Mastering Strategic Management: Models and Steps You Need to Know

 

Strategic management is your blueprint for navigating the complexities of business and ensuring long-term success. It’s not just about setting goals; it’s about aligning your actions with a clear vision and adapting as you go. Here’s a straightforward guide to the key models and steps in strategic management, helping you turn theory into practice.

What are the 7 steps of the strategic management process?

Think of the 7 steps of strategic management as your detailed roadmap to guide your business to success. Here’s how to effectively work through each step:

1. Understanding the context: Start by examining the internal and external environments affecting your business. Look at market trends, competitive landscape, and internal capabilities. This comprehensive understanding helps you identify the current position of your organization and prepare for strategic decision-making.
2. Strategic analysis: Dive into a detailed analysis of your business environment. This includes SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), market research, and competitor analysis. The insights gained here will inform the development of strategies that leverage your strengths and address weaknesses.
3. Setting business objectives: Define what you want to achieve at the top-level in clear and specific terms. Objectives should be SMART—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This clarity ensures that your goals are actionable and provides a benchmark for measuring success.
4. Strategy formulation and planning: Based on your analysis, develop strategies that align with your objectives. This involves brainstorming and evaluating different strategic options and choosing the ones that best fit your goals and resources. Formulate strategies that are innovative and practical, considering both short-term and long-term impacts.
5. Strategy execution: Put your strategies into action. This involves allocating resources, assigning responsibilities, and establishing timelines. Effective implementation requires coordination across various departments and ensuring that everyone is on board with the strategic plan. To learn more have a look at our related article: Strategy Execution in 4 Steps: Keys to Successful Strategy.
6. Monitoring and evaluation: Track the performance of your strategies using key performance indicators (KPIs) and regular reviews. Assess whether your strategies are delivering the desired outcomes and make adjustments as needed. This ongoing evaluation helps ensure that you stay on track toward your goals.
7. Closing the loop and feedback: Gather feedback from various stakeholders and use it to refine your strategies. Continuous improvement is key to staying competitive and responsive to changes. Looping in feedback helps you adapt and evolve your strategies based on real-world experiences and changing circumstances.

For further insights into each of these steps, explore detailed articles and resources on strategy in our resource library (use the search function). Note that HBR also has a rich library of academic and practical articles on strategy management.

Streamlined strategic management process

For a more streamlined approach, here’s a breakdown of the 5 steps of strategic management that you can follow:

1. Business objectives: Begin by defining clear, specific, and actionable objectives for the strategy cycle you want to scope. This involves understanding what you want to achieve in terms of growth, market position, or other business outcomes. Setting these goals provides a direction for your strategic planning and execution.
2. Analysis: Conduct a thorough analysis of both your internal capabilities and external environment. This includes reviewing your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and understanding market opportunities and threats. This analysis forms the foundation for developing effective strategies.
3. Strategic planning: Based on the insights from your analysis, create strategic plans that address your goals and challenges. Evaluate different strategic options and select the ones that best fit your business needs and resources. This step involves drafting detailed plans and considering various scenarios.
4. Strategy execution: Execute your strategies with precision. This step involves putting plans into action, coordinating efforts across departments, and managing resources effectively. Ensure that your implementation plan includes specific actions, timelines, and responsible parties.
5. Evaluation and optimization: Regularly assess the performance of your strategies using metrics and KPIs. Review progress towards goals, identify any issues or deviations, and make necessary adjustments. This step helps you stay aligned with your objectives and improve your strategic approach over time.

These steps provide a solid framework for effective strategic management.

What are the 5 models of strategic management?

Understanding different models of strategic management can help you choose the best approach for your business. Here’s a closer look at the 5 models of strategic management:

1. Traditional or Linear Model: This model follows a sequential process where strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation are done in a linear fashion. It’s a straightforward approach that works well in stable environments but may need adjustments in more dynamic settings.
2. Always-On Strategy model: Bridges the strategy execution gap using a continuous, rapid, and iterative loop of strategy development, execution, and evaluation. Its connected, data-driven, and agile nature encourages informed strategic decisions, faster execution and time to value, and ongoing alignment with market demands.  
3. Interpretive model: Centers on understanding and interpreting the organizational context, including stakeholder perspectives and internal culture. This model helps in crafting strategies that align with the organization’s unique context and values.
4. Transformational model: Aims for significant change and innovation within the organization. It focuses on transforming business processes, cultures, or products to achieve substantial growth and differentiation.
5. Radical model: Challenges conventional practices and seeks to make disruptive changes. This model is about pushing boundaries and rethinking the business model to drive major shifts and breakthroughs.

