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Phases Overview

Audience: All Users / Strategy Manager Page Type: Concept Summary: COS structures strategic planning in four sequential phases: Context → Analysis → Synthesis → Execution. This page explains each phase's purpose, the tools it contains, and the logic for moving to the next phase.


Why Four Phases?

Good strategy comes from good data. COS answers these questions in order:

  1. Context: Who are we, where are we, where do we want to go?
  2. Analysis: We understand internal and external reality from many dimensions.
  3. Synthesis: Where are the findings from analysis pointing us?
  4. Execution: What will we do in this direction, and how will we measure it?

Each phase provides input to the next. Without the output of one phase, the next becomes meaningless.


Phase Architecture


Phase 1: Context

Purpose: Establish the organizational identity and strategic framework before any analysis begins.

ModulePathDescription
Organization/orgCompany hierarchy (Holding → Company → Dept → Team)
Products & Services/productsProduct and service catalog
Strategic Cycles/strategic-cyclesPeriod framework (annual, quarterly, etc.)
Mission & Vision/mission-visionPurpose and future direction

Done when: Organization structure ✅ · Active cycle ✅ · Mission & Vision ✅

Context Phase →


Phase 2: Analysis

Purpose: Confront internal and external reality with data using 9 tools.

ModulePathCore Question
Current States/current-statesKey metrics, baselines
Product Scorecard/product-scorecardProduct performance
Digital Maturity/digital-maturityDMA level
Excellence Assessments/excellence-assessmentsOperational excellence
Resources – VRIO/resources-vrioCompetitive advantages
PESTLE/pestleExternal environment
Porter's 5 Forces/porter-5Competitive dynamics
BCG Matrix/bcg-matrixPortfolio positioning
Findings/findingsSummary — gateway to Synthesis

Done when: ≥3 tools completed ✅ · Findings recorded ✅

Analysis Phase →


Phase 3: Synthesis

Purpose: Convert analysis findings into organizational direction.

ModulePathDescription
Product SWOT/product-swotProduct-level strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
SWOT/swotOrg-wide strength, weakness, opportunity, threat
Strategic Themes/strategic-themes3–5 priority focus areas for the period

Mandatory Rule: Every OKR created in Execution must be linked to a Strategic Theme. The system enforces this.

Done when: SWOT ✅ · 3–5 Strategic Themes ✅

Synthesis Phase →


Phase 4: Execution

Purpose: Turn strategic direction into measurable goals and track them.

ModulePathDescription
BSC/bscBalanced Scorecard — 4-perspective KPI tracking
OKR Cycles/okr/cyclesAnnual or quarterly OKR periods
My OKRs/okr/my-okrPersonal OKR view and updates
OKR Control Center/okr/control-centerFull org OKR dashboard

Review cadence: WBR (weekly) · MBR (monthly) · QBR (quarterly)

Done when: BSC KPIs ✅ · OKRs linked to themes ✅ · Review rhythm set ✅

Execution Phase →


Feedback Loops

COS is not a one-way journey. Execution data naturally triggers revisions upstream:

TriggerAction
A theme consistently underperformsRevise Strategic Themes (Synthesis)
Market conditions change significantlyUpdate Analysis tools + Findings
Company structure changesStart a new Context cycle

Phase Transition Summary

PhaseEntry ConditionExit Condition
ContextTenant activeOrg ✅ Cycle ✅ Mission & Vision ✅
AnalysisContext outputs ✅Findings recorded ✅
SynthesisAnalysis findings ✅SWOT ✅ Strategic Themes ✅
ExecutionStrategic Themes ✅OKRs linked to themes and active ✅

See also