What is Your Strategy?
A simple question, but you would be surprised at how many businesses, large and small, fail to produce a satisfactory answer.
And if you as manager or officer cannot answer, then how can you hope that your employees will know or understand such a key component of your business?
"Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?" was published in Harvard Business Review in April 2008. In the article, the authors discuss the problem of ill-defined strategies and discuss some key features of a specific and effective strategy statement.
The authors claim it is a "necessity" to have a "simple, clear, succinct strategy statement that every- one can internalize and use as a guiding light for making difficult choices" (2). It will help facilitate alignment within employees and departments, and prevent departments from pursuing projects out of line with the common thread of your business.
"With a clear definition, though, two things happen: First, formulation becomes infinitely easier because executives know what they are trying to create. Second, implementation becomes much simpler because the strategy’s essence can be readily communicated and easily internalized by everyone in the organization" (2).
A good strategy statement has three parts: objective, scope, and competitive advantage.
The objective is the goal of the business, explicitly stated and measurable. The scope forms the domain, or area in which the firm will operate-- the more specific, the better! Finally the advantage is the key to your strategy, as it states what you will do differently to edge the competition.
To help formulate a specific strategy statement, ask yourself the following questions:
What is the main objective of your business? (Remember, the more specific, the better!)
What is your target market, geographically and demographically?
What will you do different to distinguish yourself among customers?
These questions will help you reframe your business from a higher level perspective and will help you develop a specific statement of your strategy.