Five Ps of business strategy

Similar in marketing, business strategy has also five Ps. In defining strategy Henry Mintzberg introduced perspective, plan, pattern and position that amounts to 4 Ps. Fred Nickols, a seasoned business strategist introduced the remaining one as ploy. Here is concise explanation of each of the five Ps:

Perspective:    As the primary P, it explains the vision and directions a business takes in progression towards the end state. Vision is much broader than direction, true enough. Yet vision gives expression to business concept that so far remained as theoretical one to transform into practical one. Direction on the other hand germinates from business policy that sets the guidelines and norms that impact the conduct of any business.

Plan:  Although secondary to perspective, plan is a precise statement that explains how to go from here to there. It explains the journey and indicates the ends to be achieved with the means in hand and with the ways to use the means effectively and efficiently. This plan identifies the mileposts besotted in the journey and how progression takes place in gradual manner.

Position:  As third P, position is an unassailable mid-point where demand –supply dynamics gets played out. On the demand side is the market position evolved from the understanding of market needs. Supply side indicates the product-service that is offered to the market. Subsequently, such position can morph into market leadership and/or product leadership.

Pattern:  Business strategy displays varied patterns some are stunning and unknown. A trained business strategist can pre-plan a pattern by bringing out innovation that are either breakthrough or disruptive. Secondly, pattern can emerge over a period of time where firm finds out, for example, high-end product to go with high-end market to sustain both market and product leadership.

Ploy:  Main function of business strategy is to hide the real intention. It is an accepted fact that firm cannot hide its production capability or capacity but it must make all efforts to couch strategy in such terms that competitors cannot find out the underlying intention. Ploy has another role. Fred Nickols says resources are deployed in business strategy and employed in business tactics to bridge the gap between ends and means.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist

Three unspoken rules on choosing business strategy

Nobody in the business world tell you how business strategy is ultimately chosen. The golden rules remained unspoken for long time. Let me unearth these rules for you to enable you to craft effective business strategy:

Rule number one

Delve deep into underlying relationship of all factors on the table: searching for new and existing elements, surveying individual elements, setting how these elements go for backward or forward integration, setting patterns and trends in order to understand connection and relationship are some of the processes performed by a consummate business strategist. More often than not, a business strategist lands on a crucial connection between the factors that have never been perceived to exist previously.

Rule number two

Recognize the real issue at hand. Clear the smokescreen, separate chaff from the wheat, isolate recurring issues, identify real issues from the fake ones. An accomplished business strategist moves in tandem by listing all necessary variables even checking on for un-fathomed ones, identifying most important or critical variables and go deeper into find out how these could be examined to bring about resolution of the matter at hand and finally perch on the ground shaking factor that can make business strategy a breakthrough one.

Rule number three

Selection of the right business strategy is the final embodiment of success for any business strategist.  Zooming on right strategy requires finding out how the business concept gets woven around all the activities of the firm such as creating, delivering and capturing value for firm. This business concept acts as an over-awning arch and eggs on the employees, management, owners, partners, customers and other stakeholders of a firm to work in fulfilment of the business concept framed already.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist

Step-up approach defining business development as organizational growth process

Thinking business development as the functional view and as a sub-set of the marketing is now out of date. Modern version of business development catapulted it as a key business strategy to be applied on the scale of organization wide item. This version incorporates the following step-up approach, in defining business development:

1.       Business development brings in new relationship along with added sales growth from the target customers newly identified

2.      Existing relationships are cajoled to make additional purchases or change-in to new products that are marketed as innovative and game changing ones

3.       Building of strategic alliances is the cornerstone of business development activity that seeks to negate any differentiation competitors may try on the existing product lines

4.     Creating more opportunities for sales must reflect back on the organization whereby new products and processes are introduced to optimize such opportunities

5.     Every growth opportunity is identified and analysed so that the optimum one yielding commensurate return for all functions in an organization is selected. Thereafter, proper business strategy is formulated with a view to ensure seamless implementation

6.      Business development must aim for incremental to phenomenal rise in market activity that sustains the growth momentum in corporate management, marketing, human resource, production/operation as well as in finance

7.     Key partners are alerted on the business development parameters and key activities are streamlined to ensure efficient use of key resources that are procured in much more competitive terms            

8.      Finally, business development must garner long term value for the company by employing internal strengths to capitalize on external opportunities.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist

What happens when business development is just a marketing strategy?

When you have a situation where business development is consigned as marketing strategy spearheaded by marketing department the stated goal is restricted in bringing more business, customers and new relationship.

This leads to creation of buzz words such as business pipeline, capture management, competitive intelligence, business leads and probability of winning and so on.  One thing surely happens is that rest of the firm is not concerned with the idea of business development.

While business development has twin function of beating competition and ensuring new strategic direction, marketing department does work with the mantra “more sales and more revenue from the existing product”. This tantamount to exploring new markets for the existing product, thereby ignoring the needs and wants of existing customers.

Sales pitch can improve the sales value temporarily, but in the medium term it can plunge to bottom if the customers feel that they are not getting value for money or the product does not have the qualities and features compared with new products introduced by competitors. A good example is the Microsoft Xbox one that failed after launch and vigorous marketing.

It is not out of place to mention that fundamental purpose of marketing strategy is to improve the value and reputation of the company and the product in the eyes of consumers. In doing so marketing department must be conscious of the competitors and what they are doing and the customer relationship and how it is going.

Purely depending on business development as marketing strategy on the existing product line and then thrusting it on the marketing department as their primary concern is a bad step taken by many firms. What firms must do is to study the target market searching for clues over their needs & wants and bring out innovative products that give real value. In doing so, primary attention must be given to existing customers who would turn out to be spokesperson extolling both new and existing products to incoming new customers.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist