| Abstract |
In a turbulent business environment, managers faced difficulties in planning strategically for their businesses. While many tools and software programmes are available for the task, most require the users to possess specific technical skills to use them effectively. They also require significant monetary investment by the businesses. StraDev, an acronym for Strategic Development, is a stand-alone computerised system developed on Microsoft Excel platform to assist businesses to overcome the problem. It is a user-friendly, low-priced tool which will enable managers with or without technical strategic planning skills to effectively develop strategic plans. It comprises of matrices to guide managers step-by-step to analyse the company’s external and internal environments, assign weights for each environmental factor, and generate Strength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threat (SWOT) and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrices (QSPM). The QSPM represents the final output through which various strategies will be evaluated by StraDev to produce the specific strategic choices. |