Opinion: best model for strategy management

At Quantive, we believe that the Always-On Strategy model is the most suited to today’s market dynamics. At its core, it embraces the fluidity of the market, customer preferences, and macroeconomic changes that are the reality for most businesses today. It acknowledges that change is not just continuous but fast. Rather than depending on dated, set-term plans, this model empowers businesses to tweak their strategy using real-time insights. Its inherent feedback cycles refine and optimize strategy continuously, ensuring it stays relevant and timely. 

To adopt an Always-On Strategy successfully, consider leveraging AI-powered solutions specifically designed for dynamic strategy management. The right solution can optimize the management of your Always-On Strategy, enabling you to wholly and effectively deliver all of your business’ potential. 

Quantive StrategyAI pairs AI with your business data to design, deploy, and continually enhance an Always-On Strategy for your business. 

https://tinyurl.com/5c5z5d2h

7 Steps To Create A High-Conversion Ad

 

Creating a high-conversion ad is not rocket science. It involves several key steps: knowing your target audience in terms of demographics, interests, and behavior so that you can tailor the message accordingly; writing a clear, compelling, preferably short and direct message that speaks to the unique value of your product or service; using visuals that are interesting enough to capture attention, while at the same time aligning with your brand identity. Plus, all CTAs should be powerful, using words like "Shop Now" or "Learn More." When you do an A/B test, conclude which of the two versions is better at marketing the advertisements. Lastly, optimize for mobile, track performance, and change your strategies based on the insights of the data.

https://tinyurl.com/45uy7ucf

«Комплимент» Вера Каппони, Томаш Новак. Инструмент #34

 

Ни Вера Каппони, ни Томаш Новак не являются создателями инструмента влияния «Комплимент». Его описание кристаллизовалось в результате анализа сразу нескольких источников. Но эти два человека в своей книге «Сам себе психолог» прекрасно описали принципы предоставления обратной связи как составной части #ассертивного_поведения. И комплимент рассматривается как одно из проявлений самораскрытия. Когда мы говорим женщине «У тебя красивое платье» это приятно. Но все-таки это оценочное суждение, о котором нас никто не просил. С другой стороны,   у нас есть право высказать свое мнение. На этом и построен принцип «Я-сообщение»: «Мне нравится, как ты выглядишь в этом платье». А это совсем другое дело.

Но наш менталитет не привычен ни давать, ни принимать комплимент. Поэтому приходится работать с ценностными установками участников. Особенно забавно видеть затруднения в традиционно «суровых» отраслях с преобладанием мужского  взаимодействия: строительные и отделочные материалы, металлопрокат, автозапчасти и т.п. Куда легче в медицине, индустрии красоты и т.п.

В конечном итоге комплимент хорошо заходит как один из семи способов укрупнения клиента при продажах и переговорах. Ещё используем комплимент как инструмент раскрепощения группы в начале тренинга. Отработаешь и «батарейка» подзарядилась. А так же как элемент EI при разговоре с сотрудником в тренингах на построение отношений и влияние.

И помните, что не все темы можно использовать. Есть ограничения. Типа, перед применением проконсультируйтесь с врачом

https://tinyurl.com/3s6fy5ky

Видео-лекция по Трауту «Позиционирование: битва за узнаваемость»

 

В каждой профессии есть такие книги, которые стоит прочитать каждому. Книга от авторов Джек Траут и Эл Райс «Позиционирование: битва за узнаваемость» — одна из таких. Мы подготовили видео-обзор основных идей данного издания и дополнили его авторскими комментариями, чтобы вам было намного проще систематизировать полученную информацию.

