Business Strategy Navigation 2009 - Part 2
July 9, 2009
Welcome Back. We've got lots of in depth business strategy to share with you today.The State of the Environment
It hardly takes a rocket scientist to point out the economy’s unpredictability. It is painted vividly all over business today: the Herculean rise and Icarean fall of dot.coms; the ever-present fear of “getting Amazoned” by the newest phenom; fickle and unrepresentative market data; a “winner takes all economy” that rewards aerodynamic little prodigies with world-power status; and heavy dependence on intangible assets. This—an environment stocked with and characterized by uncertainty—is the market we inherit. Our only hope of navigation is strategy—the sort that flooded the explorers with both order and industrious creativity.
Getting Started: The Need for Strategic planning
Unpredictability offers managers three options: to idly float with the environment’s current and winds; to drop anchor and cling to the present (albeit mediocre) position; or to harness the currents and charge ahead. The first two represent stasis and, therefore, death. To survive, an organization must be dynamic. Does your company exhibit “a sense of urgency, or complacency?” If you recognize the urgency of the present, be proactive and commit to strategy. If complacency defines you, move.
What I do with my organization, Strategy International, is partner with companies to develop business strategy according to a time-tested, proprietary strategy design: a choice blend of plan and action that has produced visible change for clients in a range of industries. In our experience, the process of designing a strategy (defined by CEO Bob Jonas as “a plan for the skillful conduct of a large field of operations towards the achievement of a known goal”) consists of seven elements:
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Confront reality
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Set objectives
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Anticipate demand
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Set strategy
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Invent
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Plan Execution
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Implement
All of these, by necessity, happen in the market environment. The secret is to create a competitive advantage strategy that both adapts to and controls that unpredictable medium.
Next week we’ll continue this discussion with the first element: Confront Reality.
Strategically Yours,
Bob
