.During the internal assessment stage of strategic planning, you need to focus upon identifying accurately the strengths and weaknesses of the

.During the internal assessment stage of strategic planning, you need to focus upon identifying accurately the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, especially those core competencies that really matter to customers. A true core competency is by definition some capacity or capability that is enduring. Therefore, the focus here should be upon the present, not thinking about what the organization was good at in the past or what "competencies" it seems to be developing for the future.