Want to take your company to the next level? You need a roadmap, a strategy. Preferably one that is simple, workable and saleable. This book provides you with just that. It sets out a straightforward strategy development process, the ‘Strategy Pyramid’, and guides you through it. It uses a lively central case study throughout, as well as drawing on examples of how real businesses have developed winning strategies. Whether you are intent on growing your business, or setting out on your start-up, this book offers an uncomplicated, practical and readable guide on how to get the strategy you need for your business to succeed.
It offers sound advice on the following areas:
- Setting goals and objectives
- Forecasting market demands
- Gauging industry competition
- Tracking competitive advantage
- Targeting the strategic gap
- Bridging the gap with business strategy
- Bridging the gap with corporate strategy
- Addressing risk and opportunity
The FT Essential Guide to Developing a Business Strategy will help businesses of all sizes to chart and realise their growth ambitions.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Why strategy?
What is strategy?
What is the output?
What is the outcome?
What is a strategic plan?
What is strategic planning?
The Strategy Pyramid
Business vs corporate strategy
Part One: Strategy Development
1. Knowing Your Business
Identifying key segments
Essential example: Apple’s saviour segments
Segmentation in a start-up
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd - the business
2. Setting Goals and Objectives
Setting long-term goals
Essential example: Life at Mars
Setting SMART objectives
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – goals and objectives
3. Forecasting Market Demand
Sizing the market
Forecasting market demand
Essential tool: Moving averages
Essential example: No wrap for the cinema
Forecasting demand for a start-up
Market demand risks and opportunities
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – market demand
4. Gauging Industry Competition
Assessing competitive intensity
Assigning customer purchasing criteria
Deriving key success factors
Essential tool: Economies of scale
Essential example: Jessops is shuttered
Gauging competition in a start-up
Industry competition risks and opportunities
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – industry competition
5. Tracking Competitive Advantage
Rating competitive position
Essential tool: Product/market risk
Reviewing resources and capabilities
Essential tool: The value chain
Essential example: The everlasting Monsoon
Creating competitive advantage in a start-up
Essential example: Of diet, dance and detectives
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – competitive advantage
6. Targeting the Strategic Gap
Targeting the portfolio gap
Targeting the capability gap
Profiling the ideal player
Specifying the target gap
Essential example: Could Liverpool FC be champions again?
Targeting the gap in a start-up
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – strategic gap
7. Bridging the Gap: Business Strategy
Opting for a generic strategy
Essential tool: The experience curve
Strategic repositioning and shaping profit growth options
Essential tool: Uncontested market space
Making the strategic investment decision
Essential example: Sainsbury’s fights back
Bridging the gap for a start-up
Business strategic risks and opportunities
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – business strategy
8. Bridging the Gap: Corporate Strategy
Optimising the corporate portfolio
Essential tool: The growth/share matrix
Creating value from mergers, acquisitions and alliances
Essential tool: Parenting value
Building strategically valuable resources
Essential tool: Core competences
Essential example: UU U-turn
Corporate strategic risks and opportunities
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – corporate strategy
9. Addressing Risk and Opportunity
Reviewing plan in a market context
Appraising opportunity versus risk
Essential tool: Expected value and sensitivity analysis
Essential example: Britney does it again
Essential case study: Extramural Ltd – risk and opportunity
Part Two: Strategic Planning
About the Author :
Vaughan Evans is an independent strategy consultant (www.managingstrategicrisk.com) with a background in industry economics. He worked at management and technology consultants Arthur D. Little and at investment bank Bankers Trust. Vaughan graduated from Cambridge and has a Sloan Fellowship with distinction from London Business School. He is the author of four previous books, including the best-selling Financial Times Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan.
