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The Craft of Strategy Formation
Translating Business Issues into Actionable Strategies
Eric Wiebs (Author), Marc Baaij (Author), Bas Keibek (Author), Pieter Witteveen (Author)
9780470518595, Wiley
Hardback, published 21 September 2007
304 pages
23.2 x 16.1 x 2.3 cm, 0.624 kg
"...the authors help answer...questions for the senior manager responsible for company strategy, the project manager...and the student..." (Gulf Business, January 2008)
Formulating a strategy is one of the most important but also one of the most difficult challenges faced by businesses: How may one translate a concern into a structured issue and the hypotheses for addressing that issue? How should one approach the designing and executing of the analyses through which these hypotheses can be tested, thus creating the insights from which new strategic options can be developed? And how can one identify the “best bets” from among the many different strategic options available, and determine how these may be translated into a coherent business strategy that the organization and its stakeholders can buy into? This book helps to answer these questions for the senior manager responsible for company strategy; the project manager who’s been asked to chart and defend a new strategic course of action; and the student wishing to “learn the ropes” of strategy-creation. This book offers no theoretical strategy “frameworks”. Nor does it propagate a specific strategy of any kind. It is, quite simply, a “cook book” describing a step-by-step, focused and fast approach for creating a new strategy at medium-sized and large businesses. It is a proven method used by top management consultants to help clients develop new strategies. The Craft of Strategy Formation provides a crisp account of the consecutive steps to take (and pitfalls to watch out for) when typically vague business concerns need to be translated into actionable strategy fast. Featuring the tried-and-tested analytical and organizational approach of top management consultants, this integral account of how strategy is crafted in practice offers a welcome break from traditional handbooks featuring largely isolated frameworks, tools and cases; highly theoretical academic treatises; and largely anecdotal “infotainment” books for the general reader.
Preface vii Introduction xi What is this book all about? xi Introduction to the Allware case study xxv Part I – The preparation phase 1 Introduction 3 1 Days 1 to 5 – We create a question out of a concern 7 2 Days 6 and 7 – We set up a project organisation 27 3 Day 8 – We structure the question 39 4 Day 9 – We formulate hypotheses 51 5 Day 10 – We make a work plan 57 6 Allware: the first two weeks 79 Part II – The analysis phase 89 Introduction 91 7 Days 11 and 12 – We develop the analyses further 95 8 Days 13 to 17 – We collect data 117 9 Days 18 to 42 – We carry out the analyses 135 10 Days 43 to 45 – We present the conclusions 149 11 Allware: on with the analysis 171 Part III – The decision-making phase 181 Introduction 183 12 Day 46 – We put forward a few business options 185 13 Day 47 – We set up scenarios 193 14 Days 48 to 57 – We model the results 199 15 Days 58 to 60 – We choose the strategic direction 209 16 Days 61 to 65 – We write the strategic plan 215 17 Allware: make a choice and carry on 221 Part IV – The implementation phase 225 Introduction 227 18 Set up an organisation to implement the strategy 231 19 Draw up the implementation plan 237 20 Direct progress 247 Afterword 259 Profile of OC&C Strategy Consultants 263 Index 267
Subject Areas: Business & management [KJ]
