Corporate strategy
A successful business makes every effort to maximize profit without upsetting all its stake holders (employees, customers, suppliers, investors, communities, governments, trade associations) and managing risks. Corporate strategy is captured in two different but complimentary plans. They each have distinct approaches in capturing the business strategy. Further to the plans, corporate strategy requires proper communication within the organization and to outside stake holders. We support our clients in developing in each of these areas. For further questions, please reach out to us.
Business plan
A business plan describes the present business, its stake holders and decision makers, its capabilities, the industry segment it operates in, how it generates revenues, and a short to mid-term revenue projection that shows how cashflows will support the business. There are 5 elements to implementing a business plan.
This figure is loosely based on Prof. Oberholzer-Gee's "The Value Stick". It is a simple way to demonstrate how a business is creating value (margin). The difference between what the market is willing to pay versus what it potentially can pay, is called the customer delight. This component is often hard to change unless the value proposition of the business is significantly altered. The difference between selling price and the cost of goods, is called the margin. The business has to find ways to smartly reduce operational costs to improve margins. A huge component of business cost is the costs of hiring people. The difference between what is paid and the willingness of the people to accept, is employee delight. If customer and employee delight is high, the business will succeed but in such a model the costs of raw materials and operations need to be low to make a decent margin.
A strategic plan
Strategic plan on the other hand, works with mid to long-term future aspirations, company directions, and targets. A strategic plan analyses the current external and internal business environments and establishes an action plan to reach those targets. The key purpose of strategic planning is to build alignment and prepare the company for the future. A business strategy is always built around value creation. Creating value for its customers, value for its employees, and value by collaborating with its suppliers.
- Clarity
- Alignment
- Implementation success
- Accountability
- Tracking
Be very clear how the business will operate and make money
Everybody in the business knows their role in the new transition
There is clear oversight on how the team is performing
Is each team member accountable for their own responsibilities?
There needs to be KPIs and metrics in place to measure performance
Communication plan
Without proper and effective communication strategy, it is very difficult to satisfy all company stake holders while company is executing on its strategic transitions. A good communication strategy is the lifeblood of all such successful transitions.
Communication plans define what information should be communicated, who should receive that information, when that information should be delivered, where (e.g., email, social media, mail) communication will be shared, and how those communications will be tracked and analyzed.
- Intended audience
- Message format
- Distribution
- Timeline
- Message source
Who is going to read it?
How it will be communicated?
How will you share your message?
Start and end dates, and how to effectively measure progress ?
Who should share the message?
How will you share your message?
Start and end dates, and how to effectively measure progress ?
Who should share the message?
Without a robust risk management strategy in place, corporate strategy alignment with operational compliance is rarely possible. We also support our clients in developing a robust risk management strategy along with contingency planning for longterm sustainability. Read more [+]