System Architecture: Strategy and Product Development for Complex Systems, First Edition

10.2 Upstream Influence: Corporate Strategy

Among the most fundamental upstream influences on architecture is the strategy of the enterprise. In a corporate context, the firm’s corporate strategy describes the means by which the firm achieves corporate goals, such as increasing profitability and building competitive shareholder value. In a government context, the enterprise’s strategy similarly defines the means by which the agency achieves its mission. Strategy should explicitly differentiate how the firm or enterprise will do this; stating corporate strategy as “grow the revenue of the firm while maintaining the product margins” conveys little of what decisions the firm made. Strategy defines the specific activities of the organization: the ...