task assignments will, by definition, achieve the Short-Term Objectives. Each task assignment is the responsibility of one or two individuals, with a deadline and standard of performance. For example, someone will have to design the system to collect data on customer turnover, including precisely what constitutes turnover. Similarly, someone will have to design and implement the customer survey or find and supervise a source outside the company to perform one or both of these services. Someone will also have to analyze the data and present it to management. The best way to avoid front-loading this part of the process is to assign tasks only one quarter at a time. Action Items What Do We Do Tuesday? Action Items fall out week by week or month by month from the Task Assignments. Unlike Long-Term Goals and Short-Term Objectives, it is best to front-load the Action Items, because that is the best way to get the job done on time. Monthly Follow-Up Plan the work and work the plan. Whether its an individual salespersons call plan for the next week or the companys strategic plan for years to come, the principle is the same. It doesnt matter how great the plan is if implementation is poor, excessively late or both. In this regard, follow-up to compare actual results with plan is invaluable. There should be a two-hour morning follow-up session, no less often than monthly, that includes all members of the original planning team. The purpose of each meeting is two-fold.

1. Determine the status of all active projects in the strategic plan. 2. If any project is in trouble, determine what can be done to right that particular ship.

The most critical factor is that the strategic planning group functions as a team, providing support for one another and directing help where and when necessary. Good luck.

This article has been contributed by Steven D. Popell. Steve has been a general management consultant since 1970. Steve is a Certified Management Consultant, business valuation expert, and inventor of ExiTrak- a process designed to assist the privately-held company owner/manager to build an attractive strategic acquisition candidate

EuroSPI99
Learn from the Past - Experience the Future

European Software Process Improvement

SPI and Strategies

Category Index Rated Newspaper Supported by EU Project

A Total Improvement Strategy as a Basis for Software Process Improvement

Rolf H. Westgaard Solveig Gustad Kongsberg Ericsson Communications ANS P.O. Box 87 N-1375 BILLINGSTAD Norway

Introduction
Kongsberg Ericsson is working with improvements at several company levels, driven from management down and from the "floor" and up. This paper describes: how software process improvements tie up with strategic improvement plans some results of our participation in the Norwegian SPIQ project

We decided to join the SPIQ (Software Process Improvement for better Quality) project in 1997. SPIQ is a company driven research and development project, which is anticipated to last until 2001. 10 to 15 companies and 3 research institutes work together to adapt and try out modern methods for systematic process improvement with focus on software quality.

The reason for our participation is a desire to improve our system for continuous improvement of the development processes - starting with software. We were looking for a system, which could give us objective data as a basis for improvement. Before joining SPIQ our actions to improve the development processes had been mostly based on single cases, without any statistics as a basis for priority of actions.

Our Values as a Guide

We have decided that the following values are of utmost importance for our success:
1. Competence

We shall have world class competence, which is decisive for our ability to compete
2. Customer Orientation

We shall be better than our competitors regarding customer orientation and nearness to our customers
3. Quality

We shall continuously identify areas for improvement and we shall prove that we have the ability to carry out improvements within these areas
4. Concentration

We shall maintain focus; i.e. we shall only work within the areas that are given priority by company strategies

The Business Process Model

The way we obtain our results is simplified in the Business Process Model below. Strategic Plan Structure = Organisation Structure = Business Structure:

Fig. KEC_RHW 1: The KEC Business Process Model Our customers are at the beginning and end of our Business Process Model We are organised in a way, which supports our business processes Our strategic plan coincides with the organisation structure and the business processes

The Strategic Planning Wheel

The company has established a Strategic Planning Wheel with a one-year cycle. The wheel consists of the following sequences: Making or modifying the strategic plan for the coming 4 - 5 years Defining next year budget Defining goals including plans of action for the next year

The strategic plan part of the wheel includes a Strategic Improvements Plan. This is based on our business processes and the EFQM business excellence model.

Fig. KEC_RHW 2: The Strategic Planning Wheel

The Strategic Improvements Plan

The Strategic Improvements Plan is based on our business processes and the EFQM business excellence model. Our version of the EFQM business excellence model has added "Opportunities" to it, and we say, "We are using our market, product and technological OPPORTUNITIES by means of ENABLERS to obtain RESULTS". During the Strategic Plan Process we decide the areas within "enablers" that need improving based on long term and short

term results. The conclusions are documented in improvement plans starting at company level and broken down into lower organisational levels. The plans are finally the basis for each persons individual contribution to improvements, agreed during the yearly appraisal interview.

