Strategy

Strategy Formulation

How can you consistently anticipate—and then plan for—the next generation of customer demand? Every organization and function needs a strategic framework that serves as the context for all activities, defining what you will and will not do as an organization. Strategy formulation is an art and a discipline. It demands creative, out-of-the-box thinking and the discipline of logical thinking and flawless execution. To stay competitive, an organization's strategy must be formulated, challenged, tested, and constantly updated.

KT helps top management define a strategic vision that is anchored firmly in the organization’s values and beliefs. Our competitive advantage comes from using a rigorous, analytic process to explore and assess strategic options and to plan and execute the strategy. This approach results in a clear, specific strategy, a strong sense of involvement and strategic ownership, and focused operational decision making.

Our Five-Phase Strategy Model provides a framework for strategic initiatives. It can be entered at any phase, depending on an organization's need. KT strategy consultants are available to audit and diagnose the strategic health of organizations in each of the key phases, identifying areas of greatest need and opportunity.

Getting Started: Build Strategic Intelligence
Strategy formulation begins with strategic intelligence gathering and analysis of markets, competitors, technology, and past performance. This provides an information base for strategic decision making, agreed-upon assumptions about the future, and a profile of the environment in which strategic decisions are being made.

Determine Driving Force®
One of the key choices in formulating a strategy is identifying your Driving Force. KT coined this pivotal strategy concept over 30 years ago to describe the primary determinate of the products and services an organization will and will not offer, and the markets it will and will not serve.

We have found that every organization has one of eight driving forces at its strategic core. The most common driving force is Product (or Services) Offered (“we’re a technology company”), followed by Markets Served (“we’re a luxury goods company”). A Products-Offered company first seeks new business by moving into new marketplaces; a Markets- Served organization looks first to new products for growth. While all companies have products and markets, the six remaining Driving Forces suggest a unique source of competitive advantage. They include: low-cost production, operations capability, method of sale(and /or distribution), technology, natural resources, and return/profit.

Formulate the Strategy
KT collaborates with your executive team to use your Driving Force to guide the responses to the questions that complete the framework of your strategy. The questions address the organization’s product and market mix, key capabilities, resource allocation, and expectations for growth and profit.

The difficult work done in strategy formulation results in a vision of the organization’s destination and the routes and means for getting there. But until a strategy has been implemented, it is all thought and no action. Continue to strategy implementation >>