BUSINESS STRATEGIES

9 business strategy examples (and why you need one ASAP)

  • Amanda Bellucco Chatham
  • Dec 14, 2023

business strategy examples

Most successful businesses start with a good idea. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had the idea to make computers small enough to fit into people's homes and offices. Enter Apple, now the largest tech company in the world. 

But good ideas alone aren’t the catalyst to success—behind the scenes, a business strategy is at work. And a business strategy is something you need in order to complete the big picture and define how you plan to grow, operate and thrive.

In this post, we’ll define what we mean by business strategy, outline why it’s important and provide some tangible business strategy examples.

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What is a business strategy?

A business strategy is a plan of action that keeps you focused on several things. Different from a business plan—which dictates how your business will be run from day to day—a business strategy tends to focus more on how, exactly, you will reach certain goals, milestones or achievements in running your business. 

You need a strategy when you want to start a business , as well as when you’re planning to grow or change an existing business. Your strategy defines your business goals and provides a framework for all of the moving pieces your venture needs to operate successfully.  

A business strategy typically includes the following elements:

Core product or service : What you're selling, your business idea or your service.

Target customer : A clear profile of who your business serves, including the problem that your product or service solves for them.

Competitive assessment : A summary of the competitive landscape including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis). 

Financial plan : A financial projection that includes planned revenue, expenses and cash flow. 

Pricing approach : Your preliminary pricing for products and services offered, or your pricing approach (e.g., flat fee, hourly, fee-for-service, etc.).

Marketing and sales plan : An outline of how you plan to market your products and business, including a rough budget for paid media, details on how to make a website  and anything related to business promotion. It should also define some sales strategies focused on language meant to promote and differentiate your brand.

Staffing and hiring : An org chart that defines roles and hiring needs. Include any resources and personnel you have on hand (e.g. Is it just you? Is it a partnership?).

Growth objectives : A business growth  plan that incorporates your current goals, plus where you'd like the business to be in the next one, two or five years (e.g., markets, number of customers, revenue projections, etc.).

Pro tip : A business strategy and business plan go hand in hand in shaping the goals, objectives and achievements of your business. Looking for a business plan  instead? Check out our simple, customizable and free-to-download template.

8 key elements of a business strategy

3 types of business strategies

Any successful business starts with a roadmap that outlines how goals will be achieved. However, not all strategies are created equal. Let's take a look at three types of business strategies that can drive your business toward sustainable growth:

Corporate-level business strategy : This high-level strategy includes the company's vision, mission and key decisions. This might involve business choices, acquisitions or divestments, and resource allocation, for example.

Business-level strategy : A business-level strategy determines how a company competes in a market, considering product mix, customer segments, pricing, marketing and distribution. It aims to deliver value to customers and outperform competitors.

Function-level business strategy : A functional strategy focuses on the operational aspects of a business, like production, marketing, finance and human resources (HR). It supports corporate and business-level strategies by maximizing resource productivity.

Why a business strategy is important

Starting any type of business isn't for the faint of heart. There are many predictable and unpredictable factors to prepare for at every stage of growth. That’s why you need a business strategy to keep you on track.

As far as benefits go, a business strategy:

Helps you navigate market complexities : It provides a roadmap for staying ahead of the competition, plus external factors like supply chain issues and global events that may impact the market.

Provides insight into your customers' needs : When you know their pain points, you can align your strategy with real-world preferences and demands. 

Helps you anticipate small business challenges : Knowing about potential opportunities and issues will help you adapt to market changes—and be more resilient overall. 

Makes long-term success much more likely : A thoughtful plan takes the guesswork out of things like hiring, investing, growth and innovation.

9 business strategy examples

So, what does a business strategy look like? We’ve outlined nine examples below to inspire you as you iron out the blueprint for your business’s success.

Customer experience 

Cross-selling and upselling

Customer retention programs

Cost leadership

Differentiation

Acquisition

Social responsibility

01. Customer experience 

Companies like Zappos, Starbucks and Amazon are known for their exceptional customer experiences. They prioritize customer satisfaction, make doing business with them easy and (in the case of Starbucks) turn something as simple as grabbing a cup of coffee on your way to work into an immersive and satisfying sensory experience. 

Customer experience, as a business strategy, is beneficial for any small business owner . It creates loyal repeat customers who tend to become brand advocates, recommending your business, products and brand to their network of friends and family. 

02. Cross-selling and upselling

Focusing on selling more products to existing and new customers is a strategy that, if successful, has a direct and immediate impact on your cash flow, revenue and profitability. There are many ways to do this, including cross-selling and upselling  to shoppers as they browse your website, bundling similar products and using loyalty programs to entice past customers to return. 

Old Navy is a master of motivating return sales. Their Super Cash program awards shoppers $10 for every $25 spent on their website or in stores. The coupons become active at a later date, which encourages shoppers to hang onto them and return to shop again in the future.

Your rewards program doesn’t have to be elaborate, either. Wix merchant Jule Dancewear  offers customers five reward points for every $1 spent in the shop, with bonus points awarded for following the brand on Instagram or celebrating a birthday. Customers can then redeem their points for a certain dollar amount or percentage off a future purchase. 

jule dancewear homepage

03. Customer retention programs

Creating more customer loyalty is a viable and lucrative business strategy. It’s often more cost-effective to focus on retaining customers than constantly finding new ones. In fact, most brands have a 60-70% chance  of selling to an existing customer, but only a 5-20% chance of closing a sale with a new one.

Loyalty comes in many forms—e.g., retail loyalty programs that reward shoppers with coupons and discounts, or points systems like airline miles on credit cards. You build loyalty by being trustworthy, communicating clearly and creating high-quality products. Consistency is also key to building ongoing relationships. 

Perhaps no one does this better than Amazon with their Amazon Prime program. Customers buy into the program for a monthly or annual fee and are guaranteed fast, free shipping from Amazon sellers who opt into the program. Returns are also easy and Prime members get lots of other benefits, including a huge catalog of movie and TV shows, exclusive sales events and unlimited photo storage.

04. Cost leadership

Cost leadership is a strategy where a company offers the lowest prices in a niche or market. Companies like Walmart and IKEA are famous examples. They've mastered this strategy by offering products at prices lower than their competitors, while still maintaining profitability. 

This strategy isn't for everyone. Walmart's size gives it more leverage over suppliers (and wholesale pricing) versus a local mom-and-pop store. But even if you manage a smaller business, you can make a cost leadership strategy work by keeping costs low, creating your own products and being (incredibly) vigilant about your business costs. This is a strategy that takes a lot of planning and monitoring, so it’s important to do your research before jumping in.

05. Innovation

Innovation tends to be connected to categories like technology, pharmaceutical and business services industries. It's a business strategy that focuses on creating cutting-edge products or services that are either brand new (e.g., in 2007, Apple’s iPhone was the first smartphone introduced to a huge market of people who didn’t know they needed it) or best-in-class products or services in an existing market. 

Innovation, as a business strategy, isn’t limited to products or services. It can apply to a business approach—in other words, the way you offer your product or service. A perfect example of this is the rise of meal kit delivery services like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron. These companies provide “meal kits'' with fresh ingredients delivered as a subscription service to their customers (e.g., three meals per week). Or, take a look at Wix merchant Napa Wild , which offers weekly subscription shipments of fresh produce to areas surrounding Napa County, California. Their produce boxes are available in three different sizes to suit different households.

Some companies, like Tovala, include technology with their delivery service. Tovala’s smart oven works by scanning a barcode on the pre-made meal so that the cooking time and temperature are automatically set in the oven. When the meal is complete, the customer is notified via the Tovala app.

Napa Wild produce subscription box

06. Differentiation

Differentiation is about making your business stand out compared with your competitors. You do this by providing something uniquely special about your product design, features or quality. You can also differentiate yourself by creating a unique and meaningful brand story. When done well, differentiation gives you a lot of flexibility around pricing and approach—including the types of products and services you offer. An effective differentiation strategy helps your customers identify with your brand. They are either Coke drinkers or Pepsi drinkers, for example.

Or, take Starbucks as an example. Lots of places sell coffee, but Starbucks has taken coffee to an entirely new level with uniquely crafted (and premium-priced) drinks that are as much about lifestyle and identity as they are about getting your daily caffeine fix. 

07. Acquisition

Acquisition is a business strategy that involves purchasing another company (or companies) to fuel growth, expand market share or be more competitive. Acquisition can be a game-changer for your business, allowing you to quickly tap into new markets, acquire valuable assets and eliminate competition. 

Companies like Meta (formerly named Facebook) have effectively used acquisition as a strategy to maintain their dominance in the social media space. By acquiring platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp, Meta expanded its user base. It also diversified its offerings, ensuring it remains relevant even when other platforms like MySpace and Friendster have flamed out over time.

Acquisition as a primary strategy isn’t for the faint of heart. You need a deep understanding of each of your target company's operations, culture, financial health and customer base. Integrating two companies can also be complex and stressful. There are often issues with merging technologies, company cultures and aligning operations. Thus, conduct thorough due diligence before making an acquisition or you could end up turning a beloved global brand into a classic example of what not to do when acquiring a legacy company.

08. Social responsibility

Social responsibility is important to all consumers, but particularly Millennial and Gen Z consumers  who often evaluate companies and products based on environmental impact and sustainability. Social responsibility helps businesses differentiate themselves because it fosters community, protects the environment and ensures you’re prioritizing ethical practices throughout your operations.

In fact, according to a Deloitte survey, a quarter of consumers  are willing to pay more  for sustainable products and packaging, or for products or services from suppliers that respect human rights and ethical working conditions.

Two examples stand out here—Patagonia and TOMS Shoes. Both companies built their brands around social responsibility. Patagonia pledges 1% of its sales to environmental causes and is well-known by its loyal customers for being sustainable and supporting the lifestyle it promotes (loving the outdoors). Meanwhile, TOMS Shoes has a "One for One" model, donating a pair of shoes for every pair sold.

Patagonia screenshot

Value is subjective, but it can be a guiding light that helps new customers find you and inspires existing customers to return time after time. With a value-based strategy, the goal is to present something that is not just different but also has significant worth or meaning (or both) to your target audience. 

Apple doesn't just sell technology; they sell an entire ecosystem. Apple products resonate with customers because Apple is as much about a lifestyle as it is about a device or feature. Their products, while technologically advanced, are aesthetically pleasing, easy to use and integrate seamlessly with each other. 

Remember, offering unique value isn't about being different just for the sake of it. It's about understanding what your customers truly desire and creating something that fills that need in a way that no one else can. This could manifest as unparalleled quality. It could be a novel feature, or it can focus on exceptional customer service. Think about the companies you love that do this well—Disney, Trader Joe’s, Lululemon, Ben & Jerry’s and Ikea. A company that promises value and then delivers on it attracts new customers. It fosters loyalty and even advocacy. 

Dig deeper : Want more information on how to start or grow your business? Check out our essential guide on how to run a business , which includes 10 steps for business success.

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Business Strategy Examples In 2024: Examples, Case Studies, And Tools

A business strategy is a deliberate plan that helps a business to achieve a long-term vision and mission by drafting a business model to execute that business strategy. A business strategy, in most cases, doesn’t follow a linear path, and execution will help shape it along the way.

Table of Contents

What is a business strategy?

At this stage, it is important to clarify a few critical aspects.

As an HBR working paper entitled “From Strategy to Business Models and to Tactics” pointed out:

Put succinctly, business model refers to the logic of the firm, the way it operates and how it creates value for its stakeholders. Strategy refers to the choice of business model through which the firm will compete in the marketplace. Tactics refers to the residual choices open to a firm by virtue of the business model that it employs.

Personally, I have a controversial relationship with the concept of “strategy.” I feel it’s too easy to make it foggy and empty of practical meaning.

Yet strategy and vision matter in business.

A strategy isn’t just a calculated path, but often a philosophical choice about how the world works.

Usually, it takes years and, at times, also decades for a strategy to become viable. And once it does become viable, it seems obvious only in hindsight.

In this guide, we see what that means.  

In the real world, the difficult part is understanding the problem

bounded-rationality

In the real world, a lot of time and resources are spent on defining the problem.

Classic case studies at business school assume in most scenarios that the problem is known and the solution needs to be found.

In the real world, the problem is unknown, the situation is highly ambiguous, and the most difficult part is making the decision that might solve that same problem you’re trying to figure out. 

How do you execute a strategy in that context? Business modeling can help!

Is a business strategy the same thing as a business model?

business-model-vs-business-strategy

As the business world started to change dramatically, again, by the early 2000s, also the concept of strategy changed with it. 

In the previous era, the strategy was primarily made of locking in the supply chain to guarantee a strong distribution toward the marketplace. 

And yet, the web enabled new companies to form with a bottom-up approach.

In short, product development cycles shortened, and frameworks like lean , agile , and continuous innovation became integrated into a world where software took over. 

Where most of the processes before the digital age, were physical in nature. As the web took off, most of the processes became digital.

In short, the software would become the core enhancer of hardware. 

We’ve seen how in cases like Apple’s iPhone , it wasn’t just the hardware that made the difference.

But it was the development ecosystem and the applications that enhanced the capabilities of the device. 

Thus, from a product standpoint, hardware has been enhanced more and more with the software side.

At the same time, the way companies developed products in the first place changed. 

Software and digits-based companies could gather feedback early on, thus enabling the customers’ feedback as a key element of the whole product development cycle. 

Therefore, wherein the previous era, companies spent billions of budgets to release markets, and products, with little customer feedback.

In the digital era, customer feedback became built into the product development loop. 

That led to frameworks with faster and faster product releases, which also changed the way we do marketing . 

minimum-viable-product

In a classic MVP approach, the loop (build, measure, learn) has to be very quick, and it has to lead to the so-called product/market fit .

As the web made the ability to gather customers’ feedback early on, and as the whole process becomes less and less expensive, also lean approaches evolved, to gain feedback from customers as early as possible. 

running-lean-ash-maurya

From build > demo > sell, to demo > sell > build , lean approaches got leaner. 

And the era of customer-centrism and customer obsession developed:

customer-obsession

This whole change flipped the strategy world upside down.

And from elaborate business plans , we moved to business modeling , as an experimental tool, that enabled entrepreneurs to gather feedback continuously.

In a customer-centered business world, business models have become effective thinking tools, to represent a business and a business strategy on a single page, which helped the whole execution process. 

The key building blocks of a classic business model approach, like a business model canvas or lean startup canvas  move around the concept of value proposition , that glue them together. 

And from the supply chain , we moved to customer value chains .

Where most digital business models  learned to gather customers’ feedback in multiple ways. 

The business strategy formed in the digital era, therefore, developed its own customer-centered view of the world, and the business theory world followed.

Academics, following practitioners, moved away from traditional models (like Porter’s Five Forces ) to more customer-centered approaches ( business model canvas , lean canvas).  

The mindset shift flipped from distribution and optimization on the supply side.

To optimize on the demand side, or how to build products that people want, in the first place. This is the new mantra.

No more grandiose business plans, just substantial testing, iteration, and experimentation. 

In this new context, we can understand the strategy developed by several players and how business modeling has become the most important strategy tool. 

And the interesting part is, whether you want to scale to become a tech giant, or you just want to build a small, viable business, it all starts from the same place!

minimum-viable-audience

Is business strategy a science?

Business strategy is more of an art than a science.

In short, a business strategy starts with a series of assumptions about how the business world looks in a certain period of time and for a certain target of people.

Whether those assumptions will turn out to be successful will highly depend on several factors.

For instance, back in the late 1990s when the web took over, new startups came up with the idea of revolutionizing many services.

While those ideas seemed to make sense, they turned out to be completely off, and many of those startups failed in what would be recognized as a dot-com bubble.

While in hindsight certain aspects of that bubble came up (like frauds, or schemes).

In general, some of the ideas for which startups got financed seemed to be visionary and turned out to work a decade later (see DoorDash , or Instacart , in relation to Webvan’s bankruptcy). 

For instance, some startups tried to bring on-demand streaming to the web (which today we call Netflix ). Those ideas proved to be too early.

They made sense but from the commercial standpoint, they didn’t.

Thus, if we were to use the scientific method, once those assumptions would have proved wrong in the real world, we would have discarded them.

However, those assumptions proved to be wrong, in that time period, given the current circumstances.

While we can use the scientific inquiry process in business strategy, it’s hard to say that it is a scientific discipline.

So what’s the use of business strategy?

In my opinion, business strategy is useful for three main reasons:

  • Focus : chose one path over another.
  • Vision : have a long-term strategic goal.
  • Commercial viability : create a self-sustainable business.

As a practitioner, someone who tries to build successful businesses, I don’t need to be “scientific.”

I need to make sure not to be completely off track. For that matter, I aim at creating businesses.

Thus, I need to understand where to focus my attention in a relatively long period of time (3-5 years at least) and make sure that those ideas I pursue are able to generate profits, which – in my opinion – might be a valid indicator that those ideas are correct for the time being.

If those conditions are met, I’ll call it a “successful business.”

Those ideas will become a business model , that executes a business strategy.

This doesn’t mean those ideas, turned into a business model , pushed into the world will always be successful (profitable).

As the marketplace evolves I will need to adjust, and tweak a business model to fit with the new evolving scenarios, and I’ll need to be able to “bet” on new possible business models .

Survivorship bias

Survivorship bias is a phenomenon where what’s not visible (because extinct) isn’t taken into account when analyzing the past.

In short, we analyze the past based on what’s visible.

This error happens in any field, and in business, we might get fooled by that as well.

In short, when we analyze the past we do that in hindsight.

That makes us cherry-pick the things that survived and assume that those carry the successful characteristics we’re looking for.

For instance, for each Amazon or Google that survived there were hundreds if not thousands of companies that failed, with the same kind of “successful features” as Amazon or Google.  

So why do we analyze successful companies in the first place? In my opinion, there are several reasons: 

  • Those successful companies have turned into Super Gatekeepers to billions of people : as I showed in the gatekeeping hypothesis , and in the surfer’s model , a go-to-market strategy for startups will need to be able to leverage existing digital pipelines to reach key customers.

gatekeepers-model

  • Modeling and experimentation : another key point is about modeling what’s working for other businesses and borrowing parts of those models, to see what works for our business. By borrowing parts you can build your own business model, yet that requires a lot of testing. 

