book

What You Need to Know about Strategy

by Jo Whitehead

June 2011

Beginner

294 pages

4h 15m

English

Capstone

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WHAT STRATEGY ISWHY STRATEGY IS IMPORTANTTHE BASIC STRATEGY QUESTIONSANSWERING THE QUESTIONS
DEFINING INDUSTRY BOUNDARIESSEGMENTATIONHOW TO SEGMENTDEVELOPING ALTERNATIVE SEGMENTATIONSPICKING A USEFUL SEGMENTATIONINDUSTRY ATTRACTIVENESSTHE FIVE FORCESISSUES WITH USING THE FIVE FORCES FRAMEWORKTHE MACRO-ENVIRONMENT
CREATING VALUE FOR CUSTOMERSEVALUATING CUSTOMER VALUE CREATIONTHE IMPORTANCE OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEDIFFERENT WAYS TO EVALUATE ADVANTAGEEVALUATING COST AND CUSTOMER VALUE ADVANTAGEEVALUATING POSITIONAL SOURCES OF ADVANTAGEEVALUATING CAPABILITIESARE WE WINNING?THE VALUE CHAINDEFINING THE MISSION AND OBJECTIVESSTAKEHOLDER ANALYSISSUMMARISING THE OVERALL SITUATIONA REALITY CHECK: WHAT IS ACTUAL PERFORMANCE?
TRICKY UNCERTAINTYOVERALL APPROACHES TO DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTYGENERATING A LIST OF POTENTIAL UNCERTAINTIESSCENARIOSMODELLING EVOLUTIONBROADER TRENDSINDUSTRY ANALOGIESBEHAVIOURPRIORITISING UNCERTAINTIES
THE POWER OF FRAMINGGENERATING NEW FRAMESNARROWING THE FRAMEGENERATING OPTIONSGENERATING OPTIONS FROM THE BOTTOM UPGENERATING OPTIONS USING STRATEGY TOOLS AND FRAMEWORKSGENERATING OPTIONS USING GENERIC STRATEGIESGENERATING OPTIONS THAT DEAL WITH UNCERTAINTYGENERATING CUNNING OPTIONSEVALUATING OPTIONSEVALUATING FEASIBILITYEVALUATING RISK/RETURNITERATING

THE FULL MONTY APPROACHTHE QUICK-AND-DIRTY APPROACHTHE FUTURE THINKING APPROACHTHE ISSUES APPROACHTHE OPTIONS APPROACHTHE TEST-AND-LEARN APPROACHONE MORE APPROACH: INTUITIVE BOUNCINGHOW TO PICK THE RIGHT APPROACH
DEFINING THE AMBITIONPRECISIONTHE FALLIBLE BRAINIMPROVING OBJECTIVITY WITH PROCESS AND PEOPLEWHEN TIME IS SHORT...THE STRATEGY TEAMBRINGING THE DESIGN TOGETHERINDIVIDUAL BIASESFINE TUNING THE PROCESS
WHAT STRATEGY ENGAGEMENT ISWHY COLLABORATIVE ENGAGEMENT IS IMPORTANTHOW TO ENGAGE THE ORGANISATION COLLABORATIVELY IN CREATING OPTIONSPRACTICAL TIPS ON GENERATING ENGAGEMENTSHARING FINDINGSENGAGING THE ORGANISATION IN CHOOSING AN OPTIONWHY ENGAGEMENT DOESN'T STOP AT THE DECISIONWHEN A MORE COLLABORATIVE APPROACH IS IMPORTANTLEADERSHIP AND CULTURE

Overview

In any career in business, chances are that the time will come when someone will ask you to do a strategy for something. Too often, this will be a cue for stress at work and sleepless nights.

What You Need to Know about Strategy shows that it doesn't have to be like this. Taking you step-by-step through the basics of what you need to know to come up with a great strategy, it shows:

That getting the right answers depends on asking the right questions
Why priorities matter
How to map out your internal and external situation
How to deal with uncertainty
How to make tough choices
What your brain does while you're doing strategy

By cutting out the theory, and focusing on the things you need to know and do to come up with a killer strategy, this book means that you never need to panic again.