[Type here] Business Seminar Spring 19/20

Report 3 – Strategy
For this class, we had the privilege of having Francisco Simão as our speecher talking
about Strategy. We began by understanding the difficulty of defining Strategy, as it can be
applied in different contexts (and often it is not used correctly). Even though it is difficult to
define it, we can state what strategy is and what it is not. For instance, it is an integrated set of
hard-to-reverse choices, it is made ahead of time in the face of uncertainty and it creates and
captures economic profit. Nevertheless, it is not a reversible choice that enables to gain a few
points of market share or to beat only your competitor.

Then, we saw that there would only be stable strategies if there was a predictable
world. However, there are forces that keep changing the business scenarios, and therefore
business strategies need to adapt to those situations. These disruptive forces are kwon as:
industrialization and urbanization in emerging economies; disruptive technologies; an aging
world; greater global interconnections. Of these 4 points, there is one which has been
developing more rapidly throughout the years: technology. Recently, technologies are easily
spread, which represents both an opportunity and a threat.

After coming up with a strategic plan, it is important to test it. For that, there is a
method: The Ten Tests. This methodology, as the name suggests, is about ten questions that
test key points of the strategic plan. That helps the manager understanding if it is well
developed, consistent, realistic and ambitious. Nevertheless, and even though it might be a
helpful framework, we observed that there were just a small number of companies that
applied it. Out of these ten questions, we saw 2 which Francisco saw that were the most
important. Firstly, we understood that is important to study our competitive advantages and
then use them wisely. This way, we are able to determine more profitable opportunities in the
market. Secondly, we analyzed the importance of having a granular strategy. In other words, it
is fundamental that we defined a strategy with precision - meticulously. This way, we will not
miss any important information, hiden in the data, that can be important for the development
of a strategy.

Finally, we looked a little bit into Francisco’s professional experience and what it could tell
us about strategy in the professional world. A key point form this part of the class, had to do
with the importance of aligning the different stakeholders in a corporation. To do that, we
should base ourselves in facts, so that opinions are limited in the discussion.

Eduardo José de Azevedo Teixeira, nº39401