Strategic Management and Business Planning
This domain tests whether a first head can set direction, translate it into a funded plan and measure it - not whether they can draw a SWOT diagram.
Strategy
Start with mission, vision and measurable goals. Analysis tools: PESTEL for the environment, Porter's five forces for industry attractiveness, and a SWOT that ends in specific actions rather than lists. Goals should be SMART and cascaded through KPIs or a balanced scorecard covering finance, customers, processes and people. For state-owned entities, strategic plans and development programmes follow the state planning system and are approved by the higher body.
Business plan
Standard sections: executive summary, market analysis, marketing plan, production and operations, organisational plan, financial plan and risk analysis. The financial part includes revenue forecast, cash flow, profit and loss, and break-even.
Investment appraisal
Discounted cash flow tools: NPV (accept if positive), IRR (compare with the discount rate), payback (never alone), plus sensitivity analysis on price and volume.
Worked example
Fixed costs 12 mln tenge; unit price 5,000; variable cost 3,000. Contribution margin is 2,000 per unit. Break-even = 12,000,000 / 2,000 = 6,000 units. At a forecast of 5,000 units the plan is loss-making, and no marketing narrative fixes that arithmetic.
Traps
Confusing revenue with profit; presenting a single scenario without sensitivity; KPIs unrelated to the strategy; omitting working capital and financing costs from the cash flow; approving a plan without the funding source.