Strategic Management

It's Simple, but Not Necessarily Easy

A Simple Approach to
Strategic,
Operational and
Crisis Management

Strategic Management is based on common sense, although it doesn't always seem that way.

If we look at it from a perspective of Value-Driven Purpose and Performance, there are three types of strategy: Value Creation Strategies; Value Delivery Strategies; and Support Strategies.

Developing strategy entails answering some basic questions and then documenting and communicating the answers. The complexity of answering the questions and of the answers themselves is dependent on the nature and size of your business and the complexity of your industry.

Regardless, we can help build a framework that will help you: make decisions confidently and with closure; and help you adapt to changing conditions without a requirement for "emergency surgery".

And the framework is built on the sound foundation of Value-Driven Purpose and Performance.

From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Because we focus on the fundamentals, it is relatively easy to transition from your current approach to a Value-Driven approach to Strategic Management.

Because anyone with the appropriate security profile can access the Map Folders on the Web, they can not only review the Strategies and Goals, but they can review the supporting rationale. This helps gain commitment and reduce second-guessing and wheel-spinning.

If someone does have a suggestion to update the folders (with a new need, SWOT or an idea for creating Value), it is relatively easy to assess and incorporate that in the Markets and Strategies Map Folder.

We Provide Long-Term Help:
Formulating, Communicating and Executing Your Purpose

The heart of your company is the impact that you have in your marketplace. It's about what you offer, to whom you offer it, how it is offered and delivered - together with its total  impact. These are the "Value Creation" Strategies.

How you develop these strategies is basic, common sense. It's just not easy. Successful entrepreneurs often start out with a clear vision: a unique approach to meeting an important need. It's the ability to continue creating Value that gets difficult. Here are three steps you can take. We will show you how we can help you with these in the section called: "Our Approach"

What You Could Do
In order to see what your company could do, you need to understand the (unrealized) Potential Value in possible target markets.

What You Can Do
This is the sum of the resources, capabilities and core competencies at the disposal of your company (including potential partners, channels, etc.).

When you understand how these two areas best match up and compare to existing and anticipated competitive offerings, you can take the next step:

What You Decide to Do
Given your understanding of how "What You Could Do" matches up with "What You Can Do", you frame an offering (or set of offerings) that is the best match for a particular target market. In addition to defining the offering, it is essential to understand and define the Value offered, in general, and the distinct Value offered, in particular.

Implementing Your Purpose
Develop your Value Creation Strategies (see next column) and define your Business Purpose using the approach outlined above; what do you offer, who you serve, and what impact do you have?  This defines the Distinct Value created by your company. Then you can go on to define your company's Value Delivery Strategies (see next column); how do you communicate and deliver that Distinct Value to your marketplace?

We can help guide you through this process with a framework that will allow you to firmly link strategy to execution and to adapt your strategic direction as things change.

*By offering, we mean the product or service together with price, terms, associated services and information - together with the  sales, delivery, implementation and customer service  models, etc. These are all vehicles for Potential Value and important aspects of positioning.

Value Creation Strategies
(Light Blue Ovals)
Value Delivery Strategies
(Dark Blue Ovals)

Support Strategies
How Are You Going to Support the Organization?
These strategies can have a significant impact on the organization and can be instrumental in delivering Value. Examples of support strategies include: organizational strategies, funding strategies, regulatory strategies, HR or people strategies, IT strategies, etc.

A Coherent, Holistic Approach to
Strategic, Operational and Crisis Management

The graphics at upper right show a set of strategies that are required in some form or another by any organization.

At right is the graphic showing the development of the Markets and Strategies Map Folder content during the transition from Assessment Phase to Critical Issues Phase to the Strategy and Purpose Phase.

Coherence
The consistent pursuit of Value for the customer during these phases provides assurance that there will be a significant degree of coherence and that each Phase can build on the work and initiatives pursued in the previous Phases.

Understanding the Customer
In order to Create Value, you have to understand the customer and their environment: what they desire or want to accomplish; what they need to achieve their desires or objectives; the internal and the external factors, pressures and trends they face and so on. We use a number of techniques, some common, some unique to develop this information.

Developing Strategy and Purpose
At the Strategy and Purpose Phase, we incorporate this information in the Market Segment Maps, which provide a view of customer objectives and needs, SWOTS, competitive positioning and the way in which your offering meets customer needs (the Value you already deliver).

This gives us a view of the Realized and Unrealized Potential in each market segment and an understanding of the positioning or strength of our offering(s) in that segment. From this we can determine our market focus and short-term opportunities to add the the Value for the customer. We can also see how our offerings need to evolve in order to migrate to other strategic markets and what impact that would have on the Value we can deliver to those markets.

Assessing Competencies
An important part of the decision to develop a new or enhanced offering is assessment of our resources, capabilities and core competencies. For that we can refer to the Competencies Map in the "Organization" Map Folder (see graphic at bottom right). For more on the use of the "Organization Map Folder", view "Accountability and Execution" by clicking here.

Delivery Can Add to Value, Too
Some of the customer needs will be addressed by the way in which we deliver the offering and will be incorporated in both Value Creation and Value Delivery strategies.

When Things Change Suddenly and Dramatically
Strategies, which seemed appropriate when developed, can quickly become obsolete as markets, economies, technologies and other aspects of the external and internal environment change.

Sometimes these changes can have no warning, like 9/11 and the oil crisis in the 70s or there might be some indications in advance, like the "dot-com bust" and the sub-prime mortgage-induced loan crisis. Depending on the degree to which these changes are anticipated by the organization, they can trigger contingency strategies and plans or change the organization's mode to crisis management.

Contingency Strategies
In the graphic at upper right, you can see that there is an option to include Future Scenario Maps. You might have created one of these to outline the implications, threats and opportunities that would arise with the bursting of the "Housing Bubble" of the mid-2000s.

You can also develop Strategic Option Maps to outline optional strategies that you might pursue in addressing those scenarios. you may find that it makes sense to include some of the components of those strategies in your current strategy portfolio, with the option to increase their emphasis if the scenario comes to pass.

"Organization" Map Folder and
Knowledge Base Content

Crisis Management
Even if you haven't taken time to develop scenarios and strategy options and you have to move into "crisis management mode", you can do this in a coherent manner by going back to your "Current Issues" Map and updating it with the issues resulting from the changes. You can then address the issues during the Critical Issues Phases, updating only the segments which are affected by the changes and which affect the issues under consideration.

This provides a path that addresses the crisis quickly but is coherent in focusing on providing Value for the customer. It also brings you back to the Strategy and Purpose Phase, where you can re-evaluate your Value Creation Strategies, your Purpose and your Value Delivery Strategies.