Organisational Strategy Diagnostic Assessment Tool (OSDAT)
You have a strategy. Is it actually being executed?
OSDAT gives your leadership an independent, evidence-based picture of how well your organisation formulates, executes, monitors and governs its strategy — and a prioritised roadmap for strengthening it.
A standardised diagnostic framework developed by the Zambia Institute for Strategic Management for public, private and non-profit organisations.
The Challenge:
The stubborn gap between strategy and execution
Most organisations have a strategic plan. Far fewer can show evidence that the plan is being translated into operational plans and budgets, understood by staff, monitored against its targets and overseen by the board. Plans stall when objectives are not cascaded, when resources do not follow priorities, when performance data is not collected, or when strategic risks go unmanaged. Leaders often sense these problems but lack a credible, objective way to locate them.
OSDAT provides that lens. It measures the capacity of your strategic management function against expected good practice, so that improvement starts from evidence rather than opinion.
What is OSDAT?
A standardised diagnostic of your strategy management function
The Organisational Strategy Diagnostic Assessment Tool (OSDAT) establishes the capacity of an organisation to formulate, execute and monitor its corporate strategy successfully. It assesses the full strategy cycle — from formulation through execution, monitoring and governance — to help you build a strategically aligned organisation, where strategic intent, governance structures, resource use and daily decisions all point in the same direction.
An OSDAT assessment helps you to:
- Identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of your strategic management function
- Build a shared understanding of its condition among your leadership
- Set a clear agenda for improvement
- Establish a baseline for benchmarking future progress
OSDAT is not:
- An audit
- A financial investigation
- A legal review
- A certification or accreditation of your organisation
What OSDAT diagnoses
Six Performance Result Areas
Each result area covers a distinct part of the strategy management cycle and is assessed through specific Performance Indicators and Measurement Dimensions.
Who should commission an assessment?
Built for every type of organisation
OSDAT criteria are calibrated for context: for example, alignment criteria are interpreted against sector or regulatory frameworks for private organisations, and a small NGO may meet strategy-unit requirements through a designated focal person.
Public Sector
Ministries, departments, parastatals, and constitutional and statutory bodies
Delivering the national development agenda demands a robust strategy management function in every institution.
Value you gain:
- Demonstrable accountability to Parliament and oversight bodies
- Execution aligned to the 8NDP and the emerging 9NDP
- Credible evidence for national development reporting
Private Sector
Listed companies, banks, large corporates and SMEs
Sustained competitive advantage depends on disciplined execution and board-level governance of strategy.
Value you gain:
- A sharper competitive edge through execution discipline
- Board-ready diagnostics and reporting
- Execution gaps identified before they become costly
Non-Profit and NGOs
Civil society organisations, foundations and faith-based organisations
Donor accountability and mission delivery depend on strategic coherence and credible governance.
Value you gain:
- Donor confidence built on verifiable evidence
- A coherent, aligned mission and strategy
- Stronger governance and organisational credibility
Why OSDAT, and why now?
Know your baseline. Act on evidence.
Know your baseline
You cannot improve what you have not measured. OSDAT establishes your strategy management baseline — the starting point for every improvement effort.