Книга «Позиционирование: битва за узнаваемость» очень емко и правильно рассказывает о том, как стоит разрабатывать позиционирования продукта. Прочитав книгу, понимаешь, что в теории создания концепции позиционирования бренда нет ничего сложного: очень простые идеи и выверенные работы. Сложность заключается в другом — в понимании рынка и потребителях.

Делимся нашими выводами по книге.

Перед тем, как разрабатывать стратегию позиционирования, внимательно изучите существующие представления покупателя о вашем товаре и о товарах-конкурентах.

Если покупатель уже сформировал мнение и отношение к категории товаров на рынке, имеет опыт использования различных брендов, имеет представление «когда и как пользоваться продуктом» и знает, каким должен быть «идеальный продукт» — в таких ситуациях ищите идеи позиционирования в сознании покупателей, отталкивайтесь от того, каким образом покупатель структурирует товары, а новые и сложные вещи объясняйте, используя существующий словарный запас и кругозор покупателя.

Если потребитель ни разу не пользовался товарной категорией, не имеет опыта использования вашего продукта и не знает, по каким критерием оценивать качество товара — тогда создавайте нужные вам образы и культуры использования продукта, отталкиваясь от очевидных фактов, в которых убежден покупатель.

Если ваша стратегия позиционирования сработала, не меняйте курс и последовательно следуйте успешной идее, сверяйте с ней все маркетинговый программы и акции. Репозиционирование стоит проводить лишь в случае изменения условия конкуренции на рынке или предпочтений целевой аудитории.

Прочитать данное издание вы можете в обновленном варианте, которое называется «Позиционирование: битва за умы».

https://tinyurl.com/4rp5unk8

How to Assess Your Team

 

Ben Kill, Chartered MCIPD

Assessing and developing critical skills within your team is essential for achieving high performance and ensuring continuous growth. In this text, we'll focus on two fundamental skills, communication and problem-solving, and provide some insights on how to evaluate and improve these skills for better team outcomes.

Effective communication is crucial in any high-performing team. This means you want every team member to be able to convey information clearly, both verbally and in writing. They should also excel at active listening, understanding, and validating others' points of view, and be able to adapt their communication styles to suit different audiences. If these behaviors are not being displayed, there are several ways to improve. You might practice summarizing others' points, which can enhance active listening skills, while online courses in public speaking and professional writing can improve overall communication abilities. Additionally, seeking feedback from peers on communication styles can provide valuable insights for improvement. Of course, the negative impact of not improving communication skills can be significant, leading to misunderstandings, errors, inefficiencies, and poor team morale.

Problem-solving is another essential skill for high-performing teams. Team members should be able to quickly identify issues and generate effective solutions, utilizing creative thinking to develop innovative solutions for even the most complex problems. They should also be able to analyze potential outcomes effectively to choose the best solutions. To improve their problem-solving skills, team members can participate in regular brainstorming sessions to foster creative thinking, or even engage in puzzles and games to sharpen their analytical skills. Finally, they should purposely seek diverse perspectives on problems so that they can broaden their approaches. Unfortunately, the consequences of not improving problem-solving skills include project delays, increased costs due to inefficient solutions, and reduced team effectiveness due to the growing number of unresolved issues.

Leaders should encourage team members to train and mentor each other in communication and problem-solving, and provide new opportunities and challenges to help them apply and further develop these skills. Additionally, managers should try to set clear objectives and create a structured development plan to ensure continuous skill enhancement. By focusing on these strategies, you can build a high-performing team that is motivated, engaged, and effective.

Continuing the assessment and development of critical skills within your team is essential for sustaining high performance and growth. In Part 2, we'll focuses on two additional fundamental skills: time management and leadership.

Effective time management is crucial for any high-performing team. Team members should be able to properly prioritize tasks by urgency and importance, thus ensuring that critical tasks are completed on time. Utilizing tools to manage time and stay organized is also key to maintaining productivity and meeting deadlines consistently without sacrificing quality. If these behaviors are not being displayed, team leaders can foster improvements by implementing new time management techniques like the Pomodoro Technique, using digital tools for tracking deadlines and tasks, and regularly adjusting priorities to respond to changing demands. Failing to foster good team management can lead to missed deadlines, poor productivity, and dependency on others due to poor workload management. Any leader can tell you that this can quickly alter team dynamics and cause a lot of unnecessary friction.

