Activity 13
Situational analysis (STP)
Overview
Dr Fred Fosmire, an American academic with a thriving consulting practice, was the first to coin the problem-solving term STP in the 1960s. He is widely acknowledged as the progenitor of this technique. STP is a three-letter acronym which stands for situation, target, proposal. It is sometimes confused with the marketing STP process which stands for segmentation, targeting, positioning.
STP is a popular consulting technique used to gauge understanding of client issues, agree potential targets and develop a range of proposals. Fosmire argued that in order to effectively solve a problem, one must first understand the current situation in detail before putting forward a solution.
A number of variants on STP exist – for example, STPP, which includes a ‘plan’; STPB, which includes ‘benefits’; and STPR, which includes ‘resources’.
Elements
According to Fosmire, problems and conflicts generally result from differences in three categories:
- Facts – These are contributing and impeding forces. There are forces at work in the situation that help move towards the goal, and forces at work that impede movement towards the goal. Disagreements about the facts can be, for example, one person thinking one thing has happened, while another person has a different view of the situation.
- Values/priorities – These are differences in priorities and values. One person thinks one thing is important, while someone else thinks something else should take precedence.
- Solutions – We may agree on facts and priorities, but have different methods or plans to solve the problem.
The STP problem-solving technique was principally designed to flush out the facts of a situation before envisioning what the ‘end state’ might look like, and thus an accompanying solution can be developed. It is vital that the problem is clearly defined by all parties at the outset; otherwise this could skew the resulting questions and thus the data collected. The key components and related questions that might be used to facilitate STP are listed in Figure 2.13.
So what?
The STP process is a succinct way of engaging business stakeholders. It is often used as a means of creating support cross-functionally through the deployment of a facilitated ‘brainstorming’ session.
Once the problem has been clearly defined, the category manager can act as an objective mediator, helping develop and channel the STP questioning process. The questions and responses need to be continually reviewed and refined throughout, and strong facilitation skills are needed to ensure the robustness of this activity.
The output of this technique can provide invaluable information that can inform the category plan. It will also help the procurement team understand the appetite for the resulting project from within the business and any potential issues they may face from a political perspective.
Category management application
- Provides a way of problem solving with stakeholders
- Provides a universal understanding of goals and objectives
- Engages and enlists key stakeholder support
- Allows procurement to be viewed as objective
- Can capture ‘roadblocks’ to the project early
- Will inform the early stages of the category-planning process by way of its output
Limitations
It is difficult to find many who would criticise STP, as it is a useful problem-solving tool. However, a recent prognosis amongst senior procurement practitioners is that while it is sufficient at gathering data at a surface level, the analysis does not go to the depth required in today’s more complex, multifaceted organisations. It is increasingly becoming regarded as only a ‘first step’ in terms of mining the data required to initiate the category plan. Its application would appear to be more popular as a rapport- or relationship-building tool than that of a serious piece of research aimed at feeding the category strategy.
The STP process will need to be managed carefully, as procurement does not want to be seen to be ‘steering the solution’. The success of the outcome is heavily dependent upon the facilitation skills of the category manager. If these skills are not in situ, then the final document can be vague and open to interpretation, and therefore its creditability will be diminished.
Template
The following template can be used as a problem-solving technique:
- Template 13: STP