DEWA's Strategic Planning & Execution
Framework

This Framework is based on the five principles of the Strategy Focused Organization develop, review and update DEWA’s Five Year Strategic Plan. This is an annual cycle and has six phases as shown below:

Phase 1 - Strategic Plan Preparation and Approval

The first phase entails the Preparation and Approval phase of the five-year Strategic Plan of DEWA, which reviewed annually, then formulated and driven by the leaders and top management in DEWA. This is in line with the first principle of being a Strategy-Focused Organization, i.e. Leadership involvement, and the second principle, i.e. translating it into DEWA’s strategy. This Toolkit focuses on the necessary research and planning processes and tools for this phase. DEWA adopts the third generation Balanced Scorecard that include themes on the strategy map.

Phase 2 - Strategy Communication

Communication is a continuous process that clearly bridges the gap between work knowledge and the strategic path chosen by top management and plays an integral role in ensuring the cascading and alignment of Divisions towards DEWA’s overall strategic direction. It also includes promoting a stronger culture of strategy throughout the organization.

Divisional heads play an important role in communicating strategy to develop employees’ commitment by empowering them with the information and direction they need to help them achieve their strategic direction. A vitally-important element is ensuring two-way communications – employees should be able to provide feedback to ensure that the communicated strategy is both understood and implemented.

Phase 3 - Cascading & Alignment

After the approval and endorsement of the Strategic Plan and its communication, this phase largely involves preparing and aligning the Divisions with the strategic direction of DEWA by establishing clear linkages to the DEWA’s Strategy Map. This phase involves cascading the DEWA’s strategy map and Balanced Scorecard, which contains the themes, strategic objectives, corporate KPIs and targets for the Divisional Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecards, using the contributory approach. This phase also includes motivating, communicating and aligning all employees with DEWA’s overall strategic direction; ensuring that strategy is embedded in their everyday jobs by linking strategy and incentives to their smart objectives and performance appraisals. This alignment creates a synergy at the corporate level and ensures that DEWA is heading in the right direction.

Phase 4 - Implementation & Execution

This phase ensures the effective implementation and execution of the corporate strategy map through the cascaded Divisional Strategy Maps and Balanced Scorecards.

Defined Divisional Balanced Scorecards will have their objectives, KPIs and targets, along with their employees’ smart objectives and appraisals, aligned to the Corporate Balanced Scorecard. Divisions will be responsible for their respective Divisional Balanced Scorecards and reporting of their performance and Performance Management oversees the processes.

Phase 5 - Assessment & Review

This phase involves the assessment and review of the Strategic Plan. Corporate Performance is assessed based on the performance of the Themes, Strategic Objectives and achievements of the KPI targets in DEWA’s Balanced Scorecard and monitoring initiatives.

As weights have been defined in Phase One – Preparation and Approval – for each theme, strategic objectives and corporate KPIs, this phase takes into account the performance of all Divisions. This also includes the reporting on the performance of DEWA’s Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecards to top management through the Strategic Executive Summary Reports

Phase 6 - Innovate, Improve & Adapt

In line with DEWA’s aim to continuously innovate and improve, as per the concept of Excellence, Corporate Strategy reviews DEWA’s Strategic Plan annually. This requires reviewing and updating the plan as and where deemed necessary and finding and adapting existing processes to best practices for Strategic Planning. As an example, DEWA includes Support functions in the Learning and Growth perspective of the Balanced Scorecard by calling it Support, Learning and Growth.

All these findings are then included as feedback for the next Preparation and Approval phase of the following annual Strategic Planning & Execution Framework cycle.