OPPORTUNITIES ENABLERS RESULTS

Fig. KEC_RHW 3: Modified EFQM Business Excellence Model Follow-up of Improvement Plans The improvement plans at the different levels contain: goal definition activities to reach the goal deadlines responsible

and are followed up in regular management meetings: Opportunities: Market & Product meetings every two weeks Enablers: Value meetings every month Results: Result meetings every month We have all experienced that a well-structured plan and good intentions do not necessarily guarantee results. Therefore, we have defined some critical factors to secure success: 1. The Company President must be the owner of the improvement processes, and he must show the way 2. Make it simple, and make sure the goals are realistic 3. The timing must be right

4. The person who is responsible for reaching the goal should be the one who defines it through a process of involvement and enthusiasm

Process Improvements
The most comprehensive processes in our company are the ones covering product development. Improving efficiency and quality of these processes is therefore a high priority. The following part of the paper describes our efforts to establish a system for improvement of our development processes, starting with the software process and our participation in SPIQ with focus on software of the MRR project.

Software process improvement based on measurements

This case describes the planning, implementation and results of a software process improvement project. The company has long experience of collecting data, but not to assemble the data and use them to extract statistics and get experience from them. What have we done? GQM-method to decide what to improve, what to measure and how Pareto analysis to analyse the data and identify improvement actions

During 9 analyse meetings, 545 error reports have been analysed. About 14 software developers have been involved in addition to the software manager, the quality manager and the software project manager. The project The MRR (Multi Role Radio) project is a large electronic project of 1,9 Billion NOK (230 Million EUR). The product is a portable radio for military use. The project started in 1989 and is a co-operation between Kongsberg Ericsson and Thomson CSF Norcom. The pilot project described in this paper involves only the Kongsberg Ericsson part of the MRR project. MRR was delivered in 1996 as a pre-production model with reduced functionality. After that all HW and almost all SW has been redesigned. Because the MRR project has lasted for almost ten years, there have been some turnover in labour. The development process is an ordinary waterfall model and this model was the starting point for improvements. The starting scenario Most of the software was finished in the start of the SPIQ project, only testing remained. That meant that almost all the errors were already done. To correct all errors, there was established a "system acute" that handles all error reports every day at 12 a.m. From this meeting the error report is decided whether to correct or not and the report will be sent to the responsible person with some action (usually correct a document or code). In this way we know that every error detected in test will be handled. But there is no analysis of the errors to prevent similar errors in the future. Here is where the SPIQ project comes in. The starting point is our written development process (all procedures, checklists, rules, templates, the tools we use, language, the methods and so on). If we dont change anything of this, we will not be better in the future. So we had to change something, but what? And when would we know that a change had a positive effect?

Work done To answer the questions above, we joined the measurement and experience-data-group in SPIQ. We started with a GQM workshop for all the software developers. The result of this workshop was a GQM abstraction sheet with one goal, eight questions and 18 metrics. We need to answer the five questions in order to reach the goal, and we need to collect the 18 metrics in order to answer the questions. The abstraction sheet also contains a plan of measurements (what should we measure, how and who etc.). GQM example The main goal was to achieve reduction in the number of serious errors found in integration test and system test by 50%. The GQM goal then became to analyse the development process in order to reduce the number of serious errors introduced before FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) seen from the software group in the environment of the MRR project. GQM abstraction sheet: Analyse the developmnt process in order to reduce the number of serious errors seen from SW group in the MRR project Quality Focus
1. In which phase was the error introduced? 2. Why was the error introduced (the cause)? 3. What is the cost distributed over

Validation Factors
a. What is

phase/products?
4. What is the distribution over error categories? 5. What is the error density

totally? per module/product?

the complexi ty of: project, product and modules ?

b. What is

the quality level of the technolo gy/tools?

c. What is

the knowled ge level in the project?

Baseline Hypothesis Q1:

Impact on Baseline Hypothesis

a. Increase

Fig. KEC_RHW 4: Baseline Hypothesis

d complexi ty - More errors (increase d Q5) - Errors introduc ed in earlier phases (Q1 shifts to left) Increase d error cost (increase d Q3)
b. High

quality technolo gy/tools positive effect on Q1, Q4 and Q5

c. Sufficien

t qualifica tions in the project positive effect on Q1, Q2 and Q5

Measurement plan: Question Metric Definition Presentation and analysis Baseline hypothesis Question Metric Definition Presentation and analysis Baseline hypothesis Metrics: Metric Definition Procedure for collecting M1 Phase introduced The phase, where the oldest document that has to be changed, was created Each error shall be classified in one of the following phases: When Expected value Phase 2 (system specification) Phase 3 (functional design) Phase 4 (realisation) Phase 5 (functional verification) Phase 6 ( system verification) Bar chart (one bar per error cause) Bar chart (one bar per phase) See GQM abstraction sheet Q1 In which phase was the error introduced? M1: Phase Introduced

Q2 Why was the error introduced (the cause)? M2: Error cause

Each time an error is corrected

Responsible Metric Definition Procedure for collecting

The person who is responsible for correcting the error M2 The cause of the error/change

Each error/change shall be classified in one of the following causes: 1. A wish for a change or improvement 2. Lack of system knowledge 3. Carelessness/heavy time schedule 4. Lack of or poor source document 5. Other causes

When Expected value Responsible

Each time an error is corrected

The person who is responsible for correcting the error

Results from two of totally five focus questions About every six weeks, we analyse the error reports and define actions. The actions are mostly of three kinds: adjust/change the improvement process itself change the development process (i.e. procedures, review rules, checklists) collect more information improve knowledge

The results after 9 analysis meetings and 545 errors are shown below.

In which phase are the errors introduced?

Fig. KEC_RHW 5: Errors distributed on phases The error is per definition introduced in the earliest document that has to be corrected or changed. If a software developer has misunderstood the specification, then it is the specification that is wrong, because we have a review rule that says that a document shall not contain possibilities for misunderstanding. The figure above shows that no errors have been introduced in the system test phase. This is because the system test has not started at the time of writing. The integration test has not finished either, so we have to wait until the end of the system test phase until we get the exact answer on this question (Q1 in the GQM abstraction sheet). The figure above also tells us how well we know our own development process.

Fig. KEC_RHW 6: Accumulated distribution over time This figure tells us that errors distributed over phase have become stable over time and can be used as a baseline. Why are the errors introduced?

Fig. KEC_RHW 7: Why are the errors introduced (the cause)? Maybe the most important question is to know the cause of the errors. The most frequently cause is the lack of system knowledge. Actions: One action was therefore to check what the cause lack of system knowledge really means. What kind of competence is insufficient? A request scheme was distributed among all software developers. The following answers were the most common: Lack of understanding of how a function is distributed in the system/product Lack of understanding of the function to be implemented Lack of skills about the building system Lack of competence of software analysis/design

Out of these answers, the following actions are/will be taken: 1. Joint seminar with the system group, to understand the functions better 2. Internal course in building systems 3. The software group shall increase their competence in software design Another cause we checked closer was the cause lack of or poor source documents. We wondered; which kind of source documents is poor or lacks information? Are these documents written by us (the software group) or by the system group? When we study the errors, over 60% of the errors were introduced in phase 3, which is the functional design phase. 22% belonged to the specification phase (phase 2). Additionally, the distribution of the error categories showed that most of the errors were related to sequence diagrams. Examples of actions identified: 1. Describe and improve the written procedures in phase 3 2. Improve the procedures, guidelines, templates and checklist for writing Message Sequence Charts What is the distribution over error categories?

Fig. KEC_RHW 8: Errors distributed on categories Actions:

One thing that is noticed is that the category "other code errors" is very large. This category was meant to be a small omnibus item. We thought that the categories would cover most of our faults, but obvious it doesnt. The action will therefore be to reconsider the categories. Beside that, the category "errors in protocols/sequences" and "faults in parameters" covers 31% of the faults. These are faults made in Message Sequence Charts and Signal Survey. The action is therefore to improve the quality of these two document types by using a new tool (Telelogic SDT) and to learn the MSC standard. Another action is to improve the specification documents. It is the system division that writes the specification documents, so we must appeal to them on making better specifications. The action for the software division was to organise a seminar with the system division to obtain a mutual understanding on each others need. The seminar between the software division and the system division, cover at least two needs: information about the functions in the radio and an understanding for the need of better source documents (seen from the software developers). Lessons learnt We have not succeeded answering question Q3: What is the cost of the errors distributed to the different phases and products? It seems to be very difficult to identify the cost of the errors. Some reasons of that are:

One symptom more causes One error more corrections, i.e. more developers involved Some of the developers are working in another company and are not involved in the SPIQ project

Another important aspect is the human part of it. The feedback sessions are therefore a very important part of the GQM method. Without them it wouldnt work. In these sessions the results are presented to all the developers. New actions may also come up during the feedback sessions, but most of all the feedback sessions are needed to motivate the developers to fill in the error reports with correct and complete data. Using the Baseline Hypothesis in the GQM abstraction sheet was very useful. As you can see from the abstraction sheet, we did this on one question, in which phase are the errors introduced? There were very interesting discussions among the developers, and we didnt stop the discussion until everybody agreed about the answer. Because of all the discussion, the developers were very curious about what the correct (measured) answers were. This was a motivation factor for the developers when writing error reports. Conclusion One of our goals was to define a baseline for further improvements. We have registered the results over time, and it seems stable enough to be used as a baseline. If we want to compare the results of this project with another project, we have to take into account the surroundings i.e. the complexity of the product and the skills of the software developers. It requires that the development process (for instance the review process) is the same. GQM is a good method as a basis for improvements. To decide the priority of actions, Pareto analysis is being used.

