A statement of business strategy describes where and how the firm will compete in order to accomplish its objectives, meet customer needs, and obtain a superior financial return. Strategy sets the boundaries around future decisions, describing...
Read moreUnderstanding Market Attractiveness
Whether reviewing business strategy and current performance, considering entering a new market, or evaluating an acquisition or investment, understanding market attractiveness is an important step. Market attractiveness analysis provides a view...
Read morePEST Analysis
One of the potential tools for the situation analysis in strategic planning is the PEST analysis. No, this is not looking for insects and it is not referring to the competitors that make your life difficult. PEST analysis is shorthand for...
Read moreA Different Differentiation
Strategic differentiation is achieved by providing a unique or different value offering to customers as compared to competitors. A strategy of differentiation is based on developing a deep understanding of customers’ needs and then meeting those...
Read morePorter’s Five Forces
There are five general market or competitive forces that affect every business to some degree. These are often called Porter’s Five Forces because they were popularized in Michael E. Porter’s book, Competitive Strategy, published in 1980. The...
Read moreThe Process of Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is a tool that is useful for guiding day-to-day decisions and also for evaluating progress and changing approaches for moving forward. In a previous article we described the purpose of strategic planning. The process for...
Read moreThe Purpose of Strategic Planning
The purpose of strategic planning is to gain control of the future and the destiny of the organization. If your experience of strategic planning is developing a ream of paper full of tables and charts that then gets put in a drawer or on a shelf...
Read moreTactics and Action Plan
The tactics and action plan describe the activities of the organization to implement the business strategy and achieve the strategic objectives. The action plan is the final piece of a strategic management system that translates mission and...
Read moreGoals and Objectives
Goals and objectives provide direction, inspiration, and a standard for measurement of performance for an organization. Goals define direction or destination while objectives set specific targets or milestones for performance measurement. In a...
Read moreMission and Vision
Mission describes what you are and vision describes what you want to be. Both of these should be clear and concise statements focused on clearly communicating to the organization’s various stakeholders. Organizations sometimes have long...
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