Strategic Intent
Strategic Intent – Article Summary
By Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
Primary Information
This article serves a purpose to illustrate some of the flaws that are currently used by western organizations in regards to strategic planning. In this article we see are shown the detriment of the methods in practice at the time of the article, and examples of alternative strategic approaches in use by Japanese firms which have allowed them to have sustained success.
Strategic Intent and Characteristics
As indicated in the article, Japanese companies “began with ambitions that were out of all proportion to their resources and capabilities”, but “created an obsession with winning at all levels of the organization and then sustained that obsession over the 10- to 20-year quest for global leadership”. Inspired by this obsession, the concept of “strategic intent” is introduced to the world of strategy. Strategic intent captures the essence of winning, is stable over time, and sets target that deserves personal effort and commitment. It comes with an ambition in the pursuit of global leadership that used to be outside the range of traditional strategic planning. By implementing strategic intent, a company can create long term objectives despite of considerable resources, whereas thinking in a traditional way, decisions should be made on the degree of fit between existing resources and current opportunities.
Description
The key points to this article refer to the differences in strategic approach that the Japanese firms use, in contrast to the approaches used by western organizations. Japanese firms use four main techniques when constructing their strategy:
Building layers of advantage
Searching for “loose bricks”
Changing the terms of engagement
Competing through collaboration
Applications
Strategic Intent is a breakthrough concept in the field of Strategic Management. It has strongly influenced how strategy is defined, and is responsible for main changes in the
By Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad
Primary Information
This article serves a purpose to illustrate some of the flaws that are currently used by western organizations in regards to strategic planning. In this article we see are shown the detriment of the methods in practice at the time of the article, and examples of alternative strategic approaches in use by Japanese firms which have allowed them to have sustained success.
Strategic Intent and Characteristics
As indicated in the article, Japanese companies “began with ambitions that were out of all proportion to their resources and capabilities”, but “created an obsession with winning at all levels of the organization and then sustained that obsession over the 10- to 20-year quest for global leadership”. Inspired by this obsession, the concept of “strategic intent” is introduced to the world of strategy. Strategic intent captures the essence of winning, is stable over time, and sets target that deserves personal effort and commitment. It comes with an ambition in the pursuit of global leadership that used to be outside the range of traditional strategic planning. By implementing strategic intent, a company can create long term objectives despite of considerable resources, whereas thinking in a traditional way, decisions should be made on the degree of fit between existing resources and current opportunities.
Description
The key points to this article refer to the differences in strategic approach that the Japanese firms use, in contrast to the approaches used by western organizations. Japanese firms use four main techniques when constructing their strategy:
Building layers of advantage
Searching for “loose bricks”
Changing the terms of engagement
Competing through collaboration
Applications
Strategic Intent is a breakthrough concept in the field of Strategic Management. It has strongly influenced how strategy is defined, and is responsible for main changes in the