Chasing Digital

CHAPTER 1Strategies for success

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

Sun Tzu

 

How much of your current strategy will help you compete in the digital economy? And what have you done to adapt your strategy over the past few years? Perhaps you have acquired companies, expanded your services or products, or optimised your supply chain. You may have changed your organisation’s structure a few times and appointed new leaders with fresh ideas. Perhaps you have met changing customer expectations by updating your website or refreshing your brand in some way. You also may have tried to increase margins by cutting operational expense lines.

Investment in technology and the appointment of new roles gives boards, shareholders and executives a sense that ‘we are doing something’. But what most leaders have failed to do is align their newly implemented technology with their underlying business strategy and external market trends. Many leaders talk about the need to promote a culture of innovation, make investments in start-ups, or invest in technology skills and experience at board and executive level. These individual moves are all worthwhile, but the critical thing is to link them together as a cohesive set of transformation initiatives. To do this you must think first about your business model, and what your customers want now and in the future, and align these fundamentals with the interests of shareholders. ...