Formulating business strategy is not the type of
task for amateurs. As a business strategist you have to be serious about six
issues before you ever undertake strategy formulation. These six issues are of “make
or break” nature demanding serious attention from corporate management:
1. First of all you must be very clear about the internal dimension of the
business you are in. Significantly the major part of this dimension is
connected with human interaction. Whether you go for top down or bottom up
approach you have to understand that, the personal dynamics of the organization
is the key factor. Being friendly with staff, you must understand how they are
motivated to work and how they are driven to achieve set goals.
2. Alertness
is key for assessing strengths and weaknesses of staff members. You must be
super intelligent to recognize the nuances of their speech, rhythm of body
language, shades of opinion, nature of attitude and finally quality of efforts.
This is where you waddle between skills and drive. For example, the most
talented or articulate person in your business may not have similar level of
dedication towards his job!
3. Getting into critical point quickly is the next issue meriting your
attention. Time is always limited and you must be trained to find the “fruit
covered by leaves”. Unless you can get a hang of what the staff are trying
to convey and the finer points that they mention or allow you to draw without
even uttering tem, you will continue to read the leaves and miss the fruit.
4. Thinking strategically is the issue most of us talk about but
never get it right. You have to master strategic thinking by envisaging how the
future course of action evolves and how beneficial it is to the business and its
stakeholders, including the staff members. Smart thinking apart, you must be able
to communicate with others how the future is going to be and what resources and technology would be
required along with the type of new skills the business must develop in order to
cope up with future demands.
5. Creative
solution to problem is an area where an accomplished business strategist
excels. Here the strategist must follow a set of analytical tools available in
the public domain as well as his own proprietary tools that he keeps to
himself. Box type strategic tools promoted by consultancy firms are of limited
use in this ever changing business environment. Incidentally, major
breakthrough in product innovation has come into light not by using any of these
box type tools but by innovative and imaginative thinking. Success of Starbucks
coffee is a fitting example!
Cheers!
Muthu
Ashraff Rajulu
Business Strategist
Mobile: + 94 777 265677
E-mail: cosmicgems@gmail.com
Blog: Business
Strategist
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