We had to adjust the goal and some metrics (specially the error categories and the error causes) during the collection of data. We have already achieved positive results. One action early in the project was to improve the module test and enforce code reading (many errors were introduced because of carelessness). After three months we could see that the number of errors with this cause was reduced.

One Improvement Process as a Basis for General Process Improvement

So far we have only registered and analysed errors detected in the test phase (integration test and system test) for one project. The result is the first baseline for measuring improvements of the software process. We are now working with improvements of the software process in general, based on the results so far. At the same time we consider improvements of the metrics. Furthermore, the other software group is adopting the established system. This department has already got the results from its first analysis meeting. We are also working with expanding the system to all phases of the development process: specification, function design, realisation, integration test and system test. In earlier phases the errors are comments from formal reviews of documents. We have established a checklist to be used during preparation and review of documents. The reviewers comments have to refer to the corresponding checkpoint in order to be accepted. The data from the reviews are collected in a database to be used for analysis and decision of actions to improve the development process or the review process. The system includes the identification of the development phase in which the errors are introduced. Needs for improvement will therefore be detected for all development steps. We do not yet have any results from this expansion. However, training courses with special focus on the checklist have already been completed. The first results are expected before the end of this year.

References
[1] Basili, Victor R., Software Modelling and Measurement: The Goal/Question/Metric Paradigm. University of Maryland Technical Report UNIACS-TR-92-96, 1992 [1] EFQM, Self-assessment Guidelines, 1995

Kongsberg Ericsson Communications ANS Staff: 150 Turnover: 300 mill NOK Kongsberg Ericsson ranks among the world leaders in the area of mobile communication systems for military use. The companys tactical communication system, EriTac, provides communication for data and voice in tactical environment, and is supplied to both army and air defence programmes across the world. The company is co-operating closely with Ericsson companies on product development and export marketing. Tactical Communication System The area trunk communication system is designed according to user requirement set by the Norwegian Army and the specifications recommended by EUROCOM. Operational

requirements specified therein call for demanding network functions to ensure interoperability between the tactical networks of allied nations as well as a high degree of mobility and survivability. The systems modular design allows the user to put together any battlefield communications system, from a small point-to-point system up to a large mesh network. Rolf H. Westgaard was born in 1938 and became M Sc. at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, University of Trondheim (NTNU) in 1964. From 1965 to 1979 he worked at Tandbergs Radiofabrikk in Oslo as radio designer, the companys education and training manager, ending up with 2 years as technical manager at their British subsidiary in Leeds. He joined Elektrisk Bureau as a manager in the Quality section in 1979 and has since 1985 worked as a Quality Manager of the part, which ended up as Kongsberg Ericsson Communications ANS after several changes of name and ownership. He was part of the team who started the software group of the Norwegian Society for Quality in 1983. He chaired the second European Conference of Software Quality in Oslo 1990. Rolf is responsible for the SPIQ activities in the company. Solveig Gustad was born in the summer of 69 and became M.Sc. at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, University of Trondheim (NTNU) in 1994. Her experience is from Kongsberg Ericsson Communications ANS.The first two years she worked as a software developer and then as a software manager. As a software manager, one of her main responsibilities is to keep the development process for software as good as possible all the time. An important part of this is continuous improvements. Solveig has been involved in the SPIQ project from the start. Partners in EuroSPI

Editors ISCN LTD, ISCN GesmbH, Schieszstattgasse 4/24, 8010 Graz, and Coordination Office, Florence House, 1 Florence Villas, Bray, Ireland, office@iscn.at, office@iscn.com, office@iscn.ie, Editing Done: 19.7.2002

II. CONCEPT OF BEST ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

The use of the Best Environmental Practices (BEP) Guide for hotels is intended to be simple and practical. The Guide provides the means to identify, in the different departments of a hotel, opportunities for optimizing its activities while reducing its operating costs and its

environmental impacts. The proposed measures are not exhaustive and are voluntary. In addition, the reader will find practical advice that can be adapted to suit the hotels context and expectations. To ensure adequate understanding and application of the Guide, concrete examples are provided throughout. These examples show a direct link between theory and practice. In brief, the Guides approach aims at: Rationalizing the use of raw materials, including water and energy Reducing the volume of wastes and improving waste management Adopting a more ecological purchasing policy and improving logistics Improving the quality of the hotels internal environment Making the staff aware of the importance of environmental issues In addition, the adoption of the BEP Guides principles can also act as a profitable marketing tool for the hotel. The hotelcan improve its image in the perceptions of its stakeholders and guests, who are increasingly conscious of environmental protection.

