rdi book
Module: Business Strategy
Unit: Strategy Planning
Lesson: Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Page 1 of 11
Strategic Contexts and Terminology
What does strategy mean to you?
Bruce and Langdon (2000) relate strategy to military campaigns, describing an original definition of strategy as:
"The art of planning and directing military movements and the operations of war."
In terms of a business, they define strategy as:
"A strategy maps out the future, setting out w hich products and services you w ill take to which markets - and how."
The overall strategy of a business is what gives a business direction and a way forward. This in turn relates to the ability of a firm to identify how best to match its competencies to the needs and opportunities in the marketplace(s). End of Page 1
Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Page 2 of 11
The role of strategy
Without a strategy, it is argued that a firm will not know w here it is going. You can perhaps appreciate the tendency for all organisations to get bogged down in the day-to-day operations of a business, alongside the further tendency to continue operating in ways that have always worked in the past.
In attempting to 'just get things done' in a firm can, though, mean that the company forgets w hat it is trying to achieve and where it is trying to go. Along the way it can further mean that opportunities that arise in the company's markets are missed - w ith the competitive advantage going to a rival company.
Strategy provides an organisation with a framework for:
1. Understanding its place and position in each of its markets.
2. A way to move forward - in terms of identified direction and purpose, and w ith the speed of advancement that is appropriate for its different markets.
3. Identifying and developing the resources and capabilities that are appropriate for the market(s) that the company is 'playing' in.
Having a strategy means that
Unit: Strategy Planning
Lesson: Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Page 1 of 11
Strategic Contexts and Terminology
What does strategy mean to you?
Bruce and Langdon (2000) relate strategy to military campaigns, describing an original definition of strategy as:
"The art of planning and directing military movements and the operations of war."
In terms of a business, they define strategy as:
"A strategy maps out the future, setting out w hich products and services you w ill take to which markets - and how."
The overall strategy of a business is what gives a business direction and a way forward. This in turn relates to the ability of a firm to identify how best to match its competencies to the needs and opportunities in the marketplace(s). End of Page 1
Strategic Concepts and Terminology
Page 2 of 11
The role of strategy
Without a strategy, it is argued that a firm will not know w here it is going. You can perhaps appreciate the tendency for all organisations to get bogged down in the day-to-day operations of a business, alongside the further tendency to continue operating in ways that have always worked in the past.
In attempting to 'just get things done' in a firm can, though, mean that the company forgets w hat it is trying to achieve and where it is trying to go. Along the way it can further mean that opportunities that arise in the company's markets are missed - w ith the competitive advantage going to a rival company.
Strategy provides an organisation with a framework for:
1. Understanding its place and position in each of its markets.
2. A way to move forward - in terms of identified direction and purpose, and w ith the speed of advancement that is appropriate for its different markets.
3. Identifying and developing the resources and capabilities that are appropriate for the market(s) that the company is 'playing' in.
Having a strategy means that