Strategy Development

​

There are many types of strategies. The goal of any strategy is to set your organization apart from others in your industry. It includes how you are viewed, how you operate and how you serve your customers. This is the basis for a competitive advantage.

High-level strategies usually encompass the entire organization taking action to achieve overall direction for the organization in the long run. With increased competition organizations now find themselves focusing on ever-changing business environments where they must not only react but also need to anticipate future events.

Successful organizations must incorporate company values, objectives, business overview (including business model development) and market trends into their strategic plan. Leaders then must use the art and science of planning to specify policies and create plans – which usually define supporting projects. These projects are sometimes called operational strategy and/or tactics. These efforts must be coordinated and implemented into the various functional areas within the business.

These operational strategies/tactics can be named as:

• Staff/Leadership Development Strategy (ensuring that people with the right skillset can execute the plan)

• Sales and Marketing Strategy (ensuring a meaningful ROI)

• Technology Strategy (ensuring the requirements and needs of the plan is achieved)

It is critical that every member of the organization understands their role in executing the strategic plan and that the coordination of functional areas is necessary.

​

What does this mean to me?

A competitive advantage is realized when each area of the organization is connected and working together. Whereas a disconnected organization is at a clear competitive disadvantage.

Some key points:

• You must know who your key customers are (it’s not everybody) to remain focused in your efforts

• You must set limits and rules for your plan to eliminate poor financial and ethical decisions

• You must encourage innovation and help staff move out of their comfort zone

• You must track progress and celebrate success

• You must evaluate and change the plan as your business environment changes – no plan lasts forever

For additional information - check this out.

An excellent book, “The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage” by Balanced Scorecard creators Robert Kaplan and David Norton, encourages organizations to make strategic planning an ongoing process.

Some highlights are:

• Strategies can lose momentum as organizations face their daily challenges

• Strategy review meeting must be scheduled frequently to evaluate progress

• Budgeting for plan implementation must be reflective of future revenue expectations

• There are distinct stages to follow when implementing a strategic plan

So what will Comprehensive View do for you?

We can assist in developing a long term view of a possible future(s) that your company would like to create and how you will get there. You may want to define how the organization engages in ethical and social responsibilities in society; examples would be green initiatives, educational/institutional/industry/local sponsorships), evaluate financial needs and organizational changes.

To do this, Comprehensive View will analyze your current business processes/activities, provide options and help you set objectives to realize those options. You will avoid poor use of credit and financial reserves. These detailed objectives will identify required resources in terms of finance, staffing (and leadership needs), operational changes, organizational changes, the time required to implement the plan and required technical support.

Remember: Formulation of the business strategy involves establishing the purpose and scope of the organization's activities and nature of the business it is in, taking the environment in which it operates, its position in the marketplace, and the competition it faces into consideration. A carefully planned and executed strategy will place you in the leadership role of your market. We help you do that.

​

For more information, please call us at 612-594-8922

​

​

​