English
Español
(Sources : Profs. Tarun Khanna and Michael E. Porter , Harvard 2003)
We all know that designing the correct strategy is critical for the business success. Therefore, all measures need to be taken to ensure that the best strategy design process(es) possible are put in place, under the circumstances. If the strategy is wrong, chances of survival dramatically fall, and conversely, chances of big problems arising dramatically rise.
The essence of strategy is :
Do we have something unique that someone is willing to pay for ?
To answer this question properly, a few more additional questions become relevant :
What is it that we possess that others do not ?
What is it that we offer that others cannot replicate ? (… too soon at least ?)
What is our value proposition ?
Therefore, strategy is about creating something unique which on top is difficult to replicate. Easy to say, difficult to achieve. As much as strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities, it is also about making tradeoffs in competing, and choosing what not to do.
From von Clausewitz : Strategy is the art of the broken field runner; it is not a lengthy plan, but an idea that evolves through changing circumstances. Detailed planning always fails due to chance events, imperfections in execution, and the leadership of the opposition. The strategy involves the instinctive savvy of the best generals.
Which of our product or service varieties are the most distinctive ?
Which of our product of service varieties are the most profitable ?
Which of our customers are the most satisfied ?
Which customers, channels, or purchase occasions are the most profitable ?
Which of the activities in our value chain are the most different and effective ?
What was the vision of the founder ?
What were the products and customers that made the company ?
A company can often grow faster –and far more profitably- by better penetrating needs and varieties where it is distinctive than by slugging it out in potentially higher growth arenas in which the company lacks uniqueness.