A practical framework for the generation and selection of strategic plans of action, The relevance of timeframe considerations and a systems thinking approach

The paper proposes a methodology especially focused on the generation of strategic plans of action, emphasizing the relevance of having a structured timeframe classification for the actions. The methodology explicitly recognizes the relevance of long-term goals as strategic drivers, which must insure that the complex system is capable to effectively respond to changes in the environment. In addition, the methodology employs engineering systems techniques in order to understand the inner working of the system and to build up alternative plans of action. Due to these different aspects, the proposed approach features higher flexibility compared to traditional methods. The validity and effectiveness of the methodology has been demonstrated by analyzing an airline company composed by 5 subsystems with the aim of defining a plan of action for the next 5 years, which can either: improve efficiency, redefine mission or increase revenues.

Foundation for Science and Technology, Lisbon, through 3° Quadro Comunitário de Apoio, project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011, and the MIT-Portugal program (Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing focus area). The developed work was supervised by Chris Magee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.