Business-Model-Experimentation

  • Skin in the game testing : therefore business models become key tools for experimentation, where we can use real customers’ feedback (not a survey, or opinions but actions) and test our hypotheses and assumptions. When we’re able to sell our products, when people keep getting back to our platform, or service, there is no best way to test our assumptions that measure those actions. 

Lindy effect and aging in reverse

lindy-effect

Nicholas Nassim Taleb , in his book Antifragile , popularized a concept called Lindy Effect .

In very simple terms the Lindy Effect states that in technology (like any other field where the object of discussion is  non-perishable)  things age in reverse.

Thus, life expectancy, rather than diminishing with age, has a longer life expectancy.

Therefore, a technology that has lived for two thousand years, has a life expectancy of another thousand years.

That is a probabilistic rule of thumb that works on averages.

Thus, if a technology (say the Internet) has stayed with us for twenty years, it doesn’t mean we can expect only to live for another twenty years at least.

But as the Internet has proved successful already, the Lindy Effect might not apply.

In short, as we have additional information about a phenomenon the Lindy Effect might lose relevance.

For instance, if I know a person is twenty, yet sick of a terminal disease, I can’t expect to use normal life expectancy tables.

So I’ll have to apply that information to understand the future.

Strategies take years to fully roll out

It was 2006, when Tesla, with his co-founder   Martin Eberhard , launched a sports car that broke down the trade-off between high performance and fuel efficiency.

Tesla, which for a few years had been building up an electric sports car ready to be marketed, finally pulled it off.

As Elon Musk would   explain   Back in 2012:  

In 2006 our plan was to build an electric sports car followed by an affordable electric sedan, and reduce our dependence on oil…delivering Model S is a key part of that plan and represents Tesla’s transition to a mass-production automaker and the most compelling car company of the 21st century.

tesla-market-entry-strategy

The beauty of a strategy that turns into a successful company, is that it might take years to roll out and seem obvious only in hindsight. 

This connects to what I like to call the transitional business model.

Or the idea, that many companies, before getting into a fully rolled out business strategy, transition through a period of low scalability and low market size, which will help them gain initial traction. 

transitional-business-models

As a transitional business model proves viable, it helps the company shape its long-term vision, while its built-in strategy is different from the long-term strategy.

The transitional business model will guarantee survival. It will help further refine the long-term strategy and it will also work as a reality check. 

As the transitional business model proves viable, the company moves to its long-term strategy execution. 

As the business strategy gets rolled out, over the years, it becomes evident and obvious, and yet none managed to pull it off.

netflix-market-expansion

When Netflix moved from DVD rental to streaming. DVD rental was the transitional business model that helped Netflix stay in business in the first place.

And yet, when Netflix moved from DVD to streaming it had to apparently change its strategy.

When, in reality, it was rolling out its long-term strategy, shaped by the transitional business model. 

Caveat: Frameworks work until suddenly they don’t

When you stumbled upon a “business formula,” you can’t stop there.

That business formula, if you’re lucky, will allow you to succeed in the long term. Yet as more and more people will find that out, that will lose relevance.

And the matter is, the reality is a villain. Things work for years until they suddenly don’t work anymore.

We’ll see some frameworks, but the real deal is not a framework but the inquiry process that makes us discover those frameworks.

In short, the value is in the repeatable process of discovery and not in the discovery itself. A discovery, once spread, loses value.

Master a business strategy process

There isn’t a size-fits-all business playbook that you can apply to all the scenarios.

Some of the business case studies we’ll see throughout this article will show companies that have dominated the tech space in the last decade and more.

While the playbook executed by those companies worked for the time being.

That doesn’t mean you should play according to their playbook. If at all you’ll need to figure out your own.

Thus, what matters is the process behind finding your business playbook and my hope is that this guide will inspire you and give you some good ideas on how to develop your own business strategy process!

Business strategy case studies

business-strategy-examples

We’ll look now at a few case studies of companies that, at the time of this writing, are playing an important role in the business world.

  • Alibaba Business Strategy.
  • Amazon Business Strategy.
  • Apple Business Strategy.
  • Airbnb Business Strategy.
  • Baidu Business Strategy.
  • Booking Business Strategy.
  • DuckDuckGo Business Strategy.
  • Google (Alphabet) Business Strategy.

What is a business model’s essence?

Keeping in mind the distinction between business strategy and business models is critical.

The other element used in this guide is a business model essence.

Shortly, I’ve been looking for a way to summarize the key elements of any business in a couple of lines of text:

business-model-essence

Therefore, for the sake of this discussion, you’ll find each company’s business strategy, a business model essence that will help us navigate through the noisy business world.

From there, we’ll see the business strategy of a company.

Alibaba Business Strategy

Business Model Essence : Online Stores Leveraging On An E-Commerce/Marketplace Distribution And Monetization Strategy  

As pointed out in Alibaba’s annual report for 2017:

We derive revenue from our four business segments: core commerce, cloud computing, digital media and entertainment, and innovation initiatives and others. We derive most of our revenue from our core commerce segment, which accounted for 85% of our total revenue in fiscal year 2017, while cloud computing, digital media and entertainment, and innovation initiatives and others contributed 4%, 9% and 2%, respectively. We derive a substantial majority of our core commerce revenue from online marketing services. 

Alibaba, like Amazon , became an “everything store” in China.

It leveraged its success to build also other media platforms ( Youku Todou and UCWeb). The e-commerce, marketplace business model has become quite common since the dawn of the web.

From that business model tech giants like Amazon , eBay and Alibaba have raised.

alibaba-business-model

Alibaba’s vision, mission, and core principles

Alibaba’s Business Strategy starts from its core values defined in its annual report:

  • Customer First : “The interests of our community of consumers, merchants, and enterprises must be our first”
  • Teamwork: “ We believe teamwork enables ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.”
  • Embrace Change   I”n this fast-changing world, we must be flexible, innovative, and ready to adapt to new business conditions in order to maintain sustainability and vitality in our business.”
  • Integrity “We expect our people to uphold the highest standards of honesty and to deliver on their commitments.”
  • Passion “We expect our people to approach everything with fire in their belly and never give up on doing what they believe is right.”
  • Commitment  “Employees who demonstrate perseverance and excellence are richly rewarded. Nothing should be taken for granted as we encourage our people to “work happily and live seriously.”

Alibaba’s mission is “ to make it easy to do business anywhere, ” and its vision is “to build the future infrastructure of commerce… a company that would last at least 102 years.”

For that vision to be executed it has three major stakeholders: users, consumers, and merchants.

The focus on the “at least 102 years” might seem fluffy words, yet those are important as this kind of goal helps you keep a long-term vision while executing short-term plans.

It isn’t unusual for founders to set such visions, as they help keep the company on track in the long run.

And this is where a business strategy starts.

All the business models designed by Alibaba will follow its vision, mission, and values they aim to create in the long run.

Read : Alibaba Business Model

Alibaba ecosystem and value proposition

These elements gave rise to an ecosystem made of “consumers, merchants, brands, retailers, other businesses, third-party service providers and strategic alliance partners.”

As Alibaba points out in its annual report “our ecosystem has strong self-reinforcing network effects benefitting its various participants, who are in turn invested in our ecosystem’s growth and success.”

Network effects are a critical ingredient for marketplaces’ success.

To give you an idea, the more buyers join the platform, the more Alibaba’s recommendation engine will be able to suggest relevant items to buy for other customers, and at the same time the more merchants will join in, given the larger and larger business opportunities.

Keeping these network effects going is a vital element of long-term success but also among the greatest challenge of any marketplace that wants to be relevant.

Even though Alibaba’s essence is in online commerce, the company has several business model s running and a business strategy that at its core is evolving quickly.

alibaba-brands

Thus, the core commerce has made it possible for Alibaba to build a whole new set of “companies within a company.”

From digital entertainment and media, logistics services, payment, financial services, and cloud services with Alibaba Cloud.

Thus, from a successful existing online business model , Alibaba has expanded in many other areas.

And its future business strategy focuses on developing, nurturing, and growing its ecosystem.

More precisely, its strategic long-term goal is to “serve two billion consumers around the world and support ten million businesses to operate profitably on its platforms”

To achieve that Alibaba is focusing on three key activities:

  • Globalization.
  • Rural expansion.
  • And big data and cloud computing.

For its core commerce activities, Alibaba has designed a value proposition that moves around a few pillars:

  • Broad selection: over 1.5 billion listings as of March 31, 2018.
  • Convenience:  seamless experience anytime, anywhere from online and offline.
  • Engaging, personalized experience: personalized shopping recommendations and opportunities for social engagement.
  • Value for money: competitive prices offered via a marketplace business model.
  • Merchant quality: review and rating system to keep merchants’ quality high.
  • Authentic products: merchant quality ratings, clear refund, and return policies, and the Alipay escrow system.

From that value proposition , Alibaba has been able to grow its customer base and offer wider and broader products, until it expanded in the service and cloud business.

Amazon Business Strategy

amazon-case-study

Business Model Essence : E-Commerce/Marketplace Distribution And Monetization Model Leveraging On Proprietary Infrastructure To Offer Third-Party Services

Starting in 1994 as a bookstore, Amazon soon expanded and became the everything store.

While the company’s core business model is based on its online store.

Amazon launched its physical stores, which generated already over five billion dollars in revenues in 2017.

Amazon Prime (a subscription service) also plays a crucial role in Amazon’s overall business model , as it makes customers spend more and be more loyal to the platform. 

Besides, the company also has its cloud infrastructure called AWS, which is a world leader and a business with high margins. Amazon also has an advertising business worth a few billion dollars.

Thus, the Amazon business model mix looks like many companies in one. Amazon measures its success via a customer experience obsession, lowering prices, stable tech infrastructure, and free cash flow generation.

amazon-business-model

Therefore, even though in the minds of most people Amazon is the “everything store.”

In reality, its revenue generation shows us that it has become a way more complex organization, that also has a good chunk of advertising revenue and third-party services.

For instance, Amazon is also a key player with its AWS in the cloud space.

aws-vs-azure

And is well a key player in the digital advertising space, together with Google and Facebook :

advertising-industry

Amazon has been widely investing in its technological infrastructure since the 2000s, which eventually turned into a key component of its business model .

Read : Amazon Business Model

Amazon’s vision, mission, and core values

amazon-vision-statement-mission-statement (1)

Jeff Bezos is obsessed with being in “day one,” which as he puts it , “ day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always  Day 1. “

It all starts from there, and to achieve that Jeff Bezos has highlighted a few core values that makeup Amazon ‘s culture and vision :

  • Customer obsession.
  • Resist proxies.
  • Embrace external trends.
  • High-velocity decision-making.

As pointed out by Amazon , “w hen Amazon.com launched in 1995, it was with the mission “ to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. ” 

This goal continues today, but Amazon ’s customers are worldwide now and have grown to include millions of Consumers, Sellers, Content Creators, and Developers & Enterprises.

Each of these groups has different needs, and we always work to meet those needs, innovating new solutions to make things easier, faster, better, and more cost-effective.”

In this case, Amazon ‘s mission also sounds like a vision statement.

Whatever you want to call it, this input is what makes a company look for long-term goals that keep them on track.

Of course, that doesn’t mean a well-crafted vision and mission statement is all that matters for business success.

Yet, it is what keeps you going when things seem to go awry.

Amazon moved from an online book store to the A-to-Z store it kept its mission almost intact while scaling up.

Start from a proof of concept, then scale up

It is interesting to notice how businesses evolve based on their commercial ability to scale up.

When Amazon started up as a bookstore, it made sense for several reasons, that spanned from logistics to pricing modes and industry specifics.

Yet, when Amazon finally proved that the whole web thing could be commercially viable, it didn’t wait, it grew rapidly.

From music to anything else it didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen quickly.

Thus, this is how Amazon’s mission shifted from “any book in the world” to “anything from A-Z.”

This isn’t a size-fits-all strategy. Amazon chose rapid growth, similar to a blitzscaling process as aggressive growth was a way to preserve itself.

Hadn’t Amazon grown so quickly, it could have been killed.

The opposite approach to this kind of strategy is a bootstrapped business, which is profitable right away and self-sustainable.

Decentralized and distributed value creation: the era of platforms and ecosystems

Before we move forward, I want to highlight a few key elements to have a deeper understanding of both Amazon and Alibaba’s business models and their strategies.

Before digitalization would show its use and commercial viability, most of the value creation processes were internalized.

That meant companies had to employ massive resources to generate value along that chain.

That changed when digitalization allowed the value creation process to be distributed, and we moved from centralized to grassroots content creation.

This is even clearer in the case of platforms, and marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba.

For instance, where in the past the review process and quality insurance would be done centrally by making sure that the supply complied with the company’s quality guidelines.

Introducing distributed review systems, where the end-users checked against the quality compliance, allowed companies like Alibaba and Amazon to generate network effects, where the more users enriched the platforms with those reviews the more the platform could become valuable.

For that matter though, the main platform’s role will be to fight spam and attempt to trick the system.

Other than that (fighting spam is a challenging task) all the rest is managed at the decentralized level, and the value creation happens when more and more users review products and services on those platforms.

We’re referring here to the review system, but it applies almost to any aspect of a platform.

Amazon for years allowed third-party to feature their stores on Amazon ‘s platform, while they kept the inventory.

This meant an outsourced and distributed inventory system, spread across the supply side.

Therefore, the supply side not only made the platform more valuable by creating compelling offerings.

But it also made it more valuable from the operational standpoint, by allowing a better inventory system, which could be turned quickly.

Therefore, the critical aspect to understand in the digital era is decentralized value creation, which makes the value creation process less expensive for an organization, more valuable to its end users, and more scalable as it benefits from network effects.

How do decentralize value creation?

Many platform-like business models have leveraged a few aspects:

  • User-generated content (Quora, Facebook , Instagram).
  • Distributed inventory systems ( Amazon , Alibaba).
  • Peer-to-peer networks ( Airbnb , Uber).

This implies a paradigm shift.

When you start thinking in terms of platforms, no longer you’ll need a plethora of people taking care of each aspect of it.

Rather you’ll need to understand how the value creation can be outsourced to a community of people and make sure the platform is on top of its game in a few aspects.

For instance, Amazon and Alibaba have to make sure their review system isn’t gamed. Airbnb has to make sure to be able to guarantee safety in the interactions from host to guests and vice-versa.

Quora has to make sure to keep its question machine to keep generating relevant questions for users to answer (the supply-side).

If you grasp this element of a platform, you’re on a good track to understanding how to build a successful platform or marketplace.

Apple Business Strategy

Business Model Label : Product-Based Company Leveraging On Locked-In Ecosystems With A Reversed Razor And Blade Business Strategy

Apple sells its products and resells third-party products in most of its major markets directly to consumers and small and mid-sized businesses through its retail and online stores and its direct sales force.

The Company also employs a variety of indirect distribution channels , such as third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers.

During 2017, the Company’s net sales through its direct and indirect distribution channels accounted for 28% and 72%, respectively, of total net sales.

Many people look at the iPhone, or the previous products Apple has launched successfully in the last decade and assume that their success is due to those products.

In reality, Apple has followed throughout the years a strategy that focused on five key elements:

  • Strong branding.
  • Beautifully crafted products.
  • Technological innovation.
  • Strong distribution.
  • Locked-in ecosystems.

In short, Apple can sell an iPhone at a premium price because it employs a reversed razor and blade strategy.

This strategy implies free access to Apple’s Ecosystem (ex. iTunes, and Apple Store).

That makes the whole experience through Apple’s devices extremely valuable.

Thanks to that experience, the perception of high-end (luxury-like) products, together with a reliable distribution, justifies Apple’s premium prices.

apple-business-model

Apple’s managed to build a business platform on top of the iPhone, thus creating a strong competitive moat, which lasts to these days:

evolution-of-apple-sales

Therefore, Apple’s future success can’t be measured with the same lenses as the last decade.

The real question is: what product will Apple  be able to launch successfully?

And keep in mind it’s not just about the product. Apple’s formula summarized above can be replicated over and over again.

But it isn’t a simple formula. And as locked-in ecosystems, in which Apple controls as much as possible, the experience of its users has proved quite successful in the last decade.

That might not be so in the next, given the rise of more decentralized infrastructure.

For that matter, Amazon might be well moving from a reversed razor and blade model:

amazon-razor-blade-business-model

To a service-based model:

apple-revenues

This isn’t surprising, as a service business has a few compelling advantages:

  • High margins.
  • A relatively stable revenue stream.
  • Scalability.

As Apple has relied on home runs with its products, from the new Mac to the iPod, iPhone, and iPhones, that kind of success isn’t easy to replicate, and it makes the company relies on a continuous stream of fresh sales to keep the business growing.

A service business would balance things out.

It is important to remark this isn’t something new to Apple :

iphone-sales-2007-09

When Apple introduced the iPhone, it isn’t like it was an overnight success. It was successful, but it had to create a whole ecosystem to make the iPhone a continuous source of growth for the company!

When it comes to business strategy, as pointed out in Apple’s annual reports:

The Company is committed to bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software and services. The Company’s business strategy leverages its unique ability to design and develop its own operating systems, hardware, application software and services to provide its customers products and solutions with innovative design, superior ease-of-use and seamless integration.

Understanding this part is critical. As I explained above, at the time of this writing many think of Apple as the “iPhone company.”

Yet Apple is way more than that, and its business strategy is a mixture of creating ecosystems by leveraging on these pillars:

  • Operating systems.
  • Applications software.
  • Innovative design.
  • Ease-of-use.
  • Seamless Integration.

Those elements together make Apple ‘s products successful. As Apple further explained:

As part of its strategy, the Company continues to expand its platform for the discovery and delivery of digital content and applications through its Digital Content and Services, which allows customers to discover and download or stream digital content, iOS, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV applications, and books through either a Mac or Windows personal computer or through iPhone, iPad and iPod touch® devices (“iOS devices”), Apple TV, Apple Watch and HomePod.

Once again, it isn’t anymore about creating a product, but about generating self-serve ecosystems.

How do you support those ecosystems?

It depends on what’s your target. A media company will primarily need an ecosystem made of content creators (take Quora or Facebook or YouTube ).

In many cases, a digital media company over time has to be able to nurture several communities to create a thriving ecosystem.

For instance, large tech companies or startups, often rely on several communities:

  • Programmers and developers ( Google , Apple ).
  • Content creators and publishers ( Google , Quora, YouTube ).
  • Artists and creative talents ( Apple , YouTube ).

