An effective strategy sets the direction for a business but it also should be specific enough to say no—no to pursuing certain customers, no to entering certain markets, no to certain programs or investments, even no to hiring a certain person...
Read moreCase Study in Strategic Focus
In a recent article we discussed strategic focus, the idea that companies should first develop a laser-focused strategy, i.e., a definition of precisely where and how they intended to compete, that provided the best path to achieving the...
Read moreStrategic Focus
Strategic planning has many purposes. It provides the opportunity and impetus to examine your market environment, your customers, and your competitors and to think about the past and the future in each of these areas. Strategic planning provides...
Read moreWhere and How to Compete
The best definition of business strategy, at least in my opinion, is a statement of where and how an organization intends to compete. A longer version of this definition would be business strategy is a description of where and how an organization...
Read moreProfit Is a Reward, Not a Goal
Profit is the reward that a business earns for providing value to its customers and producing that value economically. While the customer does not intentionally award profit, they recognize the value offered and pay what they consider a fair...
Read moreFocus and Choice
Business strategy is about focus and choice. Strategy answers the question, what will we choose to focus on and what will we choose not to focus on? The struggle that many organizations deal with when trying to think strategically is a fear of...
Read moreStrategic Focus
Strategic focus is essential to business success. It is the ability to identify the one path that the business intends to take to accomplish its objective and to then relentlessly pursue that path while ignoring other paths along the way. Many...
Read moreResilience and Business Strategy
Resiliency is often spoken of as an important character trait of an individual. A healthy person is expected to be highly resilient. Resilience is the strength and speed of our response to adversity or change. The Oxford Dictionary defines...
Read moreStrategic Competencies
Competency or competence is defined as “the ability to do something successfully or efficiently” by the Oxford dictionary. Vocabulary.com defines competency as “the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually.” We...
Read moreCulture Trumps Strategy
Business guru Peter Drucker once said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast!” By this he did not mean that strategy was unimportant but, rather, that culture is a more important determinant of the success of a company than strategy. Culture is...
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