CodeHS Data-Driven Decision Making 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the first step in the strategic planning process?
- Defining the organizations mission, vision, and values (Correct answer)
- Setting financial budgets
- Hiring new staff
- Implementing tactical plans
Correct answer: Defining the organizations mission, vision, and values
Strategic planning begins with clarifying the organizations purpose (mission), aspirations (vision), and guiding principles (values).
Question 2: What is a SWOT analysis?
- An assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Correct answer)
- A financial forecasting tool
- A staff performance evaluation method
- A supply chain optimization technique
Correct answer: An assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
SWOT analysis evaluates internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats to inform strategic decisions.
Question 3: What is the difference between strategic and tactical planning?
- Strategic sets long-term direction; tactical outlines specific short-term actions (Correct answer)
- They are identical processes at different levels
- Tactical planning is more important than strategic
- Strategic planning deals only with finances
Correct answer: Strategic sets long-term direction; tactical outlines specific short-term actions
Strategic planning establishes overall direction and goals, while tactical planning defines the specific actions to achieve them.
Question 4: What role does data play in decision-making?
- It provides objective evidence to support informed choices (Correct answer)
- Data should be avoided as it complicates decisions
- Only financial data is relevant to decisions
- Data is only useful for retrospective analysis
Correct answer: It provides objective evidence to support informed choices
Data-driven decision-making reduces bias and improves outcomes by basing choices on objective evidence rather than intuition alone.
Question 5: What is a stakeholder analysis in strategic planning?
- Identifying who is affected by decisions and understanding their interests and influence (Correct answer)
- Analyzing only shareholder financial returns
- Listing all employees by department
- Calculating staff turnover rates
Correct answer: Identifying who is affected by decisions and understanding their interests and influence
Stakeholder analysis identifies all parties with an interest in the organizations decisions, helping manage relationships and expectations.
Question 6: What is the purpose of scenario planning?
- To prepare for multiple possible futures by developing response strategies (Correct answer)
- To predict the future with certainty
- To avoid making any decisions until the future is clear
- To select the single most likely outcome
Correct answer: To prepare for multiple possible futures by developing response strategies
Scenario planning explores multiple possible futures to develop flexible strategies and improve organizational resilience.
CodeHS Data-Driven Decision Making 1
What is the first step in the strategic planning process?