In Apple ‘s case though, the first ecosystem is the community of developers building third-party software products that complement the company’s offering:

The Company also supports a community for the development of third-party software and hardware products and digital content that complement the Company’s offerings.

When you combine that with a high-touch strategy (where skilled and knowledgeable salespeople interact with customers) you create a flywheel, where customers are retained for longer, the brand grows as a result of this high-touch activity which creates a better post-sale experience and triggers word of mouth and referral from existing customers:

The Company believes a high-quality buying experience with knowledgeable salespersons who can convey the value of the Company’s products and services greatly enhances its ability to attract and retain customers.Therefore, the Company’s strategy also includes building and expanding its own retail and online stores and its third-party distribution network to effectively reach more customers and provide them with a high-quality sales and post-sales support experience.The Company believes ongoing investment in research and development (“R&D”), marketing and advertising is critical to the development and sale of innovative products, services and technologies.

Read : Apple Business Model

Airbnb Business Strategy

Business Model Essence : Peer-To-Peer House-Sharing Network With Fee-Based Monetization Strategy

As a peer-to-peer network, Airbnb allows individuals to rent from private owners for a fee.

Airbnb charges guests a service fee between 5% and 15% of the reservation subtotal; While the commission from hosts is generally 3%.

Airbnb also charges hosts who offer experiences a 20% service fee on the total price.

The digitalization that happened in the last two decades has facilitated the creation of peer-to-peer platforms in which business models disrupted the hospitality model created in the previous century by hotel chains like Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Hilton.

airbnb-business-model

Airbnb is quickly branching out toward offering more experiences. We can call Airbnb the “marketplace of experiences.”

In short, just like Amazon started from books, Airbnb has started from house-sharing.

But that is the starting point, which gives the innovative company enough traction to validate its whole business model and expand to other areas.

The principal aim of Airbnb is to control the whole experience for its users. This means creating an end-to-end travel experience that embraces the entire process .

Thus, it’s not surprising that we’ll see Airbnb expanding its marketplace to more and more areas. This is also shown by the fact that Airbnb might soon offer bundled travel packages .

Just as we’ve seen in the case of Alibaba and Amazon , Airbnb follows a marketplace logic, where it needs to make the interactions between its key users (hosts and guests) as smooth as possible, with an emphasis on safety.

As a platform, Airbnb initially used a strategy of improving the quality of its supply by employing freelance photographers that could take pictures of host homes.

This, in turn, made those homes more interesting for guests, as they could appreciate those homes more.

As many people in real estate might know, the quality of the pictures is critical.

Although this might sound trivial, this is what improved the Airbnb supply side.

Indeed with better and professionally taken images, Airbnb improved its reach via search engines (yes, search engines are thirsty for fresh and original content, images comprised).

And it enhanced the experience of its potential customers.

Now Airbnb is converting its business model to digital experiences. In addition to changing the whole strategy.

Whereas Airbnb focused in the past on covering major cities across the world.

Changing travel habits made Airbnb focus on digital experiences and local, extra-metropolitan areas throughout the pandemic.

While, post-pandemic, as people travel for longer stays, the whole platform has been structured around these. 

airbnb-statistics

Read : Airbnb Business Model

Baidu Business Strategy

Business Model Essence :  Online Marketing Free Services Advertising-Supported Revenue Model

Baidu makes money primarily via online marketing services (advertising). In fact, in 2017, Baidu made about $11.24 in online marketing services and a remaining almost $1.8 billion through other sources. According to Statista,

Baidu has an overall search market share of 73.8% of the Chinese market. Other sources of revenues comprise membership services of iQIYI (an innovative market-leading online entertainment service provider in China) and financial services.

baidu-traffic-acquisition-strategy

At first sight, Baidu might seem the mirror image of Google , but in China.

However, this is a superficial view. While Baidu has followed in China a similar path to Google , it did take advantage of the fact that Google wasn’t available there, to build its dominant position.

Baidu also has a more efficient cost structure than Google. It had also introduced innovations in its search products (like voice search devices for kids) at a time when Google wasn’t there yet.

Read : Baidu Business Model

Baidu mission: two-pillar business strategy and value propositions acting as a glue for its key users/customers

In the past years, Baidu has followed an expansion business strategy focused on acquiring assets and companies that complemented its core business model .

As the leading Chinese search provider, in 2017, Baidu updated its mission to “ Baidu aims to make a complex world simpler through technology.”

This mission is achieved via a two-pillar strategy:

  • Strengthening the mobile foundation (similar to Google’s mobile-first).
  • And leading in artificial intelligence.

Baidu’s key partners comprise users, customers, Baidu union members, and content providers.

For each of those critical segments, Baidu has drafted a fundamental value proposition .

Thus, to generate a value chain that works for these stakeholders, Baidu has to balance it with a diversified value proposition :

  • Users:  enjoying Baidu search experience want a search engine that gives them relevant results.
  • Customers: with 775,000 active online marketing customers in 2017, consisting of SMEs, large domestic businesses, and multinational companies, distributed across retail and e-commerce, network service, medical and healthcare, franchise investment, financial services, education, online games, transportation, construction and decoration, and business services. Those businesses look for a trackable, and sustainable ROI for their paid advertising campaigns. By bidding on keywords, they can target specific audiences.
  • Baidu Union Member: share revenues with Baidy by displaying banner ads on their sites in relevant spaces filled by the  Baidu search algorithm (think of it as Google’s AdSense Network ). Those publishers and sites can generate additional revenues and monetize their content without relying on complex infrastructure, that instead is employed by Baidu.
  • Content Providers:  video copyright holders, app owners who list their apps on the Baidu app store, users who contribute their valuable and copyrighted content to Baidu products, and publishers. Those users get visibility or money in exchange for this content. Baidu has to make sure to allow those content providers to get in exchange for their work and creativity visibility and revenues.

Understanding how the value proposition for each player comes together is critical to understanding the business decisions a company like Baidu makes over time.

For instance, as Baidu (like Google ) moves more and more toward AI, the need to balance the value proposition for Baidu Union Members might fickle.

Booking Business Strategy

Business Model Essence :  House-Sharing Platform Leveraging On A Two-Sided Marketplace With A Commission-Based Revenue Model

Booking Holdings is the company that controls six main brands that comprise Booking.com, priceline.com, KAYAK, agoda.com, Rentalcars.com, and OpenTable. 

Over 76% of the company’s revenues in 2017 came primarily via travel reservations commissions and travel insurance fees.

Almost 17% came from merchant fees, and the remaining revenues came from advertising earned via KAYAK.

As a distribution strategy, the company spent over $4.5 billion on performance-based and brand advertising.

booking-business-model

Read : Booking Business Model

Booking mission, value proposition, and key players

Booking’s mission is to “help people experience the world.” Booking does that via a few primary brands:

  • Booking.com.
  • priceline.com.
  • Rentalcars.com.

The mission of helping people experience the world is executed via three primary value propositions delivered to consumers, travelers, and business partners:

  • Consumers are provided what Booking calls “the best choices and prices at any time, in any place, on any device.”
  • People and travelers can easily find, book, and experience their travel desires.
  • Business partners (like Hotels featured on Booking.com) are provided with platforms, tools, and insights in exchange.

Boomedium-term term strategy is focused on:

  • Leveraging technology to provide the best experience.
  • Growing partnerships with travel service providers and restaurants.
  • Investing in profitable and sustainable growth.

DuckDuckGo Business Strategy

Business Model Essence : Privacy-based Search Engine Built On Google’s Weakness With An affiliate-based Revenue Model

DuckDuckGo makes money in two simple ways: Advertising and Affiliate Marketing.

Advertising is shown based on the keywords typed into the search box. Affiliate revenues come from Amazon and eBay affiliate programs.

When users buy after getting on those sites through DuckDuckGo the company collects a small commission.

duckduckgo-business-model

While this model might not sound that exciting. DuckDuckGo managed to grow quickly by leveraging Google’s primary weakness: users’ privacy. Where Google’s primary asset is made of users’ data. DuckDuckGo throws that data away on the fly:

It is important to remark that DuckDuckGo is still figuring out a business model that can make it sustainable in the long term.

Indeed, the company got a venture round of $10 million back in August 2018.

DuckDuckGo will be tweaking its business model in the coming years, to reach a “ business model /market fit.”

Read : DuckDuckGo Business Model

Read : DuckDuckGo Story

Google (Alphabet) Business Strategy

Business Model Essence :  Free Search Engine Distributed Across Hardware, Browsers, And Members’ Websites With An Hidden Revenue Generation Model

As of 2017, over ninety billion dollars, which consisted of 86% of Google ’s revenues came from advertising networks.

The remaining fraction (about 13%) came from Apps, Google Cloud, and Hardware. While a bit more than 1% came from bets like Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Nest, Verily, Waymo, and X.

Google business model is changing over the years.

Even though advertising is still its cash cow, Google has been diversifying its revenues in other areas. 

While in 2015 90% of Google’s revenues came from advertising, in 2017, advertising revenues represented 86%.

Other revenues grew from about 10% in 2015 to almost 13% in 2017.

how-does-google-make-money

Why did Google get there? And where is Google going next? To understand that you need to understand the “moonshot thinking.”

Read : Google Business Model

Read : Google Cost Structure

Read : Baidu vs. Google

Understanding Google’s moonshot thinking and a breakthrough approach to business

As highlighted in the Alphabet annual report for 2018:

Many companies get comfortable doing what they have always done, making only incremental changes. This incrementalism leads to irrelevance over time, especially in technology, where change tends to be revolutionary, not evolutionary. People thought we were crazy when we acquired YouTube and Android and when we launched Chrome, but those efforts have matured into major platforms for digital video and mobile devices and a safer, popular browser. We continue to look toward the future and continue to invest for the long-term. As we said in the original founders’ letter, we will not shy away from high-risk, high-reward projects that we believe in because they are the key to our long-term success.

Understanding the moonshot approach to business is critical to understanding where Google (now Alphabet) got where it is today, and where it’s headed next.

Since the first shareholders’ letter from Google’s founders, Brin and Page they highlighted that “ Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.”

Google has successfully built ecosystems that today drive

To understand where Google is going next, you need to look at the AI Economy , in which the tech giant is trying to lead the pack.

Whether or not it will be successful will highly depend on its ability to keep creating successful ecosystems, just as Google has done with Google Maps (you might not realize but Google Maps powers up quite a large number of applications) and Android.

At the time of this writing, Google is widely investing in other areas, such as:

  • Voice search.
  • AI and machine learning applications.
  • Self-driving cars.
  • And other bets.

If that is not sufficient Google has made several moves in different spaces, to keep its dominance on mobile, while moving toward voice search, like the investment in KaiOS, which business model is interesting as it finally allows an ecosystem to be built on top of cheap mobile devices in developing countries:

kaios-feature-phone-business-model

That is why Google keeps making “smaller bets in areas that might seem very speculative or even strange when compared to its current businesses.”

Those other bets made “just” $595 million to Google in 2018.

This represented 0.4% of Google ‘s overall revenues , compared to the over $136 billion coming from the other segments.

Google ‘s North Star is its mission of “ organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful.” 

Read : KaiOS Business Model

Let’s go through a few other tips for a successful business strategy. 

Problem-first approach

customer-problem quadrant

The customer-problem quadrant by LEANSTACK’s Ash Maurya is a great starting point to define and understand the problem, that as an entrepreneur you will going to solve. 

Indeed, a successful business is such, based on the market’s rewards for the entrepreneur’s ability to solve a problem.

Keep in mind that defining and understanding problems in the real world is one of the most difficult things (that is why entrepreneurship is so hard).

To properly stumble on the right definition of the problem you’re solving, there might be some fine-tuning going on, which in the business world we like to call product-market fit . 

Business engineering skills

business-analysis

Another key element is not to lose sight of the context you’re operating.

As such, analyzing that properly might require some business engineering skills . 

To simplify your life you can use the FourWeekMBA business analysis framework.

Don’t strategize on a piece of paper

Strategies always work well on a piece of paper.

Yet when execution comes suddenly we can realize all the drawbacks of that.

In very few, rare cases, a designed strategy will work as expected.

However, the reason we plan and strategize isn’t just to make things work as we’d like them to.

But to communicate a vision we have to those people (employees, customers, stakeholders) who will help us get there. 

That is why when we strategize it’s important not to lose sight of the essence of our strategy, which is the long-term vision we have for our business.

The rest is execution, practice, and a lot of experimentation!

The innovation loop

what-is-entrepreneurship

Innovation starts by tweaking, testing, and experimenting also in unexpected ways.

Often though, as a business strategy is documented after the fact, it seems as if it was all part of a plan. 

In most cases, the innovation loop starts by stumbling upon that thing that will have a great impact on your business.

Therefore, as an entrepreneur, you need to keep pushing on those models that worked out.

But also to be on the lookout for new ways of doing things. 

Barbell approach 

barbell-strategy

In a barbel approach we want to have a clear distinction between two domains: 

  • Core business : on the core business side, where you have a consolidated strategy, and a business model that has proved to work, it’s important to be structured. This means having a clear culture, following given processes, and slowly evolving your business model. 
  • New bets : as your business model will become outdated over time, and that might happen also very quickly, you need to be on the lookout for new opportunities emerging, also in new, completely unrelated business fields. 

For instance, a tech giant like Google, has a part of its business skewed toward a few bets it placed on industries that are completely unrelated to its core business (search).

Those bets are not contributing at all to its bottom line (only some of those bets are generating revenues but those are extremely marginal compared to the overall turnover of the company). 

However, those might turn out widely successful (or huge failures) in the years to come. 

google-other-bets

Thus, with a barbell approach, we want to consolidate what we have. But also be open to what might be coming next!

Business Explorers

Strategic analysis thinking tools.

strategic-analysis

Strategic analysis is a process to understand the organization’s environment and competitive landscape to formulate informed business decisions , to plan for the organizational structure and long-term direction. Strategic planning is also useful to experiment with business model design and assess the fit with the long-term vision of the business.

Business model canvas

The business model canvas aims to provide a keen understanding of your business model to provide strategic insights about your customers, product/service, and financial structure;

so that you can make better business decisions.

Blitzscaling canvas

In this article, I’ll focus on the Blitzscaling business model canvas. This is a model based on the concept of Blitzscaling.

That is a particular process of massive growth under uncertainty, and that prioritizes speed over efficiency. It focuses on market domination to create a first-scaler advantage in a scenario of uncertainty.

Pretotyping

pretotyping-alberto-savoia

Pretotyping is a mixture of the words “pretend” and “prototype,” and it is a methodology used to validate business ideas to improve the chances of building a product or service that people want.

The pretotyping methodology comes from Alberto Savoia’s work summarized in the book “The Right It: Why So Many Ideas Fail and How to Make Sure Yours Succeed.”

This framework is a mixture of the words “pretend” and “prototype,” and it helps to answer such questions (about the product or service to build) as: Would I use it? How, how often, and when would I use it?

Would other people buy it? How much would they be willing to pay for it? How, how often, and when would they use it?

Value innovation and blue ocean strategy

blue-ocean-strategy

A blue ocean is a strategy where the boundaries of existing markets are redefined, and new uncontested markets are created.

At its core, there is value innovation, for which uncontested markets are created, where competition is made irrelevant. And the cost-value trade-off is broken.

Thus, companies following a blue ocean strategy offer much more value at a lower cost for the end customers.

Growth hacking process

growth-hacking

Growth hacking is a process of rapid experimentation, coupled with the understanding of the whole funnel, where marketing , product, data analysis, and engineering work together to achieve rapid growth.

The growth hacking process goes through four key stages analyzing, ideating, prioritizing, and testing.

Pirate metrics

pirate-metrics

Venture capitalist , Dave McClure, coined the acronym AARRR which is a simplified model that enables us to understand what metrics and channels to look at. At each stage of the users’ path toward becoming customers and referrers of a brand.

Engines of growth

engines-of-growth

In the Lean Startup, Eric Ries defined the engine of growth as “the mechanism that startups use to achieve sustainable growth.”

He described sustainable growth as following a simple rule, “new customers come from the actions of past customers.”

The three engines of growth are the sticky engine, the viral engine, and the paid engine. Each of those can be measured and tracked by a few key metrics, and it helps plan your strategic moves.

design-a-business-model

The RTVN model is a straightforward framework that can help you design a business model when you’re at the very early stage of figuring out what you need to make it succeed.

Sales cycle

business strategy strategic management examples

A sales cycle is the process that your company takes to sell your services and products.

In simple words, it’s a series of steps that your sales reps need to go through with prospects that lead up to a closed sale.

Planning ahead of time the steps your sales team needs to take to close a big contract can help you grow the revenues for your business.

Comparable analysis

comparable-company-analysis

A comparable company analysis is a process that enables the identification of similar organizations to be used as a comparison to understand the business and financial performance of the target company.

To find comparables, you can look at two key profiles: the business and economic profiles.

From the comparable company analysis, it is possible to understand the competitive landscape of the target organization.

Porter’s five forces

porter-five-forces

Porter’s Five Forces is a model that helps organizations to gain a better understanding of their industries and competition.

It was published for the first time by Professor Michael Porter in his book “Competitive Strategy” in the 1980s.

The model breaks down industries and markets by analyzing them through five forces which you can use to have a first assessment of the market you’re in.

Porter’s Generic Strategies

porters-generic-strategies

Porter’s Value Chain

porters-value-chain-model

Porter’s Diamond Model

porters-diamond-model

Bowman’s Strategy Clock

bowmans-strategy-clock

VMOST Analysis

vmost-analysis

Fishbone Diagram

fishbone-diagram

GE McKinsey Matrix

ge-mckinsey-matrix

VRIO Framework

vrio-framework

3C Analysis

3c-model

AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. This is a model that is used in marketing to describe the potential journey a customer might go through, before purchasing a product or service. The variation of the AIDA model is the CAB model and the AIDCAS model.

PESTEL analysis

pestel-analysis

The PESTEL analysis is a framework that can help marketers assess whether macro-economic factors are affecting an organization.

This is a critical step that helps organizations identify potential threats and weaknesses. That can be used in other frameworks such as SWOT or to gain a broader and better understanding of the overall marketing environment.

Technology adoption curve

technology-adoption-curve

The technology adoption curve is a model that goes through five stages. Each of those stages (innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggard) has a specific psychographic that makes that group of people ready to adopt a tech product.

This simple concept can help you define the right target for your business strategy.

Business model essence

A Business Model Essence, according to FourWeekMBA, is a way to find the critical characteristics of any business to have a clear understanding of that business in a few sentences.

That can be used to analyze existing businesses. Or to draft your Business Model and keep a strategic and execution focus on the key elements to be implemented in the short-medium term.

FourWeekMBA business model framework

fourweekmba-business-model-framework

An effective business model has to focus on two dimensions: the people dimension and the financial dimension. The people dimension will allow you to build a product or service that is 10X better than existing ones and a solid brand.

The financial dimension will help you develop proper distribution channels by identifying the people that are willing to pay for your product or service and make it financially sustainable in the long run.

TAM, SAM, and SOM

total-addressable-market

Understanding your TAM, SAM and SOM can help you navigate the market you’re in and to have a laser focus on the market you can reach with your product and service.

Brand Building

business strategy strategic management examples

Value Proposition Design

value-proposition

Product-Market Fit

product-market-fit

Freemium Decision Model

freemium-model-decision-tree

Organizational Design And Structures

organizational-structure

Speed-Reversibility Matrix

decision-making-matrix

Minimum Viable Product

SWOT Analysis

business strategy strategic management examples

Revenue Modeling

revenue-modeling

Business Experimentation

business-experimentation

Business Analysis

bcg-matrix

Ansoff Matrix

ansoff-matrix

Key takeaway

I hope that in this guide you learned the critical aspects related to business strategy, with an emphasis on the entrepreneurial world. If business strategy would only be an academic discipline disjoined from reality, that would still be an interesting domain, yet purely speculative.

However, as a business strategy can be used as a useful tool to leverage on to build companies, hopefully, this guide will help you out in navigating through the seemingly noisy and confusing business world, dominated by technology. As a last but critical caveat, there isn’t a single way toward building a successful business.

And oftentimes the way you choose to build a business is really up to you, how you want to impact a community of people and your vision for the future!

Other resources: 

  • Types of Business Models You Need to Know
  • What Is a Business Model Canvas? Business Model Canvas Explained
  • Blitzscaling Business Model Innovation Canvas In A Nutshell
  • What Is a Value Proposition? Value Proposition Canvas Explained
  • What Is a Lean Startup Canvas? Lean Startup Canvas Explained
  • How to Write a One-Page Business Plan
  • How to Build a Great Business Plan According to Peter Thiel
  • How To Create A Business Model
  • What Is Business Model Innovation And Why It Matters
  • What Is Blitzscaling And Why It Matters
  • Business Model Vs. Business Plan: When And How To Use Them
  • The Five Key Factors That Lead To Successful Tech Startups
  • Business Model Tools for Small Businesses and Startups

Additional Business Strategy Tactics

Blue ocean player.

blue-ocean-strategy

Blue Sea Player

blue-sea-strategy

Constructive Disruptor

constructive-disruption

Niche player

microniche

Blitzscaler

blitzscaling-business-model-innovation-canvas

Continuous Blitzscaler

amazon-flywheel

What is business strategy?

What are examples of business strategies.

Things like product differentiation, business model innovation, technological innovation, more capital for growth, can all be moats that organizations focus on to gain an edge. Depending on the context, industry, and scenario, a business strategy might be more or less effective; that is why testing and experimentation are critical elements.

Connected Strategy Frameworks

ADKAR Model

adkar-model

Business Model Canvas

business-model-canvas

Lean Startup Canvas

lean-startup-canvas

Blitzscaling Canvas

blitzscaling-business-model-innovation-canvas

Blue Ocean Strategy

blue-ocean-strategy

Business Analysis Framework

business-analysis

Balanced Scorecard

balanced-scorecard

Blue Ocean Strategy 

blue-ocean-strategy

GAP Analysis

gap-analysis

GE McKinsey Model

ge-mckinsey-matrix

McKinsey 7-S Model

mckinsey-7-s-model

McKinsey’s Seven Degrees

mckinseys-seven-degrees

McKinsey Horizon Model

mckinsey-horizon-model

Porter’s Five Forces

porter-five-forces

Porter’s Value Chain Model

porters-value-chain-model

PESTEL Analysis

pestel-analysis

Scenario Planning

scenario-planning

STEEPLE Analysis

steeple-analysis

FourWeekMBA Business Toolbox

Business Engineering

business-engineering-manifesto

Tech Business Model Template

business-model-template

Web3 Business Model Template

vbde-framework

Asymmetric Business Models

asymmetric-business-models

Business Competition

business-competition

Technological Modeling

technological-modeling

Transitional Business Models

transitional-business-models

Minimum Viable Audience

minimum-viable-audience

Business Scaling

business-scaling

Market Expansion Theory

market-expansion

Speed-Reversibility

decision-making-matrix

Asymmetric Betting

asymmetric-bets

Growth Matrix

growth-strategies

Revenue Streams Matrix

revenue-streams-model-matrix

Pricing Strategies

pricing-strategies

Other business resources:

  • What Is Business Model Innovation
  • What Is a Business Model
  • What Is Business Strategy
  • What is Blitzscaling
  • What Is Market Segmentation
  • What Is a Marketing Strategy
  • What is Growth Hacking

More Resources

customer-segmentation

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Gennaro Cuofano

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A successful business strategy dictates the allocation of resources and outlines how a company will achieve its strategic goals. Whether the organization is focused on developing new products or marketing an existing service to an under-served demographic, having a solid strategy will help an organization realize its long-term goals. Typically, a strategy will be informed by core business objectives and keep key performance indicators (KPIs) in mind. It’s also essential to understand an organization’s market position, as the following business strategy examples will show.

Types of business strategy

Over the last decades, researchers and business leaders have identified a handful of so-called “generic strategies” with broad application across the business landscape. These core business strategies are:

  • Broad cost leadership strategy
  • Broad differentiation strategy
  • Focused differentiation strategy
  • Focused cost leadership strategy

But there are dozens of variations on these core concepts, and an organization may choose to enact certain types of strategies at different points. Good business strategies are carefully considered, but that doesn’t mean they’re static. Successful leaders will routinely review a strategy’s key components and update their plans.

For instance, entrepreneurs looking to increase profits might pursue a cost-cutting strategy, while a business hoping to expand would consider a growth strategy. If customer churn or dissatisfaction is a particular issue, a customer retention strategy would be more appropriate.

For economically healthy companies attempting to move into new markets, a diversification strategy—involving new customers or product lines—or a partnership strategy—involving the acquisition of new companies—might be best.

Still, exploring the core generic strategies can provide insight into how some of the world’s most successful corporations have leveraged market research to create phenomenally profitable roadmaps. Some examples of business strategies that embody these foundational theories are explored below.

Broad cost leadership strategy example: Walmart

When Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, started his retail career in the 1940s, he had a simple idea: To find less expensive suppliers than those who served his competition and pass those savings on to the customers in his variety stores. Where many business leaders might attempt to profit directly from such favorable margins, Walton decided to pursue an economy of scale , profiting by attracting more customers rather than charging those customers more. In the more than seven decades since, Walmart has become one of the most famous examples of cost leadership strategy, which undercuts competition by offering goods or services at the lowest possible price.

As the company grew, it was able to take advantage of its ubiquity to demand lower prices from suppliers and sell goods for even less over time. Many of these savings have then been passed on to customers shopping in the stores, resulting in progressively cheaper goods. The retailer’s advertisements underscore this fact, encouraging customers to “Save money. Live Better.”

By the early 2000s, Walmart’s cost leadership strategy had been so successful one-third of Americans were frequent Walmart customers , illustrating how winning the price game can lead to a massively successful bottom line. This has been crucial for the big-box retailer as it increasingly competes with e-commerce giants like Amazon.

Broad differentiation business strategy example: Starbucks

When Starbucks was founded as a small business in 1971, high-end coffee was a niche market in the United States. But Howard Schultz, the company’s founder, believed there was an opportunity to import Italian coffee culture and differentiate his business from competitors like Dunkin Donuts.

To gain a competitive advantage over stores offering cheap coffee in fast food-type settings, Schultz opened a series of cozy cafes that encouraged long visits. Though the items sold at Starbucks were more expensive than those of the competitors, they were highlighted in marketing campaigns as unique and superior quality goods. Starbucks also paid careful attention to its supply chain, ensuring is products were ethically sourced and offering specialty drinks that in some geographic locations could be difficult to find. The company’s early focus on talent management for service employees was a major differentiator, as well.

Over time Starbucks also focused heavily on personalization, encouraging customers to create favorite drinks. Later in the company’s tenure, the company introduced loyalty cards and other advantages for repeat customers to encourage customer retention.

Today, Starbucks stores are ubiquitous across the globe, and the company’s success has made it one of the prime examples of differentiation strategy that undercuts competition by providing a premium product that is significantly more desirable than existing goods.

Focused differentiation strategy example: REI

A focused differentiation strategy—unlike a broad differentiation strategy, which seeks to gain massive market share by providing a premium good—tailors its business plan to a select group of consumers. The outdoor outfitter REI has had significant success in focused differentiation through a series of business decisions and marketing strategies that underscore the values of its target demographic. In REI’s case, product differentiation relies on how the business communicates its core values and provides a unique customer experience.

REI frequently positions itself as an ethical and sustainable outdoor brand: As the company says, it prefers to put “ purpose before profits. ” Since its inception, the company has underscored initiatives like its co-op membership model and sustainability commitments as a way to distinguish itself from competitors catering to more general audiences. Recently, the brand engaged in a relatively risky marketing strategy that reflects its goal of capturing a specific group of loyal customers.

Starting in 2015, REI closed its stores on Black Friday , the most popular shopping day of the year, and encouraged employees to spend the day outdoors. The initiative was accompanied by a social media campaign to bolster the brand’s reach. REI might sell products at a higher cost than its competitors, and operate fewer than 200 stores, but its business model is based on the idea that a loyal group of customers will find its messages and products relevant enough to pay a premium for goods they could easily find somewhere else.

Focused cost leadership strategy example: Dollar General

Where Walmart’s cost leadership strategy relied on becoming ubiquitous and operating at massive scales, the discount chain Dollar General has captured price-conscious consumers in more specific markets. Rather than trying to enter an entirely new market, the company focused on providing low-cost goods to rural consumers. Its strategy has been to open small stores in areas where big-box stores might not be and offer a complementary pricing strategy that attracts budget-conscious consumers.

This strategy has allowed Dollar General to grow into a smart and efficient operation with a strong target market and relatively low overhead. Typically, the chain leases its stores and keeps them small and bare bones, saving money on real estate and extensive labor costs. Stores also typically stock a smaller number of products targeted to its specific customer base, cutting costs and allowing it precise control of its supply chain process. By spending less to open stores, allocating fewer resources to advertising, and targeting regional cost-conscious customers, the chain expanded successfully into a niche market.

The importance of agility in business strategy

As the previous effective business strategies illustrate, strategic planning is crucial for an organization working to achieve its business goals. A strong sense of where the company should be heading makes decision-making easier, and can guide operations across all business units, from the organization’s corporate-level strategy to its product development plans. At their most effective, business strategies can be utilized on a functional level, meaning every department from finance to human resources is guided by the business’ broader goals.

But not all successful businesses strategies will conform precisely to the four generic models outlined above. Often, a company will combine aspects of one or more strategies, or pivot as markets and technologies change . This has been particularly true for startups, which often serve a diverse set of stakeholders and may base their value proposition on new technologies. Still, as the above examples show, the optimization of a business’ operations relies on thinking critically about how its disparate parts can work together to achieve a singular goal.

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What Is Strategic Management?

  • How It Worls
  • The 5 Phases
  • Strategic Management FAQs

The Bottom Line

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business strategy strategic management examples

Investopedia / Alex Dos Diaz

Strategic management is the management of an organization’s resources to achieve its goals and objectives.

Strategic management involves setting objectives, analyzing the competitive environment, analyzing the internal organization, evaluating strategies, and ensuring that management rolls out the strategies across the organization .

Key Takeaways

  • Companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations can use strategic management as a way to make goals and meet objectives.
  • Flexible companies may find it easier to make changes to their structure and plans, while inflexible companies may chafe at a changing environment.
  • A strategic manager may oversee strategic management plans and devise ways for organizations to meet their benchmark goals. 

Understanding Strategic Management

Strategic management is divided into several schools of thought. A prescriptive approach to strategic management outlines how strategies should be developed, while a descriptive approach focuses on how strategies should be put into practice. These schools differ on whether strategies are developed through an analytic process, in which all threats and opportunities are accounted for, or are more like general guiding principles to be applied.

Business culture , the skills and competencies of employees, and organizational structure are all important factors that influence how an organization can achieve its stated objectives. Inflexible companies may find it difficult to succeed in a changing business environment. Creating a barrier between the development of strategies and their implementation can make it difficult for managers to determine whether objectives have been efficiently met.

While an organization’s upper management is ultimately responsible for its strategy , the strategies are often sparked by actions and ideas from lower-level managers and employees. An organization may have several employees devoted to strategy, rather than relying solely on the chief executive officer ( CEO ) for guidance.

Because of this reality, organizational leaders focus on learning from past strategies and examining the environment at large. The collective knowledge is then used to develop future strategies and to guide the behavior of employees to ensure that the entire organization is moving forward. For these reasons, effective strategic management requires both an inward and outward perspective.

Strategic management extends to internal and external communication practices as well as to tracking, which ensures that the company meets goals as defined in its strategic management plan.

The 5 Phases of Strategic Management

Strategic management involves managing an organization's resources, analyzing internal and external forces, and developing strategies to realize goals and objectives. There are five key phases that can help businesses execute their strategies.

  • An organization must first establish clear, realistic goals. Its goals should answer what the company wants to achieve and why. Once set, the company can then identify the objectives, or how the goals will be reached. During this phase, the company can articulate its vision and long and short-term goals.
  • Organizations must then be able to examine, understand, and codify what internal and external forces affect their business and goals, as well as what it needs to remain competitive. Analytical tools, such as SWOT analysis, are helpful during this phase.
  • Based on the results of the analysis, the company can then develop its strategy, outlining how the company will achieve its goals and how. In this phase, the company will identify the needed people, technology, and other resources; how these resources will be allocated to fulfill tasks, and what performance metrics are needed to measure success. It is also critical to gain buy-in from stakeholders and business leaders.
  • Once the strategies are defined, it is time for execution. The strategy is taken from planning to implementation. During this phase, the allocated resources are placed into action based on their roles and responsibilities.
  • The final stage of strategic management is to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented strategies using defined metrics. The company will also visit whether ineffective strategies should be replaced with more viable ones. The company should continue to monitor the business landscape and internal operations, as well as maintain strategies that have proven effective.

Example of Strategic Management

For example, a for-profit technical college wishes to increase new student enrollment and enrolled student graduation rates over the next three years. The purpose is to make the college known as the best buy for a student's money among five for-profit technical colleges in the region, with a goal of increasing revenue.

In that case, strategic management means ensuring the school has funds to create high-tech classrooms and hire the most qualified instructors. The college also invests in marketing and recruitment and implements student retention strategies. The college’s leadership assesses whether its goals have been achieved on a periodic basis.

Why Is Strategic Management Important?

Helping their company find ways to be more competitive is the purpose of strategic management. To that end, putting strategic management plans into practice is the most important aspect of the planning itself. Plans in practice involve identifying benchmarks, realigning resources—financial and human—and putting leadership resources in place to oversee the creation, sale, and deployment of products and services.

In business, strategic management is important because it allows a company to analyze areas for operational improvement. In many cases, they can follow either an analytical process, which identifies potential threats and opportunities, or simply follow general guidelines. Given the structure of the organization, a company may choose to follow either a prescriptive or descriptive approach to strategic management. Under a prescriptive model, strategies are outlined for development and execution. By contrast, a descriptive approach describes how a company can develop these strategies. 

Strategic management is the process of setting goals, procedures, and objectives in order to make a company or organization more competitive. Typically, strategic management looks at effectively deploying staff and resources to achieve these goals. Often, strategic management includes strategy evaluation, internal organization analysis, and strategy execution throughout the company.

What Is an Example of Strategic Management?

Consider a large company that wants to achieve more ambitious online sales rates. To meet these goals, the company will develop a strategy, communicate this strategy, apply it across various units and departments in the organization, integrate this with employee goals, and execute accordingly. If an effective strategy is applied, ideally, it will help the company achieve its targets through a single, coordinated process. 

What Are the Key Elements of Strategic Management?

Strategic management is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. However, there are key elements that are found to be critical. These include goal setting, industry and organizational analyses, strategy formation, strategy implementation; and the measurement, monitoring, and controlling of strategies.

Strategic management is the assembling and management of resources to achieve a company's goals and objectives. Although it is often segmented into either prescriptive or descriptive schools of thought, many businesses subscribe to a combined philosophy, defining how a strategy should be developed and how the strategies will be employed. Strategic management helps companies set goals, gain a competitive edge, better manage their resources, and more. There is not one prescription for all. Companies must create and adapt a strategic management process that works best for their company and those they serve. Strategic management does not end with the successful implementation of strategies; it continues for the life of the business.

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  • What is strategic planning? A 5-step gu ...

What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

Julia Martins contributor headshot

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. In this article, we'll guide you through the strategic planning process, including why it's important, the benefits and best practices, and five steps to get you from beginning to end.

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. The strategic planning process informs your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals.

Strategic planning helps you clearly define your company’s long-term objectives—and maps how your short-term goals and work will help you achieve them. This, in turn, gives you a clear sense of where your organization is going and allows you to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact. Think of it this way—if your goals and objectives are your destination on a map, your strategic plan is your navigation system.

In this article, we walk you through the 5-step strategic planning process and show you how to get started developing your own strategic plan.

How to build an organizational strategy

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What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization’s mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives. The product of the planning cycle is a strategic plan, which is shared throughout the company.

What is a strategic plan?

[inline illustration] Strategic plan elements (infographic)

A strategic plan is the end result of the strategic planning process. At its most basic, it’s a tool used to define your organization’s goals and what actions you’ll take to achieve them.

Typically, your strategic plan should include: 

Your company’s mission statement

Your organizational goals, including your long-term goals and short-term, yearly objectives

Any plan of action, tactics, or approaches you plan to take to meet those goals

What are the benefits of strategic planning?

Strategic planning can help with goal setting and decision-making by allowing you to map out how your company will move toward your organization’s vision and mission statements in the next three to five years. Let’s circle back to our map metaphor. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).

When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:

Build a strong organizational culture by clearly defining and aligning on your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

Align everyone around a shared purpose and ensure all departments and teams are working toward a common objective.

Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go and achieve desired outcomes.

Promote a long-term vision for your company rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.

Ensure resources are allocated around the most high-impact priorities.

Define long-term goals and set shorter-term goals to support them.

Assess your current situation and identify any opportunities—or threats—allowing your organization to mitigate potential risks.

Create a proactive business culture that enables your organization to respond more swiftly to emerging market changes and opportunities.

What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?

The strategic planning process involves a structured methodology that guides the organization from vision to implementation. The strategic planning process starts with assembling a small, dedicated team of key strategic planners—typically five to 10 members—who will form the strategic planning, or management, committee. This team is responsible for gathering crucial information, guiding the development of the plan, and overseeing strategy execution.

Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the planning process. 

Step 1: Assess your current business strategy and business environment

Before you can define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. Understanding the external environment, including market trends and competitive landscape, is crucial in the initial assessment phase of strategic planning.

To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders, like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:

Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future.

Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services.

Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether about the product, business practices, or the day-to-day company culture.

Consider different types of strategic planning tools and analytical techniques to gather this information, such as:

A balanced scorecard to help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process). 

To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:

What does your organization currently do well?

What separates you from your competitors?

What are your most valuable internal resources?

What tangible assets do you have?

What is your biggest strength? 

Weaknesses:

What does your organization do poorly?

What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?

What do your competitors do better than you?

What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?

What processes or products need improvement? 

Opportunities:

What opportunities does your organization have?

How can you leverage your unique company strengths?

Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?

How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?

Is there an emerging need for your product or service? 

What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?

Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?

Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?

Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company? 

Step 2: Identify your company’s goals and objectives

To begin strategy development, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your vision, mission, and current position to identify and define your goals—these are your final destination. 

To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” “What’s the ideal future state of this company?” This can help you figure out which path you need to take to get there.

During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents, such as:

Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose.

Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision.

Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company.

Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market.

Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years.

Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in.

Step 3: Develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics

Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Take your current business position and strategy into account, as well as your organization’s goals and objectives, and build out a strategic plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your plan should be created or revisited as the quarters and years go on.

As you build your strategic plan, you should define:

Company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.

Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals . 

Related key results and KPIs. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable. These KPIs will help you track progress and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.

A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.

Step 4: Implement and share your plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action. Strategy implementation involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success. 

Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to the strategic plan, so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and the overall strategy map. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management platform .  

A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch: 

Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process, to ensure all team members understand the strategic plan and how to implement it effectively. 

Define what “success” looks like by mapping your strategic plan to key performance indicators.

Ensure that the actions outlined in the strategic plan are integrated into the daily operations of the organization, so that every team member's daily activities are aligned with the broader strategic objectives.

Utilize tools and software—like a work management platform—that can aid in implementing and tracking the progress of your plan.

Regularly monitor and share the progress of the strategic plan with the entire organization, to keep everyone informed and reinforce the importance of the plan.

Establish regular check-ins to monitor the progress of your strategic plan and make adjustments as needed. 

Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed

Once you’ve created and implemented your new strategic framework, the final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.

Remember, your strategic plan isn’t set in stone. You’ll need to revisit and update the plan if your company changes directions or makes new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan. Make sure to review your plan regularly—meaning quarterly and annually—to ensure it’s still aligned with your organization’s vision and goals.

Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever, even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.

Build a smarter strategic plan with a work management platform

To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done. 

A work management platform plays a pivotal role in this process. It acts as a central hub for your strategic plan, ensuring that every task and project is directly tied to your broader company goals. This alignment is crucial for visibility and coordination, allowing team members to see how their individual efforts contribute to the company’s success. 

By leveraging such a platform, you not only streamline workflow and enhance team productivity but also align every action with your strategic objectives—allowing teams to drive greater impact and helping your company move toward goals more effectively. 

Strategic planning FAQs

Still have questions about strategic planning? We have answers.

Why do I need a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics that will help your company be successful.

When should I create a strategic plan?

You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed.

Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets. 

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a tool organizations can use to map out their strategic plan and track progress. Typically, a strategic planning template houses all the components needed to build out a strategic plan, including your company’s vision and mission statements, information from any competitive analyses or SWOT assessments, and relevant KPIs.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. business plan?

A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.

You should create a business plan when you’re: 

Just starting your business

Significantly restructuring your business

If your business is already established, you should create a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements?

Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.

Simply put: 

A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose.

A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose.

A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction. 

For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:

Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.” 

Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.” 

Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners. 

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. company objectives?

Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time. 

Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a business case?

A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business. 

You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a project plan?

A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan. 

What’s the difference between strategic management vs. strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning how you will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

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How To Write A Strategic Plan That Gets Results + Examples

business strategy strategic management examples

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the thought of writing a strategic plan for your business? Do you want to create a plan that will help you move your team forward with inspired alignment and disciplined execution? You're not alone.

Gone are the days of rigid, 5- or 10-year planning cycles that do not leave room for flexibility and innovation. To stay ahead of the curve, you need a dynamic and execution-ready strategic plan that can guide your business through the ever-evolving landscape.

At Cascade, we understand that writing a strategic plan can be dreadful, especially in today's unpredictable environment. That's why we've developed a simple model that can help you create a clear, actionable plan to achieve your organization's goals. With our tested and proven strategic planning template , you can write a strategic plan that is both adaptable and effective .

Whether you're a seasoned strategy professional or a fresh strategy planner, this guide will walk you through the process step-by-step on how to write a strategic plan. By the end, you'll have a comprehensive, easy-to-follow strategic plan that will help you align your organization on the path to success.

#1 Strategy Execution Platform Don't plan to fail.  Break down the complexity of your plans from high-level initiative to  executable outcome.   Learn how. Book a demo!

Follow this guide step-by-step or skip to the part you’re most interested in: 

  • Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation

Cascade Model For Strategic Planning: What You Need To Know

  • Key Elements of a Strategic Plan

How To Write A Strategic Plan In 6 Simple Steps

3 strategic plan examples to get you started, how to achieve organizational alignment with your strategic plan.

  • Quick Overview of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Create An Execution-Ready Strategic Plan With Cascade 🚀

*Editor’s note: This article is part of our ‘How to create a Strategy’ collection. At the end of this article, you’ll find a link to each piece within this collection so you can dig deeper into each element of an effective strategic plan and more related resources to master strategy execution.

Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation 

Before we dive into writing a strategic plan, it's essential to know the basics you should cover before the planning phase. The pre-planning phase is where you'll begin to gather the data and strategic insights necessary to create an effective strategic plan.

1. Run a strategic planning workshop

The first step is to run a strategic planning workshop with your team. Get your team in the room, get their data, and gather their insights. By running this workshop, you'll foster collaboration and bring fresh perspectives to the table. And that’s not all. 

The process of co-creating and collaborating to put that plan together with stakeholders is one of the most critical factors in strategy execution . According to McKinsey’s research , initiatives in which employees contribute to development are 3.4 times more likely to be successful. They feel like the plan is a result of their efforts, and they feel ownership of it, so they're more likely to execute it. 

💡 Tip: Use strategy frameworks to structure your strategy development sessions, such as GAP analysis , SWOT analysis , Porter’s Five Forces , Ansoff matrix , McKinsey 7S model , or GE matrix . You can even apply the risk matrix that will help you align and decide on key strategic priorities.

2. Choose your strategic planning model

Before creating your strategic plan, you need to decide which structure you will use. There are hundreds of ways to structure a strategic plan. You’ve likely heard of famous strategic models such as OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard .

But beyond the well-known ones, there's also a myriad of other strategic planning models ranging from the extremely simple to the absurdly complex.

Many strategic models work reasonably well on paper, but in reality, they don't show you how to write a strategic plan that fits your organization's needs.

Here are some common weaknesses most popular strategic models have:

  • They're too complicated. People get lost in terminology rather than focus on execution.
  • They don’t scale. They work well for small organizations but fail when you try to extend them across multiple teams.
  • They're too rigid. They force people to add layers for the sake of adding layers.
  • They're neither tangible nor measurable. They’re great at stating outcomes but lousy at helping you measure success.
  • They're not adaptable. As we saw in the last years, the business environment can change quickly. Your model needs to be able to work in your current situation and adapt to changing economic landscapes.

Our goal in this article is to give you a simpler, more effective way to write a strategic plan. This is a tested and proven strategic planning model that has been refined over years of working with +20,000 teams around the world. We call it the Cascade Strategy Model.

This approach has proven to be more effective than any other model we have tried when it comes to executing and implementing the strategy .

It’s easy to use and it works for small businesses, fast-growing startups, as well as multinationals trying to figure out how to write a fail-proof strategic plan.

We’ve created a simple diagram below to illustrate what a strategic plan following the Cascade Model will look like when it's completed:

The Cascade Model for strategic planning and execution

Rather than a traditional roadmap , imagine your strategy as a flowchart. Each row is a mandatory step before moving on to the next.

We call our platform  Cascade for a reason: strategy must cascade throughout an organization along with values, focus areas, and objectives.

Above all, the Cascade Model is intended to be execution-ready —in other words, it has been proven to deliver success far beyond strategic planning. It adds to a successful strategic management process.Key elements of a Strategic Plan

Key Elements Of A Strategic Plan

The key elements of a strategic plan include: 

  • Vision : Where do you want to get to? 
  • Values : How will you behave on the journey? 
  • Focus Areas : What are going to be your strategic priorities? 
  • Strategic objectives : What do you want to achieve? 
  • Actions and projects : How are you going to achieve the objectives? 
  • KPIs : How will you measure success?

In this part of the article, we will give you an overview of each element within the Cascade Model. You can follow this step-by-step process in a spreadsheet , or sign up to get instant access to a free Cascade strategic planning template and follow along as we cover the key elements of an effective strategic plan.

Your vision statement is your organization's anchor - it defines where you want to get to and is the executive summary of your organization's purpose. Without it, your strategic plan is like a boat without a rudder, at the mercy of strong winds and currents like Covid and global supply chain disruptions.

A good vision statement can help funnel your strategy towards long-term goals that matter the most to your organization, and everything you write in your plan from this point on will help you get closer to achieving your vision.

Trying to do too much at once is a surefire way to sink your strategic plan. By creating a clear and inspiring vision statement , you can avoid this trap and provide guidance and inspiration for your team. A great vision statement might even help attract talent and investment into your organization.

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have a vision statement like, “To be the premier bike manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest.” This statement clearly articulates the organization's goals and is a powerful motivator for the team.

In short, don't start your strategic plan without a clear vision statement. It will keep your organization focused and help you navigate toward success.

📚 Recommended read: How to Write a Vision Statement (With Examples, Tips, and Formulas)

Values are the enablers of your vision statement —they represent how your organization will behave as you work towards your strategic goals. Unfortunately, many companies throw around meaningless words just for the purpose of PR, leading to a loss of credibility.

To avoid this, make sure to integrate your organization’s core values into everyday operations and interactions. In today's highly-competitive world, it's crucial to remain steadfast in your values and cultivate an organizational culture that's transparent and trustworthy.

Companies with the best company cultures consistently outperform competitors and their average market by up to 115.6%, as reported by Glassdoor . 

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have core values like:

  • Accountability

These values reflect the organization's desire to become the leading bike manufacturer, while still being accountable to employees, customers, and shareholders.

👉 Here’s how to add vision and values to your strategic plan in Cascade: 

After you sign up and invite your team members to collaborate on the plan, navigate to Plans and Teams > Teams page, and add the vision, mission and values. This will help you to ensure that the company’s vision, mission statement, and values are always at top of mind for everyone.

📚When you're ready to start creating some company values, check out our guide, How To Create Company Values .

3. Focus Areas

Your focus areas are the strategic priorities that will keep your team on track and working toward the company’s mission and vision. They represent the high-level areas that you need to focus on to achieve desired business outcomes.

In fact, companies with clearly defined priorities are more likely to achieve their objectives. According to a case study by the Harvard Business Review , teams that focus on a small number of key initiatives are more likely to succeed than those that try to do too much. 

That’s also something that we usually recommend to our customers when they set up their strategic plan in Cascade. Rather than spreading your resources too thin over multiple focus areas, prioritize three to five. 

Following our manufacturing example above, some good focus areas include:

  • Aggressive growth
  • Producing the nation's best bikes
  • Becoming a modern manufacturer
  • Becoming a top place to work

Your focus areas should be tighter in scope than your vision statement, but broader than specific goals, time frames, or metrics. 

By defining your focus areas, you'll give your teams a guardrail to work within, which can help inspire innovation and creative problem-solving. 

With a clear set of focus areas, your team will be better able to prioritize their work and stay focused on the most important things, which will ultimately lead to better business results.

👉Here’s how you can set focus areas in Cascade: 

In Cascade, you can add focus areas while creating or importing an existing strategic plan from a spreadsheet. With Cascade’s Focus Area deep-dive functionality , you will be able to: 

  • Review the health of your focus areas in one place.
  • Get a breakdown by plans, budgets, resources, and people behind each strategic priority. 
  • See something at-risk? Drill down into each piece of work regardless of how many plans it's a part of.

add focus areas in cascade strategy execution platform

📚 Recommended read: Strategic Focus Areas: How to create them + Examples

4. Strategic Objectives

The importance of setting clear and specific objectives for your strategic plan cannot be overstated. 

Strategic objectives are the specific and measurable outcomes you want to achieve . While they should align with your focus areas, they should be more detailed and have a clear deadline. 

According to the 2022 State of High Performing Teams report , there is a strong correlation between goals and success not only at the individual and team level but also at the organizational level. Here’s what they found: 

  • Employees who are unaware of their company's goals are over three times more likely to work at a company that is experiencing a decline in revenue than employees who are aware of the goals. 
  • Companies with shrinking revenues are almost twice as likely to have employees with unclear work expectations. 

Jumping straight into actions without defining clear objectives is a common mistake that can lead to missed opportunities or misalignment between strategy and execution.

To avoid this pitfall, we recommend you add between three and six objectives to each focus area .

It's here that we need to start being a bit more specific for the first time in your strategic planning process . Let's take a look at an example of a well-written strategic objective:

  • Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

This is too specific to be a focus area. While it's still very high level, it indicates what the company wants to accomplish and includes a clear deadline. Both these aspects are critical to a good strategic objective.

Your strategic objectives are the heart and soul of your plan, and you need to ensure they are well-crafted. So, take the time to create well-planned objectives that will help you achieve your vision and lead your organization to success. 

👉Here’s how you can set objectives in Cascade: 

Adding objectives in Cascade is intuitive, straightforward, and accessible from almost anywhere in the workspace. With one click, you’ll open the objective sidebar and fill out the details. These can include a timeline, the objective’s owner, collaborators, and how your objective will be measured (success criteria).

📚 Recommended read: What are Strategic Objectives? How to write them + Examples

5. Actions and projects

Once you’ve defined your strategic objectives, the next step is to identify the specific strategic initiatives or projects that will help you achieve those objectives . They are short-term goals or actionable steps you or your team members will take to accomplish objectives. They should leverage the company’s resources and core competencies. 

Effective projects and actions in your strategic plan should: 

  • Be extremely specific. 
  • Contain a deadline.
  • Have an owner.
  • Align with at least one of your strategic objectives.
  • Provide clarity on how you or your team will achieve the strategic objective.

Let's take a look at an example of a well-written project continuing with our bike manufacturing company using the strategic objective from above:

Strategic objective: Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

Project: Expand into the fixed gear market by 31st December 2023.

This is more specific than the objective it links to, and it details what you will do to achieve the objective.

Another common problem area for strategic plans is that they never quite get down to the detail of what you're going to do.

It's easier to state "we need to grow our business," but without concrete projects and initiatives, those plans will sit forever within their PowerPoint templates, never to see the light of day after their initial creation.

Actions and projects are where the rubber meets the road. They connect the organizational strategic goals with the actual capabilities of your people and the resources at their disposal. Defining projects is a vital reality check every strategic plan needs.

👉Here’s how you create actions and projects in Cascade: 

From the Objective sidebar, you can choose to add a project or action under your chosen objective. In the following steps, you can assign an owner and timeline to each action or project.

Plus, in Cascade, you can track the progress of each project or action in four different ways. You can do it manually, via milestones, checklists, or automatically by integrating with Jira and 1000+ other available integrations .  

📚 Recommended read: How to create effective projects

Measuring progress towards strategic objectives is essential to effective strategic control and business success. That's where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in. KPIs are measurable values that track progress toward achieving key business objectives . They keep you on track and help you stay focused on the goals you set for your organization.

To get the most out of your KPIs, make sure you link them to a specific goal or objective. In this way, you'll avoid creating KPIs that don't contribute to your objectives and distract you from focusing on what matters. 

Ideally, you will add both leading and lagging KPIs to each objective so you can get a more balanced view of how well you're progressing. Leading KPIs can indicate future performance while lagging KPIs show how well you’ve done in the past. Both types of KPIs are critical for operational planning and keeping your business on track.

Think of KPIs as a form of signpost in your organization. They provide critical insights that inform business leaders of their organization’s progress toward key business objectives. Plus, they can help you identify opportunities faster and capitalize on flexibility. 

👉Here’s how you can set and track KPIs in Cascade: 

In Cascade , you can add measures while creating your objectives or add them afterward. Open the Objective sidebar and add your chosen measure. 

When you create your Measure, you can choose how to track it. Using Cascade, you can track it manually or automatically. You can automate tracking via 1000+ integrations , including Excel spreadsheets and Google Sheets. In this way, you can save time and ensure that your team has up-to-date information for faster and more confident decision-making.

📚 Recommended reads:

  • 10 Popular KPI Software Tools To Connect & Visualize Your Data (2023 Guide)
  • ‍ How To Track KPIs To Hit Your Business Goals

Corporate Strategic Plan 

Following the steps outlined above, you should end up with a strategic plan that looks something like this:

corporate strategy plan template in cascade

This is a preview of a corporate strategic plan template that is pre-filled with examples. Here you can use the template for free and begin filling it out to align with your organization's needs. Plus, it’s suitable for organizations of all sizes and any industry. 

Once you fill in the template, you can also switch to the timeline view. You’ll get a complete overview of how the different parts of your plan are distributed across the roadmap in a Gantt chart view.

timeline view strategic planning corporate strategy

This template will help you create a structured approach to the strategic planning process, focus on key strategic priorities, and drive accountability to achieve necessary business outcomes. 

👉 Get your free corporate strategic plan template here.

