Glossary

This glossary will help you become familiar with terms used in business strategy and particularly the OGSM methodology.

Action Plan - detailed list of actions or activities needed to achieve an objective or goal. Actions should always specify an activity, a timeline, and a caretaker.
Alignment - in business jargon alignment means being in agreement, "on the same page". In strategy, alignment is critical to ensure that an entire organisation pursues the same objective and aligns their resources to a common cause.

B2B - stands for business-to-business. Refers to companies who conduct business with other companies as opposed to selling directly to consumers.
B2C - stands for business-to-consumer. Refers to companies which directly sell to end consumers.
Balanced Scorecard - strategy framework and management tool to align business activities from vision to operations along four "balanced" perspectives: financial, customer, internal process, and employee learning & growth.
Budget - an allocated amount of money for a given task, project, or organization. Usually attached to a certain purpose or intention and for fixed period of time. For example the budgeted sales revenue for a given year or the budgeted costs for a project. Or the household budget per month.
Business Plan - a written document outlining a business' purpose, goals, and projected financial performance
Business Model - describes how a business creates value and earns money, including identification of revenue streams.

Cascading - the process of aligning a business strategy across the organisation from a higher level to a lower level. Cascading can also refer to translating objectives into goals, goals into strategies, and strategies into measures.
Communication Plan - specifies what needs to be communicated to whom by when via which method, media or channel.
Competitor Analysis - assessment of competitors' strengths and weaknesses in order to identify own strategic position and potential course of action.
Core Competence - key strength of a business that is difficult to replicate by a competitor
Customer - the customer is who buys and consumes products or services. This should be a business' central focus!
Customer-centric - often used term lately to describe a business' efforts to put the customer and customer needs at the center of its business activities.

Dashboard - reporting tool that monitors key performance indicators and can help track implementation of an action plan.
Driver / Driving Forces - often used in business to describe an action or influence that creates change or sets a chain of events in motion, e.g. growth driver.

External analysis - assessment of the external environment in which a business operates. Any strategic planning process should include a thorough review of the external environment in order to identify opportunities and threats that could influence a business' ability to achieve its objectives.

Facilitator - person(s) who guide a discussion towards an intended outcome. A workshop facilitator for example ensures that meeting objectives are met within the allocated time by guiding through the agenda and involving meeting participants using facilitation techniques.
Financial Statements - written reports about the financial situation of a business. A set of financial statements usually comprises the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and statement of shareholders' equity.
Forecast - estimate or projection of future financial performance.

Goals - a quantified target or intended result to be accomplished at a given time. In business typically a financial figure or another calculated key performance indicator. In the OGSM methodology, goals are the quantification of the objective to judge its achievement over a given timeframe.

Initiatives - refer to activities or actions taken to accomplish an objective or implement a strategy. Initiatives, similar to actions, should always be identified with a caretaker and timeline.
Intellectual Property / IP - refers to the ownership of original ideas and knowledge. IP such as patents can be an important source of strengths for a business and should be examined during the strategy process.
Internal Analysis - assessment of a business' own situation including its strengths and weaknesses. The internal analysis is an important phase during the strategic planning process to identify for example a business' core competencies.

Key Performance Indicator / KPI - a metric or financial figure most critical to judging the performance of a business, action or team towards an objective over a given time.

Market Research - the process of collecting and analyzing data about a market or market segment with the purpose to identify relevant trends, opportunities and threats for a business.
Marketing Plan - written document describing a business' marketing goals and activities for a given time period. A marketing plan follows the segmenting, targeting, positioning approach and includes statements about market trends, company position, and the marketing mix.
Measures - are the detailed initiatives and actions taken to implement the strategies in the OGSM. These are the quantifiable metrics to judge whether a strategy has been executed successfully.
Metric - a quantifiable number or figure used to assess performance of a business or achievement of an objective. Examples can be absolute figures such as sales revenue, or percentages and ratios, etc.
Mission Statement - describes the overall purpose of a business or organisation.

New Product Sales - metric to identify revenue generated from new products or recently launched products and services. Can be used as a measure of output from innovation activities to assess return on innovation.

Objective - is a qualitative statement about what a business aims to achieve over a specified timeframe. In the OGSM methodology, the objective describes in specific terms the targeted future of a business or organisation. The chosen timeframe for the objective of a strategic plan is typically 3-5 years and for an annual operating plan 1 year.
Operating Plan - a set of strategies and activities to achieve a business' objectives for a 1-year period. Often also referred to as Annual Operating Plan.

Positioning / Positioning Statement - describes how a business uniquely positions itself in a market and how it differentiates its products and services versus competition

Qualitative - refers to subjective, descriptive measures of quality rather than quantity. In the OGSM methodology, the objective and strategies are qualitative statements.
Quantitative - refers to objective, measurable numbers and figures of quantity. In the OGSM methodology, the goals and measures are quantitative statements.

Return on Investment / ROI - measure used to evaluate the performance of a business or the efficiency of an investment. ROI is calculated by dividing the benefit (return) by the cost (investment).

Situational Analysis - refers to the assessment of the external and internal environment of a business during the strategic planning process.
Small Business - refers to privately owned and operated companies that are limited in size in terms of revenue or number of employees. Small businesses make up the vast majority of all companies and are a critical component of the economy.
Strategic Planning - the process to create a strategy for a business, project or really any undertaking.
Strategy - a plan of action to achieve a long-term vision or objective. In the OGSM methodology, strategies describe how a business aims to accomplish its objective and goals. Strategies describe choices about resource allocation.
SWOT Analysis - SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. It's an analysis framework to identify a business' internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis is a critical part of the strategic planning process.

Target - specific goal or metric a business aims to achieve over a specified time period.
Target Market - specific group or segment of customers to which a company aims to sell its products and services.

Unique Selling Proposition / USP - a unique factor, property, or competence that makes a business, product, or service different from its competition. Clarity about the USP is a critical component of value proposition and successful selling.

Value Chain - can refer to the internal value chain of a business in which case it is the set of activities a business performs to add value to a product or service from R&D, sourcing and manufacturing to marketing, sales and after-sales service. Value chain can also refer to the industry value chain in which case it is the set of activities companies perform in a given industry from raw material to final delivery of a good or service to a consumer.
Value Proposition - the promise of value to a customer. The value proposition describes specifically how a business intends to differentiate itself in the marketplace.
Values - describe a business' guiding principles or fundamental beliefs that set the standards for behavior. Also referred to as company values.
Vision - a concise, vivid statement about the long-term direction of a business, looking 10 years or longer into the future.

What Is OGSM?

How to Create a Killer Marketing Plan Using OGSM Methodology