Leadership is another essential skill for high-performing teams. Effective leaders help inspire and motivate team members, fostering a positive and productive work environment. They also delegate tasks wisely, ensuring optimal workload distribution, and make decisions confidently. If these leadership behaviors are not being displayed, improvements can be made through mentorship from more experienced leaders, participating in leadership training programs, and seeking regular feedback from the team to refine leadership methods. Without good leadership, teams may suffer from a generalized lack of direction, leading to confusion, inefficiency, and poor decision-making, which can compromise project outcomes.

Whether you're the leader, a manager, or just team member, it's essential that you try to train and mentor one another in time management and leadership skills. You should also seek to provide new opportunities and challenges to help your teammates apply and further develop these skills.

Continuing the assessment and development of critical skills within your team is essential for sustaining high performance and growth. In Part 3, we'll take a closer look at two more fundamental skills: adaptability and teamwork.

Adaptability is crucial in today’s fast-paced work environment. Team members should be able to quickly adjust their approach in response to changing circumstances, embrace new technologies and processes readily, and maintain productivity and composure under stress. If these behaviors are not being displayed, leaders should try challenging team members with new and diverse projects, setting up cross-functional projects to gain experience with different perspectives, and offering feedback to help them understand new viewpoints. Failing to do so can lead to inflexibility that slows innovation and response to market changes, causes undue stress, and contributes to a sense of resistance to new ideas.

Teamwork is perhaps the most important and most obvious factor required for high-performing teams. Remember, just because people are working together, doesn't necessarily mean they are functioning as a team. Effective collaboration, open communication, and respect for diverse viewpoints are key components of strong teamwork. Each member should be able to contribute to group goals, help resolve conflicts amicably, and communicate openly. If these behaviors are not being displayed, it may be time to start engaging in team-building activities to strengthen bonds. It's also a good idea to try and instill empathy by having them consider others’ perspectives or create collaborative projects to improve team dynamics. If a team can't function as one, it can lead to project failures and missed goals.

Leveraging and supporting these critical skills is crucial for sustained success. Leaders should consider encouraging team members to train and mentor each other in both of these disciplines, and provide new opportunities and challenges to help them apply and further develop these skills. By focusing on these strategies, you can build a high-performing team that is motivated, engaged, and effective in achieving its goals.

https://tinyurl.com/yh4wc8m4

7 фатальних помилок в партнерстві

 

Ваше партнерство може виглядати ідеально на початку, але з часом воно починає “просідати”.

Більшість партнерств зазнають краху через невирішені внутрішні питання та відсутність прозорих домовленостей.

👹  Ось ключові виклики, які підстерігають кожного, хто вирішує співпрацювати:


1️⃣ Відсутність чіткої мети – партнери не мають спільного бачення.
🟢  Що робити? Почніть із формулювання спільної мети та цінностей, які ви поділяєте.


2️⃣ Проблеми з комунікацією – замовчування конфліктів та відсутність регулярних обговорень.
🟢 Що робити? Впровадьте регулярні зустрічі для обговорення всіх питань і відкритого діалогу.


3️⃣ Невизначеність ролей і обов’язків – кожен думає, що важливе має зробити інший.
🟢 Що робити? Чітко розподіліть зони відповідальності та зафіксуйте їх у партнерській угоді.


4️⃣ Різниця в очікуваннях – партнери не узгоджують свої цілі та ресурси.
🟢 Що робити? На старті проясніть, хто що вкладає і чого очікує від співпраці.


5️⃣ Ігнорування конфліктів – накопичення “дрібних образ”, які з часом переростають у великі проблеми.
🟢 Що робити? Впровадьте механізм вирішення конфліктів і реагуйте на них одразу.


6️⃣ Неузгоджені рішення – партнери діють самостійно, не враховуючи інтересів один одного.
🟢 Що робити? Встановіть правила для прийняття рішень і забезпечте прозорість.


7️⃣ Відсутність адаптації до змін – партнерство не оновлюється відповідно до нових викликів і можливостей.
🟢 Що робити? Регулярно переглядайте домовленості й адаптуйте їх до реалій.

https://tinyurl.com/3brned3y