Coca-Cola Strategic Plan 

Need a bit of extra inspiration to start writing your organization’s strategic plan? Check out this strategic plan example, inspired by Coca-Cola’s business plan: 

coca-cola strategy plan template in cascade

This template is pre-filled with Coca-Cola’s examples so you can inspire your strategic success on one of the most iconic brands on the planet. 

👉 Grab your free example of a Coca-Cola strategic plan here.

The Ramsay Health Care expansion strategy

Ramsay Health Care is a multinational healthcare provider with a strong presence in Australia, Europe, and Asia.

Almost all of its growth was organic and strategic. The company founded its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, but in the 21st century, it decided to expand globally through a primary strategy of making brownfield investments and acquisitions in key locations.

Ramsay's strategy was simple yet clever. By becoming a majority shareholder of the biggest local players, the company expanded organically in each region by leveraging and expanding their expertise.

Over the last two decades, Ramsay's global network has grown to 460 locations across 10 countries with over $13 billion in annual revenue.

📚 Recommended read: Strategy study: The Ramsay Health Care Growth Study

✨ Bonus resource: We've created a list of the most popular and free strategic plan templates in our library that will help you build a strategic plan based on the Cascade model explained in this article. You can use these templates to create a plan on a corporate, business unit, or team level.

We highlighted before that other strategic models often fail to scale strategic plans and goals scales across multiple teams and organizational levels. 

In an ideal world, you want to have a maximum of two layers of detail underneath each of your focus areas. This means you'll have a focus area, followed by a layer of objectives. Underneath the objectives, you'll have a layer of actions, projects, and KPIs.

Diagram of the Cascade Model framework showing the structure for focus areas, objectives, KPIs, actions and projects

If you have a single team that’s responsible for the strategy execution, this works well. However, how do you implement a strategy across multiple and cross-functional teams? And why is it important? 

According to LSA research of 410 companies across 8 industries, highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable. And this is what Cascade can help you achieve. 

To achieve achieve organization-wide alignment with your strategic plan and impact the bottom line, there are two ways to approach it in Casade: through contributing objectives or shared objectives .

1. Contributing objectives

This approach involves adding contributing objectives that link to your main strategic objectives, like this:

diagram showing contributing objectives in the cascade model

For each contributing objective, you simply repeat the Objective → Action/Project → KPI structure as follows:

contributing objectives with kpis and actions cascade model

Here's how you can create contributing objectives in Cascade: 

Option A: Create contributing objectives within the same plan 

This means creating multiple contributing objectives within the same strategic plan that contribute to the main objective. 

However, be aware that if you have a lot of layers, your strategic plan can become cluttered, and people might have difficulty understanding how their daily efforts contribute to the strategic plan at the top level. 

For example, the people responsible for managing contributing objectives at the bottom of the plan ( functional / operational level ) will lose visibility on how are their objectives linked to the main focus areas and objectives (at a corporate / business level ). 

This approach is best suited to smaller organizations that only need to add a few layers of objectives to their plan.

Option B: Create contributing objectives from multiple plans linking to the main objective

This approach creates a network of aligned strategic plans within your organization. Each plan contains a set of focus areas and one single layer of objectives, each with its own set of projects, actions, and KPIs. This concept looks like this:

Diagram showing contributing objectives from multiple plans linking to the main objective in Cascade

This example illustrates an objective that is a main objective in the IT strategic plan , but also contributes to the main strategic plan's objective.

For example, let’s say that your main business objective is to improve customer satisfaction by reducing product delivery time by 25% in the next quarter. This objective requires multiple operational teams within your organization to work together to achieve a shared objective. 

Each team will create its own objective in its plan to contribute to the main objective: 

  • Logistics team: Reduce the shipment preparation time by 30%
  • IT team: Implement new technology to reduce manual handling in the warehouse
  • Production team: Increase production output by hour for 5%   

Here’s how this example would look like within Cascade platform:

example of contributing objectives in cascade

Although each contributing objective was originally created in its own plan, you can see how each contributing objective relates to the main strategic objective and its status in real-time.

2. Shared objectives

In Cascade, shared objectives are the same objectives shared across different strategic plans.

For example, you can have an objective that is “Achieve sustainable operations”. This objective can be part of the Corporate Strategy Plan, but also part of the Operations Plan , Supply Chain Plan , Production Plan, etc. In short, this objective becomes a shared objective between multiple teams and strategic plan. 

This approach helps you to:

  • Cascade your business strategy as deep as you want across a near-infinite number of people while maintaining strategic alignment throughout your organization .
  • Create transparency and a much higher level of engagement in the strategy throughout your organization since objective owners are able to identify how their shared efforts contribute to the success of the main business objectives.

The more shared objectives you have across your organization, the more your teams will be aligned with the overarching business strategy. This is what we call " alignment health ”. 

Here’s how you can see the shared objectives in the alignment map and analyze alignment health within Cascade:

Alignment Map and Objective Sidebar in cascade for shared objectives

You get a snapshot of how is your corporate strategic plan aligned with sub-plans from different business units or departments and the status of shared objectives. This helps you quickly identify misaligned initiatives and act before it’s too late.  Plus, cross-functional teams have better visibility of how their efforts contribute to shared objectives. 

So whether you choose contributing objectives or shared objectives, Cascade has the tools and features to help you achieve organization-wide alignment and boost your bottom line.

Quick Overview Of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Here’s a quick infographic to help you remember how everything connects and why each element is critical to creating an effective strategic plan:

The Cascade Model Overview cheatsheet

This simple answer to how to write a strategic plan avoids confusing jargon and has elements that the whole organization can both get behind and understand. 

💡Tip: Save this image or bookmark this article for your next strategic planning session.

If you're struggling to write an execution-ready strategic plan, the Cascade model is the solution you've been looking for. With its clear, easy-to-understand terminology, and simple linkages between objectives, projects, and KPIs, you can create a plan that's both scalable and flexible.

But why is a flexible and execution-ready strategic plan so important? It's simple: without a clear and actionable plan, you'll never be able to achieve your business objectives. By using the Cascade Strategic Planning Model, you'll be able to create a plan that's both tangible and measurable, with KPIs that help you track progress towards your goals.

However, the real value of the Cascade framework lies in its flexibility . By creating links between main business objectives and your teams’ objectives, you can easily scale your plan without losing focus. Plus, the model's structure of linked layers means that you can always adjust your strategy in response to new challenges or opportunities and keep everyone on the same page. 

So if you want to achieve results with your strategic plan, start using Cascade today. With its unique combination of flexibility and focus, it's the perfect tool for any organization looking to master strategy execution and succeed in today's fast-paced business world. 

Want to see Cascade in action? Get started for free or book a 1:1 demo with Cascade’s in-house strategy expert.

This article is part one of our mini-series "How to Write a Strategic Plan". This first article will give you a solid strategy model for your plan and get the strategic thinking going.

Think of it as the foundation for your new strategy. Subsequent parts of the series will show you how to create the content for your strategic plan.

Articles in our How to Write a Strategic Plan series

  • How To Write A Strategic Plan: The Cascade Model (This article)
  • How to Write a Good Vision Statement
  • How To Create Company Values
  • Creating Strategic Focus Areas
  • How To Write Strategic Objective
  • How To Create Effective Projects
  • How To Write KPIs + Ultimate Guide To Strategic Planning

More resources on strategic planning and strategy execution: 

  • 6 Steps to Successful Strategy Execution
  • 4-Step Strategy Reporting Process (With Template)
  • Annual Planning: Plan Like a Pro In 5 Steps (+ Template) 
  • 18 Free Strategic Plan Templates (Excel & Cascade) 2023
  • The Right Way To Set Team Goals
  • 23 Best Strategy Tools For Your Organization in 2023

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Business Level Strategy Examples & Types for Corporate Strategy Success

Published: 07 February, 2024

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Stefan F.Dieffenbacher

Digital Strategy

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In business, the right business strategy can make or break success . Business-level strategy is crucial in defining how a company positions itself within its industry and competes in the market.

Nowadays, successful businesses blend this strategy with digital transformation and innovation strategies. At Digital Leadership, our  Innovation Consulting  and  Digital Transformation Consulting  services, we foster creativity and ensure seamless alignment of technology adoption with  business goals . Our approach involves   integrating Jobs to be Done   into your right  business-level strategy,  focusing on understanding customers’ fundamental needs and motivations to establish meaningful and lasting connections.

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In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the definition, examples, types, importance, steps of implementation, and comparison with corporate level strategy of business level strategies . We will also explore successful companies and their effective business-level strategies, providing insights and inspiration for entrepreneurs aiming to achieve sustainable growth.

What is Business Level Strategy Definition

A business level strategy involves the stratgeic planning and actions taken to set the direction for a particular business unit . It’s about how a company aims to excel and gain an edge in a specific market area or industry. This strategy outlines how the business plans to distinguish itself from rivals, deliver value to customers, and reach its business goals within its chosen market.

Benefits of business level strategy encompass heightened revenue generation, enhanced forecasting of future requirements, swifter responses compared to rivals, and a fortified brand capable of navigating changes with resilience. Two prevalent strategies often employed are cost leadership and differentiation.

The Business Model Canvas plays a pivotal role in business level strategy in aligning different elements to ensure that they collectively support the overarching strategic goals. By focusing on customer-centric components and resource allocation, the canvas aids in decision-making crucial to gaining a competitive advantage. Its adaptability allows businesses to innovate and respond to market changes, a vital aspect in executing effective business-level strategies.

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Levels of strategy: corporate, business and functional level strategies.

  • Corporate Level Strategy: This level of strategy includes decisions related to the overall direction and scope of the organization. It encompasses decisions such as diversification, acquisitions, and strategic alliances to maximize overall corporate performance.
  • Business Level Strategy: It focuses on how a business unit or division positions itself within a specific industry or market segment to gain a competitive advantage.
  • Functional Level Strategy : Functional level strategy deals with the formulation and implementation of strategies specific to various functional areas within the organization, such as marketing, finance, operations, and human resources.

Business level strategies are narrower than corporate level strategies yet not as narrowly focused as functional level strategies. For instance, if your corporate level strategy aimed to enhance market share, your business level strategy could be: Expand market reach.

To learn more about different Levels of strategies – like corporate and business strategies you will find it in our book “ How to create innovation “. Understanding these strategies will help you make smart decisions for your own organization. Download the book now to start learning and taking control of your strategic planning.

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Business Level Strategy Examples of Successful Companies

Let’s explore examples of successful companies and their business-level strategies:

1) Apple Business Level Strategy

Apple’s successful business-level strategy is based on product differentiation and innovation. By consistently delivering high-quality, innovative products with sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces, Apple has positioned itself as a premium brand in the technology industry.

2) Starbucks Business Level Strategy

Starbucks employs a differentiation strategy by offering a unique and immersive customer experience. Through its cozy atmosphere, personalized service, and premium coffee offerings, Starbucks has built a loyal customer base and differentiated itself from competitors in the coffeehouse industry.

3) Walmart Business Level Strategy

Walmart follows a cost leadership strategy by offering a wide range of products at low prices. By leveraging economies of scale, efficient supply chain management, and strategic partnerships, Walmart, a cost leader in the retail industry, attracts price-conscious consumers.

Five Types of Business Level Strategy

Cost leadership, differentiation, focused low-cost, focused differentiation, integrated, and customer intimacy are successful business-level strategies used to achieve a competitive edge . Business-level strategies can be classified into five main types:

1. The Cost Leadership Strategy

The strategy of cost leadership entails striving to become the most economical producer within an industry. Businesses employing this approach seek to gain a competitive edge by providing products or services at lower prices compared to rivals, all while upholding acceptable quality standards. This tactic enables companies to attract price-sensitive customers and secure a significant share of the market. Through a concerted emphasis on cost efficiency and operational optimization, organizations can achieve cost leadership, establishing themselves as formidable contenders in their respective sectors.

2. The Differentiation Strategy

The differentiation strategy, a variant of business-level strategies, revolves around offering distinctive products or services perceived by consumers as superior in quality, value, or features. By setting themselves apart from competitors, companies can leverage their strategic initiatives to command premium prices and foster customer loyalty.

3. The Focused Leadership Strategy

The focused leadership strategy, commonly known as the niche strategy, entails directing efforts towards a specific market segment or niche with specialized offerings. By addressing the distinct needs and preferences of a narrow customer base, companies can attain a competitive advantage and bolster profitability.

4. The Focused Differentiation Strategy

A focused differentiation strategy blends elements of differentiation and focus strategies by delivering unique products or services tailored to a particular market segment. Firms embracing this strategy aim to carve out a niche market where they can demand premium prices and cultivate strong customer allegiance.

5. The Integrated Cost Leadership / Differentiation Strategy

The integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy involves concurrently pursuing both cost leadership and differentiation strategies within a single business unit or division. By providing products or services that are both distinctive and cost-effective, companies can embrace a low-cost approach appealing to a broad customer base while sustaining competitive pricing.

Importance of Integrating Business Level Strategy

Integrating business-level strategy into business plan and decision-making processes is crucial for several reasons:

  • Alignment with Corporate Strategies: Business-level strategies align with corporate objectives and contribute to the overall success of the organization.
  • C reating Unique Value Proposition: It helps companies create unique value propositions that differentiate them from competitors and attract customers.
  • Competitive Advantage: Effective business-level strategies provide companies with a competitive advantage in the market, enabling them to outperform rivals.
  • Long-term Sustainability : It focuses on long-term sustainability and growth, ensuring the organization’s viability and relevance in the future.
  • Optimizing Resource Allocation: By aligning resources with strategic objectives, business level strategies help optimize resource allocation and maximize returns on investment.
  • Enhanced Coordination and Collaboration: It promotes coordination and collaboration across different functions and departments, fostering a unified approach towards achieving corporate goals.
  • Simplification of Decision Making : Clear and well-defined corporate and business level strategies simplify decision-making processes by demonstrating a roadmap for action and guiding resource allocation.
  • Streamlining Adaptation to Market Positioning: It enables organizations to adapt quickly to changes in market conditions and customer preferences, ensuring continued relevance and competitiveness.
  • Risk Management: Effective business-level strategies help organizations identify and mitigate risks associated with market dynamics, competitive pressures, and industry disruptions.
  • Customer Centricity: It prioritizes customer needs and preferences, driving customer-centric innovation and value creation.

The Value Proposition Canvas is crucial for integrating business-level strategy as it aids in crafting a unique value proposition. By aligning with corporate objectives, it helps businesses differentiate themselves, gain a competitive advantage, and ensure long-term sustainability. Moreover, it optimizes resource allocation, enhances coordination, simplifies decision-making, and streamlines adaptation to market changes. Additionally, it aids in risk management and promotes customer-centricity by focusing on meeting unmet customer needs effectively.

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2) understand the competitive environment.

Analyze competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positions to identify competitive threats and opportunities. Identify gaps in the market where the organization can gain a competitive advantage.

3) Define Strategic Objectives:

Define clear and measurable objectives aligned with the organization’s mission, vision, and business model values. Set targets for revenue growth, market share, profitability, customer satisfaction, and other key performance indicators (KPIs).

4) Identify Target Customer Segments

Segment the market based on demographic, psychographic, geographic, and behavioural factors to identify target customer segments. Understand the needs, preferences, and purchasing behaviour of target customers to tailor products or services accordingly.

5) Select the Right Business-Level Strategy

Evaluate different business level strategies based on their alignment with strategic objectives, competitive advantage potential, and resource requirements. Choose the successful strategy that best fits the organization’s capabilities, market position, and growth aspirations.

6) Develop Action Plans:

Develop detailed action plans outlining specific initiatives, tasks, timelines, and resource allocations required to implement the chosen business level strategy . Assign responsibilities to team members and define performance metrics for monitoring progress and success.

7) Build Organizational Support Culture

Foster a supportive organizational culture that encourages collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. Communicate the rationale behind the chosen business level strategy and engage employees at all levels in the implementation process.

Organizational culture Canvas provides a framework for understanding the values, norms, and behaviors that are desired within the company. By aligning the chosen business-level strategy with the prevailing organizational culture, leaders can ensure consistency and coherence in the implementation process. Leveraging an organizational culture model enhances the cohesion, effectiveness, and sustainability of the business-level strategy implementation process.

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8) implement and monitor key performance indicators (kpis).

Implement the action plans and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Regularly review and analyze KPIs to ensure that the business level strategy is on track to achieve its objectives.

9) Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Strategy

Conduct regular reviews and evaluations to assess the effectiveness of the business level strategy in achieving strategic objectives. Identify lessons learned and make necessary adjustments for optimizing performance and driving sustainable growth through strategic planning.

Business Level Strategy vs Corporate Level Strategy

While business-level strategy focuses on how a business unit or division competes in a specific market segment, corporate-level strategy deals with the overall direction and scope of the organization as a whole. While business-level strategy determines how a company positions itself within its industry, corporate-level strategy defines the portfolio of businesses and the allocation of resources across them to maximize overall corporate performance.

In conclusion, business level strategy plays a crucial role in driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage for organizations. By understanding the definition, examples, types, importance, steps of implementation, and comparison of corporate and business-level strategies , entrepreneurs can develop and execute effective strategies that position their modern businesses for long-term success in dynamic and competitive markets.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) what is the advantage of setting business-level strategies.

Setting business-level strategies provides several advantages, including:

  • Competitive Advantage: It enables companies to gain a competitive advantage in the market by differentiating themselves from competitors and creating unique value propositions for customers.
  • Resource Allocation: It helps optimize resource allocation by aligning resources with strategic objectives and focusing investments on areas with the highest potential for growth and profitability.
  • Long-term Sustainability: Effective business-level strategies contribute to the long-term sustainability and success of the organization by ensuring continued relevance and competitiveness in the market.

2) How often should a business-level strategy be reassessed?

It should be reassessed regularly to ensure alignment with changing market dynamics, competitive pressures, and organizational capabilities. Depending on the pace of change in the industry and the organization’s strategic priorities, business-level strategies may need to be reviewed and adjusted annually, quarterly, or even more frequently.

3) Business-level strategy addresses which overarching question?

It addresses the overarching question of how a business unit or division positions itself within its industry or market segment to gain a competitive advantage and achieve its successful business goals . It focuses on defining the approach and tactics necessary to differentiate the organization from competitors and create value for customers in the chosen market.

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How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?

  • Gary P. Pisano

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Growth—in revenues and profits—is the yardstick by which the competitive fitness and health of organizations is measured. Consistent profitable growth is thus a near universal goal for leaders—and an elusive one.

