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Really, strategy is about making specific choices to win in the marketplace.
More specifically, strategy is an integrated set of choices that uniquely positions the firm in its industry so as to create sustainable advantage and superior value relative to the competition.
They define strategy as a vision.
Que no es la.esttategia:
They define strategy as a plan.
They deny that long-term (or even medium-term) strategy is possible.
They define strategy as the optimization of the status quo.
They define strategy as following best practices.
But it is only through making and acting on choices that you can win. Yes, clear, tough choices force your hand and confine you to a path. But they also free you to focus on what matters.
In our terms, a strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of five choices: a winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, core capabilities, and management systems.
Specifically, strategy is the answer to these five interrelated questions: What is your winning aspiration?
Where will you play?
How will you win?
What capabilities must be in place?
What management systems are required? The systems and measures that enable the capabilities and support the choices.
Aspirations are statements about the ideal future.
To determine how to win, an organization must decide what will enable it to create unique value and sustainably deliver that value to customers in a way that is distinct from the firm’s competitors.
Michael Porter called it competitive advantage—the specific way a firm utilizes its advantages to create superior value for a consumer or a customer and in turn, superior returns for the firm.
Two questions flow from and support the heart of strategy: (1) what capabilities must be in place to win, and (2) what management systems are required to support the strategic choices?
Ejemplo PG
Do remember that strategy is about winning choices. It is a coordinated and integrated set of five very specific choices. As you define your strategy, choose what you will do and what you will not do.
Do think of strategy as an iterative process; as you uncover insights at one stage in the cascade, you may well need to revisit choices elsewhere in the cascade.
When a company sets out to participate, rather than win, it will inevitably fail to make the tough choices and the significant investments that would make winning even a remote possibility.
Do start with consumers, rather than products, when thinking about what it means to win.
Do think about winning relative to competition. Think about your traditional competitors, and look for unexpected “best” competitors too.
A strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of where-to-play, how-to-win, core capability, and management system choices that uniquely meet a consumer’s needs, thereby creating competitive advantage and superior value for a business. Strategy is a way to win—and nothing less.
Where-to-play choices occur across a number of domains, notably these: Geography.
Product type.
Consumer s...
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Distribution channel.
Vertical stage of production.
A stagnating giant might focus on customers—looking for a deeper understanding of needs and new ways to approach segmentation—to narrow and refine an overly broad where-to-play choice.
The first is to refuse to choose, attempting to play in every field all at once.
The second is to attempt to buy your way out of an inherited and unattractive choice.
The third is to accept a current choice as inevitable...
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Do choose where you will play and where you will not play. Explicitly choose and prioritize choices across all relevant where dimensions (i.e., geographies, industry segments, consumers, customers, products, etc.).
Do think long and hard before dismissing an entire industry as structurally unattractive; look for attractive segments in which you can compete and win.
Don’t embark on a strategy without specific where choices. If everything is a priority, nothing is. There is no point in trying to captu...
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Do look for places to play that will enable you to attack from unexpected directions, along the lines of least resistance. Don’t attack walled cities or take on your stronge...
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Don’t start wars on multiple fronts at once. Plan for your competitors’ reactions to your initial choices, and think multiple steps ahead. No single choice needs to last forever, but it shoul...
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Do be honest about the allure of white space. It is tempting to be the first mover into unoccupied white space. Unfortunately, there is only one true first mover (as there is only one low-cost player), and all too often, the imagined white space is already ...
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The low-cost player doesn’t necessarily charge the lowest prices. Low-cost players have the option of underpricing competitors, but can also reinvest the margin differential in ways that create competitive advantage.
This dual-strategy approach is rare, but it is possible if the company has an overwhelming share advantage and substantial scale-sensitive costs.
It is very difficult to pursue both cost leadership and differentiation, because each requires a very specific approach to the market (figure 4-2).
Low cost
Do work to create new how-to-win choices where none currently exist. Just because there isn’t an obvious how-to-win choice given your current structure doesn’t mean it is impossible to create one (and worth it, if the prize is big enough).
Do consider how to win in concert with where to play. The choices should be mutually reinforcing, creating a strong strategic core for the company.
Do set the rules of the game and play the game better if you’re winning. Change the rules of the game if you’re not.
Understanding consumers. Really knowing the consumers, uncovering their unmet needs, and designing solutions for them better than any competitor can. In other words, making the consumer the boss in order to win the consumer value equation.
Innovating (in the broadest sense). R&D with the aim of advancing materials science and inventing breakthrough new products, but also taking an innovative approach to business models, external partnerships, and the way P&G does business.
Partnering and going to market with customers and suppliers.