The Guides instruments

The combination of the Guides tools reveals the interrelationships between the hotel, its resources, and its environment. More concretely, it helps the implementation of environmental actions that meet the hotels expectations and preoccupations. For a more targeted approach, the action plan enables the planning and management of the corrective and preventive measures that were chosen in order to reach the environmental goals that have been set by the hotel.

Necessary means
The approach proposed by the Guide can be implemented by the management, its technical executive or a qualified resource person. Management must first adhere to the Guides objectives and involve the relevant staff. Moreover, for greater involvement of the staff, information concerning correct practices should be circulated to all the hotels levels and departments. Simple and practical procedures can be developed, applied, and integrated into the daily operations of the hotel to bolster the BEP measures. Depending on the availability of information, the application of BEP requires one to two days. If internal expertise is insufficient for undertaking this task, the assistance of an external consultant for a day would be worthwhile.

2. THE CHECKLISTS ENVIRONMENTAL DOMAINS

2.1. Water | management and rationalisation

The Mediterranean is among the regions that are most subject to water shortages. This region happens to be a favorite destination for tourists. This situation causes even greater concern because the consumption by tourists rises far above consumption by local

residents. Indeed, a guest at an international hotel consumes an average of 300 liters a day. This situation endangers the quality and the availability of water for local communities. For this reason, actions that aim to reduce the consumption of water in hotels are necessary.

Self-assessment
t t t t t

What is the total cost of the hotels water consumption? What is the source of the water used by the hotel (public network, well, borehole, etc.)? What is the hotels overall water consumption? Do you know the water consumption in each department? Do you implement water-saving measures in the hotel?

2.2. Energy | efficiency and economy

Global warming and the depletion of petroleum reserves are motivating executives to review their energy use.Moreover, supplying energy in 2030 will require an investment of US$ 16000 billions (UNEP). The hotel industry is alsoaffected by this issue. Its energy demand is closely linked to the comfort of its guests. Indeed, a 300-room hotel spends,on average, US$ 1.2 million per year on energy. This is the second highest cost after wages. To reduce the impact on the environment, it is necessary to control the consumption of fossil fuels and to turn to clean technologies and renewableenergy.

Self-assessment
What is the total amount spent by the hotel on energy consumption? What is the total energy consumption of your hotel? Do you know how much energy each department consumes? Do you rely on different energy sources, among which are those labelled clean? Do you use processes that optimise energy consumption? If you cannot answer the above questions, it is important for you to get int
t t t t t

2.3. Wastes | resource recovery

The rapid development of the hotel industry in the Mediterranean often goes hand-in-hand with a lack of sanitationand waste disposal infrastructure. It is therefore necessary to implement strategies to minimize wastes at source as wellas to recycle them. Indeed, hotels produce large quantities of solid and liquid wastes, which end up in the surroundingenvironment due to inadequate management and handling. The resulting dirty surroundings will also harm the image of the hotel.

Types of waste in the hotel industry

wrapping or bags, composite wrappers

Household wastes Food/kitchen waste, used or dirty paper and wrapping,plastic

Non-hazardous wastes

(NHW)

Components Source

Hotels different departments Cardboard Packaging Hotels purchasing and other departments Paper Printed documents, brochures, menus, maps, magazines, newspaper Administration, reception, guest rooms, restaurants

Plastic Bags, bottles (that did not contain hazardous material),household goods, individual
portion wrappers for various products Kitchen, restaurants, bars, guest rooms,administration Metal Tin cans, jar lids, soda cans, food containers, mayonnaise, mustard and tomato pure tubes, aluminium packaging Kitchen, restaurants, bars,guest rooms Glass Bottles, jars, flasks Kitchen, restaurants, bars, guest rooms Cloth Tablecloths, bed-linen, napkins, clothes, rags Kitchen, restaurants, bars, bathrooms, guest rooms Wood Wooden packaging, pallets Purchasing department Organic waste Fruit and vegetable peelings, flowers and plants, branches, leaves, grass Kitchen, restaurants, bars, guest rooms, gardens
Warning, the content of the above table is not exhaustive.

A typical food portion weighing 300 g yields up to 835 grams of waste material, 780 grams in preparation and 55 grams upon dispos