Strategy Overview

Strategy development is concerned with how we should invest in resources (human, systems, capital etc) to attain sustainable competitive advantage. It is not concerned with how we compete next year except insofar as our actions contribute to a longer-term objective. Rather, we need to be looking ahead, 5, 10 or even 15 years.

For some people the time-frame of strategic thinking causes problems. How can we possibly know what will happen so far ahead, they argue. We cannot. Part of the strategic planning process is to identify possible future scenarios and consider what our best approach would be in each. What we are trying to create is a sense of “preparedness” and an essential element of this is the tuning of our perception. The process of thinking about possible futures enables us to see things that we would otherwise miss; it enables us to identify patterns and attribute meaning to events.

"Strategic management is the responsibility of all managers, and what is more, a responsibility that is becoming more and more important. It is not sufficient for a manager to think of management in some operational or functional context, simply to know his piece of the jigsaw well and trust that others know theirs equally as well. The very least that a manager requires is to understand how his bit of the jigsaw fits into the rest in the context of the strategic problems and direction of the organisation."

Johnson & Scholes

The more strategically aware a group of managers is, the more likely it is that the organisation will be proactive in creating and responding to opportunities and threats. Strategic awareness is a vital component in the creation of a "learning organisation".

Our strategic programmes reference all the major figures (strategy really is the land of the guru) but with an emphasis on helping managers to draw real meaning for their particular context. The courses are very participative and we will often work with organisations to prepare materials that are directly relevant to the issues that they face.

 

Please click here to read a fuller discussion on why managers at all levels require a broader perspective.