To achieve that goal, companies need a growth strategy that encompasses three related sets of decisions: how fast to grow, where to seek new sources of demand, and how to develop the financial, human, and organizational capabilities needed to grow. This article offers a framework for examining the critical interdependencies of those decisions in the context of a company’s overall business strategy, its capabilities and culture, and external market dynamics.

Why leaders should take a strategic perspective

Idea in Brief

The problem.

Sustained profitable growth is a nearly universal corporate goal, but it is an elusive one. Empirical research suggests that when inflation is taken into account, most companies barely grow at all.

While external factors play a role, most companies’ growth problems are self-inflicted: Too many firms approach growth in a highly reactive, opportunistic manner.

The Solution

To grow profitably over the long term, companies need a strategy that addresses three key decisions: how fast to grow (rate of growth); where to seek new sources of demand (direction of growth); and how to amass the resources needed to grow (method of growth).

Perhaps no issue attracts more senior leadership attention than growth does. And for good reason. Growth—in revenues and profits—is the yardstick by which we tend to measure the competitive fitness and health of companies and determine the quality and compensation of its management. Analysts, investors, and boards pepper CEOs about growth prospects to get insight into stock prices. Employees are attracted to faster-growing companies because they offer better opportunities for advancement, higher pay, and greater job security. Suppliers prefer faster-growing customers because working with them improves their own growth prospects. Given the choice, most companies and their stakeholders would choose faster growth over slower growth.

Five elements can move you beyond episodic success.

  • Gary P. Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the author of Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation (PublicAffairs, 2019).

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  • “Beyond GBS” organizations strengthen their ownership of end-to-end outcomes. They run GBS like a business in terms of performance, cost, and service levels, and they attract more attention from the C-suite.
  • They lead digitization initiatives, scale their best practices internally using consistent structures and processes globally, and provide new value-added services adjacent to their core delivery.
  • Implementing this model involves building a robust digital and data backbone, fostering internal partnerships, and redefining the GBS mandate to include value-added activities beyond traditional transactional processes.

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/ article, transforming global business services into a strategic function.

By  Fabrice Roghé ,  Sascha Kleebaur , and  Kai Sondermann

Key Takeaways

Once a revolutionary organization inside many companies, global business services (GBS) today stands at a crossroads. Created in the 1990s to centralize transactional tasks for finance, HR, and other internal units, many GBS functions have reached a strategic tipping point—requiring corporate leaders to make crucial decisions on the future of their GBS organizations.

A recent BCG study showed that only 41% of companies believe that GBS creates value. With that in mind, the leaders of these support functions must raise their game at a time when companies around the world face unprecedented challenges in how they operate. Marginal adjustments to GBS strategy are no longer sufficient.

As the limitations of traditional models become evident, GBS must transition from a purely operational role to a more strategic one. Although global business service organizations have been at the forefront of change in the past, they now need to reinvent themselves to build support and enabling functions that are more resilient, flexible, and scalable. They also need to expand their charters and provide more value-added activities such as collections and payments, customer management, and even sales functions.

The next generation of GBS functions are becoming more closely intertwined with corporate success—and the GBS model, as a key amplifier of change, is about to take center stage, creating value beyond its legacy contributions. GBS can lead the transformation of areas such as customer experience , operations , and worker training. This requires corporations to adopt a new mindset—and a new framework that we call “Beyond GBS.”

A Bold Vision for Global Business Services

Under the traditional GBS model, C-suite and GBS executives alike have focused largely on consolidating tasks, maximizing transactional processing efficiency, and minimizing costs by bundling resources and operating from low-cost locations around the world.

But the legacy model may have hit its limits: between 2009 and 2021, overhead costs—as measured by sales and general administration—grew 35% more than overall corporate margins, giving rise to what’s known as the “GBS value dilemma.”

This creates three imperatives for GBS organizations:

  • To further strengthen their ownership of end-to-end outcomes
  • To run GBS like a business in terms of performance, cost, and service levels
  • To attract more attention from the C-suite

The “Beyond GBS” model puts these imperatives into practice. It offers a bold vision, strategy, mandate, and governance structure that is aligned with the company’s strategic direction and initiatives and promoted by the group, business, and functional leadership. “Beyond GBS” organizations lead digitization initiatives, scale their best practices internally around the world using consistent structures and processes, and provide new value-added services adjacent to their core delivery.

Taking Support Functions to the Next Level

“Beyond GBS” is the highest of five levels in the support-function journey. At the first, or bottom, level are the roughly 15% of companies that either have no GBS function or have standalone centers siloed across multiple geographies. Companies at this level suffer the most: one company we’ve studied has 117,000 accounting cost centers for 72,000 employees, 150 reporting lines between shared services and the business units they support, and a $5 billion gap in cost optimization versus their peers.

The second level, representing 40% of companies, are those organizations still running multifunctional service factories. The third level and fourth levels, each representing another 20% of companies, consist of organizations with integrated global support functions.

The fifth, and highest, level consists of the roughly 5% of all companies who have gone beyond GBS. These companies have digitized transactional activities and developed effective platform deliveries and end-to-end solutions. They achieve all this while rebalancing workloads seamlessly between global worksites.

Reaching this top level remains a challenge for many companies. In our experience, GBS organizations achieve roughly 80% of the potential gains—the low-hanging fruit, in other words—if they depend on labor arbitrage, process efficiencies, and the first-time digitization of processes. Despite the complexity and high costs of most GBS initiatives, GBS teams tend to hit an early ceiling and incremental improvements tend to be small. This is particularly true for laggard GBS functions, which represent about two-thirds of all organizations.

The success of GBS organizations is mainly limited by weakly aligned top-management GBS priorities, a nonaligned target picture, and subsequently having a very rigid governance and ineffective steering of the GBS model. Leapfrogging from a less mature GBS model to an advanced one has only proven successful in isolated cases, given the lack of synchronized implementation across the organization. Thus, rather than focusing on incremental improvement of traditional practices—which add value for no more than 10% of companies—companies need to completely rethink and redesign the GBS function.

How to Get Started

Before implementing the best practices of the “Beyond GBS” model, corporate leaders must ensure that they have a firm foundation in place. That starts with an enhanced digital and data backbone with the latest technology solutions and continues with the following three building blocks:

  • An agile internal customer front line that brings GBS close to its customers and fosters rapid delivery of services and a responsive iteration of new offerings
  • A highly effective delivery platform that drives exceptional operations, focuses on value-adding activities, and attracts high-quality employees
  • A digital innovation center that delivers a steady stream of new capabilities and technologies, enabling constant improvement in the GBS unit’s interfaces and delivery platforms

Assured that a solid foundation is in place, organizations can then begin implementing the “Beyond GBS” model. There are five steps companies should take to unlock the most business value:

1. Forge internal “value partnerships.” This step repositions GBS teams from a siloed, transactional processing unit to a partner that can help other business units optimize their processes to create total company value through outcome- and impact-based solutions.

2. Boldly rescope your mandate. Leaders need to think beyond the transactional core mindset of the past to a bolder, broader, and even more radical vision of what GBS can provide. To be sure, transactional processing cannot be ignored. But by embracing AI and analytics, GBS can play a valuable role in ESG and compliance reporting and user experience design—all with a clear link to overall strategy and business outcomes. Once the foundation is secured, GBS leaders have an opportunity to sell the CEO and C-suite team on a broader charter.

3. Expand talent and capability access. To expand beyond extended-workbench thinking requires the creation of vibrant capability hubs and global capability teams that provide nonclassical GBS services, including R&D and other center-of-expertise activities. This shift allows these services to collocate to locations with the best mix of cost and talent. At the same time, attracting and retaining the best talent remain priorities and can be enhanced with upskilling and cross-skilling initiatives. This approach places greater emphasis on expertise and digital capabilities.

4. Rethink global ways of working. This critical step moves teams beyond the obligatory, if not forced, cross-functional and organizational alignment to a new model promoting institutionalized global ownership. This includes a globally organized mandate and the formation of distributed teams with global coverage. The goal is to maximize the contribution of global team members. GBS leaders can play a key role in fostering global functional ownership that enhances the contributions of these global teams.

5. Build in scale and resilience. The optimal setup for a “Beyond GBS” approach is a platform-based operating and technology model that provides agility, flexibility, and a healthy redundancy of globalized and localized services along a multicapability hub infrastructure that leverages external partners. The three key components of this model are a customer-centric interface, an agile (and digital) “center of competence,” and a global network of shared delivery platforms managed by the GBS team and vendors as needed. This setup ensures the company is globally resilient even as it scales—and enables the company to continuously rebalance workloads based on the geopolitical climate.

In the “Beyond GBS” model, vibrant service hubs are built around a globally consistent, modular approach that enables new “plug-and-play” services. This approach also allows for the collocation of noncore GBS functions at hubs to leverage GBS’s infrastructure costs and capabilities in the broader organizational ecosystem.

The main objective, of course, is to attract and retain the best talent while operating at the lowest costs. In addition, building out core process standards atop a digital and data backbone based on the latest tech solutions will create even more value. Leading these efforts are GBS’s global process owners, who will shape service operations globally and lead process optimization and digitization initiatives.

The evolution of the traditional GBS function into a more strategic business unit creates vast new opportunities for companies. By expanding beyond its historic back-office role, GBS teams can provide real value and drive impact rather than maintaining rigid structures and services. Solutions will become innovative and highly customized. And most important, “Beyond GBS” functions operate as business-like entities—actively managed by leading talent and measured against clear outcomes.

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Managing Director & Senior Partner

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Partner and Associate Director

Kai Sondermann

Partner and Associate Director, Organization Transformation

ABOUT BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP

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3 Types of Business Strategies to Consider for Your Organization

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  • 13 Dec 2022

A business strategy is a framework that helps define an organization's vision, objectives, and tactical decision-making processes. Yet, identifying these essential elements can be challenging.

For an organization’s strategy to succeed, its leaders must understand its identity in the marketplace. According to Harvard Business School Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee in the online course Business Strategy , this requires “a deeper understanding of your company and a profound sense of optimism about its potential for exceptional performance.”

If you want to learn about strategies that can benefit your organization, here’s an overview of value-based business strategy, commonly implemented approaches that can achieve long-term success, and how to choose the right strategy.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is a Value-Based Business Strategy?

The most effective business strategies are typically value-based, which means prices are predicated on consumers’ perceived value of products and services rather than their cost of production. Value-based business strategies are ideal for companies offering feature-rich products and services, such as Apple and Amazon.

Several components of value-based pricing are best illustrated by the value stick. The value stick comprises four critical aspects to implementing value-based pricing: willingness to pay (WTP) , price, cost, and willingness to sell (WTS). The value of a company’s product or service depends on where each component falls.

Value stick graphic showing WTP, price, cost, and WTS

Customer Delight

The top of the value stick represents customer delight, or the value based on customers’ perceptions of your product or service. Since a value-based strategy is customer-centric, you can drive brand awareness, loyalty, and goodwill by thoroughly researching your target market, creating open lines of communication, and building strong relationships with consumers.

Doing so enables your company to gather feedback about your services’ value and customers’ WTP. It can also help you add valuable features to products that benefit your business.

Company Margin

The middle of the value stick is the value of a product or service from your organization’s perspective, also known as the firm’s margin. Your company sets this value between its cost of production and customers’ WTP. This ensures your company earns the difference between the price being charged for a product or service and the cost of creating it.

It’s important to consider how to balance maximizing profits with customer delight to ensure loyalty and long-term success.

Supplier Surplus

The last section of the value stick showcases the value perceived by your organization's suppliers, or the supplier surplus. This refers to the total cost of producing goods or services, including physical and non-physical costs. Your company should strive to keep costs low and provide higher value to customers.

Although a value-based strategy is one of the most successful over the long term, you may need to adapt your business plan and product value according to your company’s goals and market competition.

“Ultimately, we want our business strategy to create financial success,” Oberholzer-Gee says in Business Strategy.

In the course, he outlines three essential questions your company’s strategy should revolve around:

  • How can my business best create value for customers?
  • How can my business create value for employees?
  • How can my business create value by collaborating with suppliers?

Answering these can set your organization up for success.

3 Strategies Businesses Need to Compete

Beyond understanding the critical components of a value-based business strategy, you must also know how to implement one—especially if you own a small business. Small businesses benefit from value-based strategies because they promote customer and brand loyalty and drive product innovation to meet customer needs .

Here are three strategies you should consider implementing in your business.

Related: 3 Methods for Identifying & Leveraging Your Customers’ Needs

Driving Company Value Using Differentiation

Creating higher product value requires differentiating your services from competitors’. According to Business Strategy , differentiation is one way for smaller businesses to succeed when competing with larger platforms.

The first step to differentiation is considering the type of investment required. A larger competitor, for instance, can produce sizable investments at a lower cost by spreading a fixed cost over several transactions. This means differentiation works best for smaller companies when it's achieved with modest variable costs.

For example, group buying—also known as collective buying—is a strategy in which a company agrees to sell a product or service in bulk at a lower price. E-commerce retailers commonly use collective buying. Smaller companies can take advantage of it by offering products at scale or upgraded feature tiers to like-minded customers.

This method ultimately lowers the fixed cost of customer acquisitions because current customers recruit new ones who benefit from a lower price point. It can also increase value in ways that don't depend on product scale. For example, network effects —when a product or service gains value as more people use it—are beneficial because they increase WTP.

Focusing on Neglected Platform Participants

In addition to differentiation, another approach highlighted in Business Strategy is focusing on the WTP of a consumer group less favored by a competing platform.

Large organizations serve multiple customer groups and subsets, which can make differentiating your product and establishing your ideal customer profile (ICP) daunting. However, it’s difficult for those businesses to ensure every customer is happy because of the scale of their operations.

By targeting neglected customers unhappy with competitors' products or services, you can differentiate your offerings and win their business by better meeting their needs. To do this effectively, return to the essentials of value-based business strategy: Research your target market, gather feedback so you can address customers’ pain points, and develop trust.

Business Strategy | Simplify Strategy to Make the Greatest Business Impact | Learn More

Catering to Small Groups of Customers

Another business strategy to consider is focusing on customers who value connection. By doing so, you can significantly increase brand loyalty and develop customer advocates who recruit others and increase retention.

eHarmony, the online dating platform, is used as an example in Business Strategy. Within the competitive landscape of dating sites, customers’ WTP is often pulled in opposite directions as websites attract more members. Yet, an increase in membership can create more competition among users when trying to find someone to date, which can deter people from using the platform and decrease its perceived value.

Consider one of eHarmony’s competitors, Match.com. While Match.com’s membership price is lower than eHarmony’s, its large number of users lowers the value of its services for many consumers. Unlike Match.com, eHarmony sells its services to a small group of consumers to remove the possibility of them experiencing too much rejection when seeking a dating partner. Its users, in turn, pay a premium price for that experience and help the business succeed.

Choosing the Right Business Strategy

Developing a value-based business strategy is one of the best ways for your organization to excel. Once you’ve set your business goals, adapt your strategy by differentiating your products and services from competitors’, marketing to neglected customer bases, and targeting consumers who want a specific experience.

Taking an online course, such as Business Strategy , can help you understand how to implement strategy within your organization and shed light on why some companies are more successful than others.

Are you interested in learning more about business strategies that can improve your organization’s bottom line? Explore our online course Business Strategy and download our free e-book on strategy formulation.

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Strategic Human Resource Management (2024 Guide)

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Ernie Martin is a seasoned marketing and communications authority, the author of “Nobody Cares About Your Business – The 8 Universal Marketing Principles Every Entrepreneur Must Know to Make Customers LOVE Their Business” and the founder and CEO of Receivable Savvy, a research and content development consultancy that focuses on a particular niche in finance.

A graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, Ernie holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing, has acted as a substitute adjunct professor and regularly mentors entrepreneurs and small business owners as they launch and grow their companies. Ernie resides in the Atlanta, Georgia area and enjoys running, cycling, music and playing acoustic and electric guitar.

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Kara is an editor from North Carolina with experience in business technology and services topics as well as health. She is dedicated to delivering clear and captivating content to readers who want to make well-informed choices. Throughout her career, Kara has collaborated with and advised many small businesses in diverse marketing roles. Such experiences offer her a distinct viewpoint on how appropriate technology and services can drive growth for entrepreneurs. Kara’s writing has appeared on Verywellfamily.com, Labroots.com, and SkinnyMs.com.

Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM) plays a critical role in connecting the way HR departments manage current and prospective employees with the company’s long-term objectives in mind.

This approach to HR management assures that the workforce is handled strategically and nurtured to enhance their contributions to the organization’s long-term success and sustainability. Moreover, SHRM assists the HR department in optimizing and harnessing the potential of its workforce.

This article aims to define SHRM while highlighting its principles and advantageous outcomes, illustrating how it can provide organizations with a competitive advantage.

What Is Strategic HR Management (SHRM)?

SHRM refers to aligning an organization’s workforce with its core strategies, goals and future objectives, going beyond simple human resources planning.

By integrating HR management into various aspects of the company, such as recruitment, training and rewards based on performance, SHRM enables HR professionals to contribute to the growth and success of the organization directly. As businesses face the changing landscape of work, SHRM becomes a framework that enhances organizational resilience and competitiveness.

Why Strategic HR Management Is Important

Throughout the latter part of the 20th century, the role of HR was primarily limited to administrative tasks. As time has progressed, human resources has seen a remarkable evolution, transforming into a valued internal department that provides multiple benefits to a business and its operations, such as talent management and being a strategic player in a business’s company culture.

Today, HR leaders adopt the SHRM approach to ensure that a business possesses the right team to drive organizational growth and accomplish its mission. It’s no longer only about filling open positions within a company. SHRM is focused on carefully selecting individuals whose skills align with the company’s future objectives.

For example, rather than focusing on typical HR functions such as recruiting and onboarding employees to fill immediate openings, human resources departments now strive to attract individuals who possess talents and experience to meet the future demands of the company.

Benefits of Strategic HR Management

Strategic HR management offers a variety of excellent benefits to organizations. In addition to enhancing overall organizational performance, it plays an important role in creating sensible HR policies. 

This strategic approach ensures that human resources align seamlessly with broader organizational goals, helping to contribute to a dynamic and purpose-driven workforce. 

