Strategy Development

The essence of strategy is making your organization different (creating uniqueness) to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. A business must choose four things to develop a coherent and sustainable strategy:

What products or services on which to compete
Where it wants to compete
How it wants to compete
and, What the organization seeks to accomplish

We know what real strategy is because we have done it. We believe that all strategy is a continuous cycle of thinking and executing. Our proven approach helps drive clarity of thought, focus, and a constant cycle of accountability that reduces risks and leads to greater results. We apply proven methods and concepts to help your business make your strategy a reality.

The VISION Thing! Many companies make the mistake of focusing on defining a vision for their future as the first step in their strategy process. Two problems can occur with this approach: (1) the business seeks to define a vision that is an ideal state rather than a concrete reality; and (2) the vision is not time bound and, therefore, lacks a specific end point. Being realists, our sense of vision is always grounded in time and reality ~ not some abstract ideal out in the distant future.

All sound strategy begins with a simple and essential step ~ understanding your competitive environment. Here at the Institute, we employ the power of the Knowledge Priorities to help your organization come to terms with your current reality. Before an organization or business can set a clear vision, it needs to take an inventory of the company's assets, abilities, and talents. This inventory, then, extends to understanding the critical dimensions of the organization's relationships with distributors, suppliers, customers, markets and competitors.

Some companies find themselves in markets where cost and price are the primary drivers of value - their products have become commoditized. Price has become the dominant factor on which they compete. These companies have lost their uniqueness. Successful companies figure out how to differentiate themselves and grow, even in low cost industries with razor thin margins. Why is Costco 70% more profitable per store than WalMart? Or, why is Southwest Airlines able to continue to make money in an industry that some experts believe has never had a positive return on equity? Whether it be a low cost strategy or a focus on increasing the customer's willingness to pay, we help you to create a strategy that you can deploy and align to your employees' personal objectives.

Strategy need not be some abstract exercise. Properly done, strategy enables you to determine with greater clarity who your business is and what, where and how you must compete.