MOST Analysis is performed during strategic analysis to evaluate an organisations overall strategy, the supporting activities and whether they are all in alignment.
These are the four tiers in MOST Analysis:
- Mission: defines what business the organisation is in and what it is intending to achieve
- Objectives: key goals against which the organisations achievement can be measured
- Strategy: the medium to long-term approach chosen to achieve organisational objectives
- Tactics: the short-term, operational plans and projects that will implement the strategy
With this understanding of the current internal environment, the MOST Analysis technique analyse an organisation from its business strategy through to the way in it is setting about tactically achieving it.
Now, let’s explain each of the factors with their purposes.
Mission: This is the most critical factor for an organization which defines its purpose and the goals it wants to achieve in the future. If the mission is specific, then it is easier to analyze and measure the remaining factors.
Objectives: We can consider objectives as a collection of goals which as an accumulated result in the mission of the organization. Moreover, Objectives must be S.M.A.R.T –
- S- Specific
Strategy: This is the steps or actions that an organization takes to achieve the objectives and finally to accomplish the mission. A strategy is a group of tactics.
Tactics: These are the discrete and straightforward methods which an organization follows to carry out the strategies.