Better Recruitment and Development of Top Talent

SHRM significantly improves an organization’s recruitment and development strategies around new hires. By taking a proactive and outcomes-based approach, organizations can identify individuals whose skills meet current needs and align with future demands. Through deliberate and meticulous long-term planning, organizations can identify, select and nurture high-caliber talent, creating a workforce well-prepared for future challenges.

More Agile and Adaptive Workforce

A significant benefit of SHRM is its ability to bring about agility within the workforce. SHRM ensures that organizations remain resilient and responsive to virtually any marketplace challenge by promoting flexibility in response to market changes and encouraging adaptation to industry trends. This is important to business performance and allows companies to remain competitive in an ever-evolving business landscape.

Increased Employee Engagement and Retention

SHRM places an emphasis on cultivating a workplace culture and aligning employee values with the broader organizational mission. This focus on ensuring employee satisfaction and loyalty leads to enhanced levels of commitment, better engagement and higher retention rates. 

When employees feel connected to the company’s goals and values, they are more likely to remain dedicated, leading to a more motivated workforce.

Enhanced Workforce Productivity and Performance

Critical aspects of SHRM designed to impact workforce productivity include strategically aligning employee skills with job roles and implementing targeted training and development initiatives. 

By ensuring that each team member’s abilities are effectively utilized and continuously nurtured, SHRM creates an environment focused on performance. This results in enhanced productivity that propels the organization toward achieving its organizational goals.

Key Principles of Strategic HR Management

There are many key principles of Strategic HR Management, most of which include aligning high-performing staff with organizations built to facilitate high achievement.

Adaptability and Flexibility to the Changing Business Landscape

By recognizing the nature of the marketplace, this principle ensures that HR practices quickly adjust to unforeseen challenges, technological advancements and shifts in industry trends. Cultivating a culture of adaptability helps organizations navigate uncertainties, seize opportunities and maintain resilience amidst change.

Alignment with Company Vision, Values and Overall Strategy

The second principle entails harmonizing HR practices with the company’s vision, values and overall strategy. By integrating HR processes into this framework, SHRM ensures that every HR initiative aligns with the company’s mission. This fosters a workforce driven by purpose and establishes a link between HR activities and achieving organizational objectives.

Developing Talent Pipelines and Human Capital

Last is the principle which involves developing talent pipelines and nurturing human capital. This principle emphasizes proactive planning to identify, attract and retain individuals who not only meet current workforce needs but also align with future organizational requirements.

SHRM enables businesses to develop a powerful pool of exceptional professionals, thereby maintaining a steady stream of capable individuals and ensuring the organization is properly equipped to adapt to changing requirements.

The 5 Components of SHRM

SHRM plays an important role in business operations by aligning human resource policies and practices with the overall strategic objectives of an organization. This alignment ensures that the workforce effectively contributes to achieving business goals. SHRM comprises five components: HR Strategy and Planning, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Performance Management and Compensation and Incentives. Each holds significant importance in implementing SHRM.

HR Strategy and Planning

This component focuses on creating a human resource strategy that aligns with and supports the overarching business goals. It requires understanding the organization’s direction to forecast future HR needs properly. Effective HR planning ensures the business has the right number of individuals at the right time in the right jobs. This fosters effective management of workforce changes such as expansions, downsizing or reorganizations while supporting broader business objectives.

Recruitment and Selection

Strategic recruitment focuses on hiring individuals who possess relevant skills and align with the company’s long-term strategic goals. This process includes identifying competencies and skill sets necessary for business success and tailoring recruitment and selection procedures to attract candidates with these qualities. Strategic recruitment goes beyond filling positions; it involves creating a workforce that can effectively achieve the company’s strategic objectives. This may require implementing sourcing strategies, building an employer brand and utilizing technology for talent acquisition.

Training and Development

Regarding training and development in SHRM, the focus is not on enhancing employee skills but on strategically developing competencies that are vital for the business’s success. This encompasses abilities such as leadership, results-oriented management and other soft skills that play a crucial role in the organization’s growth. Strategic training and development initiatives could include mentorship programs, leadership development tracks and continuous learning opportunities. Each is geared toward preparing employees for future roles and equipping staff to overcome challenges effectively.

Performance Management

Performance management within SHRM involves establishing and implementing processes that encourage behaviors and outcomes aligned with the company’s values and strategic goals. Effective performance management is more than evaluating performance; it also entails setting future objectives, providing ongoing feedback and coaching. It also fosters a culture where continuous improvement is valued and motivating employees is critical to align their efforts with the organization’s goals.

Compensation and Incentives

Compensation and incentives are strategically utilized within SHRM to motivate employees while aligning their efforts with objectives.

This includes creating pay systems and incentive plans that not only attract and retain high-performing individuals but also inspire employees to strive for excellence. Strategic compensation is closely tied to outcome based results and is often structured to reward accomplishments that contribute to the company’s goals.

SHRM involves an approach that blends HR practices with the organization’s strategic objectives. By focusing on these five elements, companies can ensure that their HR practices effectively contribute to achieving business success. 

Steps to Develop an Effective HR Strategy

Developing an HR strategy plays an important role in aligning HR management with the overall goals and strategy of a company. This development requires thoughtful planning and benefits from a collaborative effort from various stakeholders within an organization, allowing input from departments that will ultimately identify needs and place employees within the company

Understand Overarching Company Goals and Strategy

Understanding the company’s overarching goals and strategy is essential when devising an HR strategy. This means aligning HR objectives with the mission, vision and long-term goals of the business. HR professionals must be well-versed in the organization’s health, direction and overall mission to ensure their strategies support and enhance the business objectives.

Forecast Workforce Needs Based on Goals

Once the company’s goals are understood by all stakeholders, the next step is to anticipate workforce needs. This involves analyzing the workforce’s capabilities and determining what skills, positions and number of employees will be necessary to achieve those objectives. It also requires knowledge of market trends, emerging industry patterns and specific opportunities within the industry.

Assess Required HR Policies and Programs

Assessing HR policies and programs is critical at this stage, requiring HR leadership to evaluate the company’s existing policies to determine if they are sufficient in meeting current and future needs.

Implement Aligned HR Initiatives

Once initiatives are developed, the next step involves implementing plans and policies. It requires communication, proper training and support systems to ensure that all employees at all levels understand and embrace these initiatives.

Continually Evaluate and Evolve HR Strategy

An effective HR strategy is never written in stone. Rather, it requires ongoing assessment, measurement and adaptation. This involves reviewing the effectiveness of HR initiatives regularly and making adjustments when necessary. It’s also important to remain aware of changes in the business environment and workforce dynamics to ensure that the HR strategy remains relevant and meets the needs of today’s workforce.

Tracking Key Performance Metrics

With strategic HR management, keeping track of key performance metrics is necessary. Metrics such as turnover rates, recruitment efficiency and return on investment (ROI) in training expenditure provide insights into the effectiveness of HR strategies. For instance, high turnover rates may indicate low employee satisfaction, prompting the need for strategic changes to improve retention. Assessing recruitment metrics such as time to hire and cost per hire also helps evaluate the hiring process, leading to better quality hires and streamlined procedures.

It’s also essential to assess the ROI of training programs to understand their impact on employee performance and organizational growth. These metrics empower HR professionals to make data driven decisions that align HR strategies with business objectives. By utilizing these indicators, organizations can enhance efficiency, optimize ROI and adapt their human resource management practices to meet evolving business needs.

Examples of HR Strategies

Regarding strategic HR management, real-life examples offer insights into aligning HR strategies with overarching business goals. Here are four cases that illustrate this:

Google’s Culture of Innovation

Google has gained a reputation for its HR strategies, which are closely integrated with its business objectives. The company’s focus on creating a work environment providing perks such as on-site wellness, healthcare services and nurturing a culture of creativity perfectly aligns with its aim to attract talent and foster innovation. This strategic alignment has played a key role in maintaining Google’s leadership position in the tech industry.

Zappos Customer-Centric Approach

Zappos, an online retailer offering a wide variety of shoes and clothing, places great emphasis on cultivating a customer-centric culture deeply rooted in its HR strategies. By prioritizing employee happiness and empowerment, Zappos ensures that its team members are motivated to deliver enhanced customer service, directly contributing to the company’s success.

The Netflix Culture of Freedom and Responsibility

Netflix takes a unique approach to HR by fostering a “Freedom and Responsibility” culture that aligns with its business strategy of encouraging innovation and agility. Netflix has also established a work environment that fosters success in the competitive streaming industry by granting employees significant independence and expecting exceptional performance in return.

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines has built its business strategy around an employee philosophy which plays a role in its operations. Southwest ensures customer service contributes to its profitability and strong brand reputation within the airline industry by prioritizing employee satisfaction and engagement.

These examples highlight the significance of aligning HR strategies with business objectives. The companies mentioned above have demonstrated the effectiveness of strategic human resource management by developing cultures and policies that support goals that ultimately drive business success.

The Bottom Line

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is essential in aligning HR practices with an organization’s strategies and goals, ultimately designed to help achieve business success. This approach represents a departure from traditional HR responsibilities by focusing on matching workforce capabilities with determined organizational objectives. SHRM involves acquiring talent and targeting individuals whose skills and potential align with needs rather than just current job openings.

The key advantages of SHRM include improved talent acquisition and development, cultivating an adaptable workforce, enhancing employee engagement, increasing employee retention, boosting productivity and enhancing performance. These benefits directly contribute to propelling the organization toward its goals.

SHRM transforms HR from being a support function to becoming a partner that ensures resources are not only managed but strategically utilized to drive business success in today’s hyper-competitive business landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions About Strategic Human Resource Management (Short TOC Title: FAQ)

What is the difference between hr and strategic hr management.

Traditional HR primarily deals with duties associated with managing employees, such as payroll , compliance and employee relations. On the other hand, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) focuses on aligning HR processes and policies with the organization’s strategic objectives. SHRM entails integrating HR practices into areas like recruitment, training and performance management to contribute to the organization’s growth and long-term success directly. 

What does strategic HR look like?

A strategic HR approach includes instances where HR policies and practices go beyond managing the workforce and become integral to achieving business goals. This involves identifying and nurturing talent that aligns with the company’s long-term goals, fostering a flexible workforce and enhancing employee engagement and retention. Strategic HR is characterized by its emphasis on long range planning that aligns employee skills with needs and implementing targeted training and development initiatives.

What is the HR strategic plan for 2024?

In 2024, an HR strategic plan could involve focusing on being adaptable and flexible in response to market changes, aligning HR practices with the company’s vision and building talent pipelines to meet organizational needs. The plan might also include initiatives to improve workforce agility, utilize technology for talent acquisition and implement training programs. Additionally, it might also involve evaluating and adjusting HR strategies to ensure their effectiveness and relevance in the business environment of 2024.

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  1. Mastering Strategic Management: A Step-by-Step Guide

    business strategy strategic management examples

  2. Types of strategic management model

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  3. Stages and Types of Strategy

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  4. 32 Great Strategic Plan Templates to Grow your Business

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  5. Organizational Strategic Plan- Elements and Examples

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  6. 6 Step Plan

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  4. Process of strategic planning

  5. Managing Strategic Implementation

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COMMENTS

  1. 3 Business Strategy Examples to Inspire Your Own

    3 Business Strategy Examples to Inspire Your Own 03 Nov 2022 Kate Gibson Contributors Business Strategy Strategy Successful businesses often change the way the world lives. Consider Apple, Google, and Netflix and the immense value each offers customers.

  2. 18 Examples of Strategic Management

    The following are illustrative examples of strategic management. Market Research The process of researching customers and markets. For example, determining customer needs and pain points with existing products. Competitive Analysis

  3. What Is Business Strategy & Why Is It Important?

    Michael Boyles Contributors Business Strategy Strategy Every business leader wants their organization to succeed. Turning a profit and satisfying stakeholders are worthy objectives but aren't feasible without an effective business strategy.

  4. The 7 Best Business Strategy Examples I've Ever Seen

    Best business strategies #1: Tesla Playing the long game Conventional business logic is that when you're starting something new, you create a 'Minimal Viable Product' or MVP. Essentially that means that you make a version of your product that is very light in terms of functionality and focuses mostly on showcasing your main competitive advantage.

  5. 9 business strategy examples (and why you need one ASAP)

    9 business strategy examples (and why you need one ASAP) Amanda Bellucco Chatham Dec 14, 2023 8 min read Most successful businesses start with a good idea. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had the idea to make computers small enough to fit into people's homes and offices. Enter Apple, now the largest tech company in the world.

  6. Business Strategy: Examples, Case Studies, And Tools

    A business strategy, in most cases, doesn't follow a linear path, and execution will help shape it along the way. ... Business Strategy Examples In 2024: Examples, Case Studies, And Tools. ... Porter's Value Chain Model is a strategic management tool developed by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. The tool analyses a company ...

  7. Business strategy examples

    Broad cost leadership strategy example: Walmart When Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, started his retail career in the 1940s, he had a simple idea: To find less expensive suppliers than those who served his competition and pass those savings on to the customers in his variety stores.

  8. How to Develop a Business Strategy: 6 Steps

    25 Oct 2022 Catherine Cote Staff Business Strategy Strategy Business strategy can seem daunting, and for good reason: It can make or break an organization. Yet, developing a strong strategy doesn't need to be overwhelming. In the online course Business Strategy, Harvard Business School Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee posits that strategy is simple.

  9. 10 Business Strategy Examples (And Why It Helps To Have One)

    1. Vision and business objectives A business strategy is intended to help you reach your business objectives. With a vision for the direction of the business, you can create clear instructions in the business strategy for what needs to be done and who is responsible for completing each step. 2. Core values

  10. How To Write A Business Strategy: Your Four-Step Guide

    Strategic Planning. Creating a solid business strategy happens in three parts: 1) understanding where you stand strategically as an organization right now; 2) deciding where you want to be in the future; and 3) determining how you'll get there. The steps below cover each of these areas, with steps three and four both being part of the final ...

  11. What Is Strategic Management? Benefits, Process, and Careers

    Read more: What Is Agile? And When to Use It Types of strategy One way of thinking about strategic management is to classify the management focus into three types of strategy: • A business strategy is a high-level plan where you outline how your organization will achieve its objectives.

  12. What Is A Business Level Strategy? How To Create It + Examples

    Business level strategy is a sum of the strategic planning and implementation activities that set and steer the direction of an individual business unit. These activities will generally include how to gain a competitive advantage and create customer value in the specific market the business unit operates in. As a result, organizations with only ...

  13. What is a business strategy? And how to develop one!

    In essence, a business strategy is an organizational master plan. This plan is what the management of a company develops and implements to achieve their strategic goals. Essentially, a business plan is a long-term sketch of the desired strategic destination for a company. This long-term sketch will contain an outline of the strategic, as well ...

  14. How to Implement a Strategic Management Process [2023] • Asana

    Julia Martins October 5th, 2022 6 min read Jump to section Summary Strategic management is the ongoing process of strategy formulation, evaluation, and improvement in order to gain a competitive advantage. Learn about the five stages of strategic management and how implementing a strategic management process benefits your organization.

  15. Business Strategy: Definition, Components, Examples and Guide

    10 Examples of effective business strategies. Below, we'll outline some business strategy examples you can consider when developing your own long-term goals. 1. Technological advantage. Having a technological advantage can lead to more sales, increased productivity, and a competitive edge in your market.

  16. Business Strategy Definition, Examples, Types & 10-Step Guide

    50 Innovation Examples: Exciting Innovative Ideas in Business Digital Transformation Strategy Framework: 10 Key Steps for Strategic Planning Innovation Strategy: Developing Innovative Strategies in Business Culture & Org Change TOOLS & MODELS © 2020, Ohio Theme. Made with passion by Business Model Canvas (BMC)

  17. What Is Strategic Management?

    Strategic management is the management of an organization's resources to achieve its goals and objectives. Strategic management involves setting objectives, analyzing the competitive environment ...

  18. 7 Strategic Planning Models and 8 Frameworks To Start [2023] • Asana

    1. Basic model. The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company's vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

  19. What is Strategic Planning? A 5-Step Guide [2024] • Asana

    Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization's mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives.

  20. How To Write A Strategic Plan That Gets Results + Examples

    1. Run a strategic planning workshop. The first step is to run a strategic planning workshop with your team. Get your team in the room, get their data, and gather their insights. By running this workshop, you'll foster collaboration and bring fresh perspectives to the table. And that's not all.

  21. SWOT Analysis: How to Do It + 4 Examples

    The SWOT analysis is an audit framework used by businesses of all sizes. It helps dissect your organization's present and future outlook. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. These are the lenses through which we examine internal factors (the things we're good at and not-so-good at, under our control) and ...

  22. Business Strategy: What It Is, What It Covers, and Examples

    A business strategy is a high-level outline of how a company plans to achieve its goals. Developing a business strategy is a multi-part process that requires research, analysis, and decision-making. It requires an upfront time investment, with the possibility of improving communication and efficiency down the line.

  23. Business Level Strategy Examples & Types for Corporate Strategy Success

    50 Innovation Examples: Exciting Innovative Ideas in Business Digital Transformation Strategy Framework: 10 Key Steps for Strategic Planning Innovation Strategy: Developing Innovative Strategies in Business Culture & Org Change TOOLS & MODELS © 2020, Ohio Theme. Made with passion by

  24. How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?

    Read more on Growth strategy or related topics Corporate strategy, Strategy, Strategy execution, Mergers and acquisitions, Decision making and problem solving and Organizational change Partner Center

  25. Global Business Services as a Strategic Function

    1. Forge internal "value partnerships.". This step repositions GBS teams from a siloed, transactional processing unit to a partner that can help other business units optimize their processes to create total company value through outcome- and impact-based solutions. 2. Boldly rescope your mandate.

  26. 3 Types of Business Strategies to Consider for Your Organization

    13 Dec 2022 Lauren Saalmuller Contributors Business Strategy Strategy A business strategy is a framework that helps define an organization's vision, objectives, and tactical decision-making processes. Yet, identifying these essential elements can be challenging.

  27. 10 Essential Managerial Skills and How to Develop Them

    10. Strategic thinking. Managers who can strategically think offer great value to companies. Strategic thinking involves the following: Analyzing data to come up with strategies. Creating strategies for meeting company goals and objectives. Thinking of ways to implement strategies. Directing others in the completion of goal-related tasks

  28. Strategic Human Resource Management (2024)

    Regarding strategic HR management, real-life examples offer insights into aligning HR strategies with overarching business goals. Here are four cases that illustrate this: Google's Culture of ...