Strategies

At this point, we know what the organization is all about (mission), what it wants
to be in the future (vision), and what it needs to do to get there (objectives). What
remains is a discussion of how to fulfill the mission and vision and how to achieve
the stated objectives. This is done by creating strategies, which are descriptions
of game plans or how-to procedures to reach the stated objectives. The strategies
could address issues of growth, survival, turnaround, stability, innovation, talent
acquisition, and leadership, among others.
There is an entire field of study called "strategic management studies" devoted
to the development and implementation of strategies. In fact, Deloitte, Boston
Consulting Group, Bain & Company, KPMG, and Accenture offer consulting
services in the domain of business strategy. Also, there are hundreds of books
written on this topic. To give you a brief overview of some possibilities, consider
the following strategies, out of many, that could be implemented24
:
• Operations: Addressing issues about the global economic environment in
terms of market, capital, interest rates, labor costs, taxes, regulations, and
available infrastructure.
• Competitiveness: Operating at optimum levels of productivity and
efficiency: Continuous benchmarking, use of statistical tools for
process optimization, total quality model, gathering data on customer
expectations and experiences.
• Optimal use of resources: Optimization of global collaboration with
suppliers, parts standard ization and reduction, and flexible manufacturing
and services.