Setting the Strategy – II
S.W.O.T.ting Your way to Meaningful Goals
John Conway – PRO-DAIRY
Northeast Center
for Risk Management Education
Define
Control
You are here
(but at a strategic level)
Improve
Analyze
Measure
The “Big Rocks” of Business Management
Living the Strategy
A Compelling
Vision
Purpose
“Picture”
of
Success
Values
Adapted from: Full Steam Ahead! Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner
Accurate Assessment of Business’ Resources plus Financial and Production Condition
Long Range DRIVE Goals
Directional, Reasonable, Inspirational, Visible, Eventual - Goals
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal





Shorter Term SMART Goals
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding, Timed - Goals
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal





Implement-able Tactics
Tactic
Tactic
Tactic
Tactic
Tactic





“Foundation” View of Planning
Tactics
SMART Goals
(Short Term)
DRIVE Goals
(Long Term)
Compelling Vision
(Purpose, Success Picture, Values)
Accurate
Assessment of
Business’ Resources
plus Financial and
Production Condition
Principle in Play:
Goal Setting is a Particularly Motivating Tool as
it can:
 Focus energy and attention on the target
 Increase the effort and intensity
 Encourage persistence and practice over time
 Promote the development of problem solving
skills
 Drastically increase the probability of
reaching what you seek!
Compelling Vision – “the Rudder”
Goals Refine Direction – “the Compass”
Long Term (DRIVE) Goals – “Northwest”
Short Term (SMART) Goals – 3150
… but before setting goals, you’ve got to know where you’re at!
S.W.O.T. Analysis
Strengths – General farm resource assessment
– PA Dairy, DFBS, DHIA
Weaknesses – General farm resource assessment
– PA Dairy, DFBS, DHIA
Opportunities – Your view of Industry direction
(in light of strengths/weaknesses)
Threats – What you see looming in the
industry/world likely to impact your
business
Our Case Farm is bundled in a separate packet. While there is a lot of information
in the bundle, you may find everything you need in the first and second sections.
Accordingly we have put it into sections, each with a cover page. They run from
the most general to the most detailed.
You are free to speculate and draw conclusions. Intent is to give you something
real to work with, but without squelching your imagination. You can work the farm
as is in the short run, jump ahead a year with the son and daughter-in-law in the
picture, or both (may consume a lot of time, though).
Sections
 General Description
SWOT Analysis
 PA Dairy Tool Analysis (PA’s financial/production “expert” system)
 DFBS Financial Comparison (NY’s Dairy Farm Business Summary)
 Dairy Production Records/Analysis (PCDART here or could be DairyComp 305)
Be the Case Farm
You are in the frustrating position of using facts and data to set some
goals without the benefit of a sense of vision.
Things get increasingly more concrete as we look at the current
situation and come up with longer term DRIVE Goals which will create
the bridge to the future. They are supported by shorter term SMART
goals which puts the stamp of specificity and due dates on strategy.
You can dig as deeply in the supporting information as you’d like to
determine which strengths can be further exploited and which
weaknesses are critical to success and need to be shored up,
maintained and continually improved.
Let’s get to work!
Other option: if you have accurate financial and production information
on your farm go right ahead and work on your farm’s goals.
Based upon what you’ve learned about the Case Farm and your best objective
assessment of where the business is currently at, set:
Long Range DRIVE Goals
Directional, Reasonable, Inspirational, Visible, Eventual - Goals
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal





Case Farm or Your Farm Long Range DRIVE Goals
Directional, Reasonable, Inspirational, Visible, Eventual - Goals
Some Production “Knowns” About the Case Farm:
Milk Production as Affected by Governors and Fallout along the way
Herd’s Genetic
Potential
90
lbs.
“Governor”
of Feeding
System set
By Barn
Environment
-1
Feeding System’s
Potential
lbs.
lbs.
Transition
Cow
“Fallout”
lbs.
-12.8
Dry Cow
System
“Fallout”
lbs.
Harvest
System
-11.3
lbs.
lbs.
Lactating
Cows’
Lactating
Cows’
Feeding System
Milking System
71 lbs.
Potential lbs.
Potential
lbs.
Fallout
Fallout-2.6 lbs.
“Governor”
of Feeding
System set
by Forage
Quality
Storage
System
Repro
System
“Fallout”
linked
with
Trans.
Cows
Replacements
System
-4
Agronomic
Factors
lbs.
Herd Genetics
System
lbs.
Herd’s Potential
Realized
47 lbs.
Based upon Case Farm’s vision and objective assessment of where the business is
currently at, and for each DRIVE goal set:
Shorter Term SMART Goals
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding, Timed - Goals
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal
Goal





Case Farm or Your Farm Shorter Term Supporting “SMART” Goals
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding, Timed - Goals
DRIVE Goal # 1:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
DRIVE Goal # 2:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
Supporting SMART Goal:
A Dollars and Sensible Offer…
Some Managing for Success Workshop Participants have excellent information
(Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS) or Farm Credit Financial Summary and
either Dairy Comp 305 or PCDART Dairy Production Analysis). These are
essential to conduct a meaningful SWOT analysis of the business as a prelude
to setting long and short term goals.
If you don’t have the information you would like to have and gearing up for a
DFBS run is too big of a step at once, we will soon have financial and production
information consultants available to get you started with the monthly
Dairy Profit Monitor (see handout description)
Please let us know if this is something you’re interested in. We will know by
mid- May if we can provide this service free of charge!
The Dairy Profit Monitor is an outreach
project that aims to provide dairy
producers with a tool that allows them to
track key parameters that are impacted
by management decisions on a monthly
basis while providing the opportunity to
track these benchmarks against
themselves and other farms in the system
from around the country. We aimed to do
this in a way that was simple, fast, and
convenient for the producer yet flexible
and valuable for their business at the
same time. The information provided for
the Dairy Profit Monitor is intended for
use in business analysis,
monthly/quarterly management meetings,
and to serve as a guide to make
operational decisions in the business that
will impact profitability. The program was
designed for easy use with consultants to
facilitate a stronger producer-consultant
relationship, as the DPM is a value-added
service they can provide their clients with.
The benchmarking capabilities will be
very informative to dairy producers as
they will be able to compare their
business with businesses from different
parts of the country, sorting by certain
business characteristics like herd size,
location, housing type, and milking
system type. Although the program is in
its early stages, we plan to expand to
nationwide usage in the next three years.
New features will be added in the future
that are helpful and relevant to the end
users, with feedback from users and
industry trends driving additions to the
program.
Further Reading:
The Six Sigma Way, How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies Are
Honing Their Performance. 2000 Peter Pande, Robert Neuman, Roland Cavanagh
Dairy OnTime -- Getting Work Done on Your Dairy On Time All of the Time.
Dairy Strategies, LLC. 2000 John Young
ISO 9000 Implementation for Small Business. 1996 James Lamprecht
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. 1992 Eliyahu Goldratt, Jeff Cox
The Dancing Wu-Li Masters -- An Overview of the New Physics. 1984 Gary Zukav
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