Getting to clarity: new ways to think about strategy

摘要

Recently, a board member of a leading global mining company asked us about strategy, innovation and competitive advantage. As boards are now becoming increasingly involved with corporate strategy, the topic is one that companies need to address on a continuing basis. Almost every organization has a strategic framework, and successful companies have well-defined strategies. Even though strategy is one of the most important functions of organizations, it often goes unchecked, gets too dense or is so successful that complacency sets in. As an example, for this mining company, choice of strategy was not the concern. They had an effective strategy based on positional advantage. Rather, the board member felt that the discourse had become unnecessarily complicated, and that focus was an issue.