Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Introduction to the Fruitstand Concept - the strategic plan


There is a recent article in a major business magazine about how strategy has never been more important. The article goes on to say that even though it's more important than ever, Strategy discussion and planning is often avoided at the senior executive level. Why? My feeling is that strategy is avoided because most managers and executives don't understand how to approach creating a strategy that is easily explained and understood by all employees.

Accounting professionals have a generally accepted methodology for managing the financial aspect of a company called GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). However, managers and executives don't have such a widely used and accepted process for planning their strategies.

This Blog will set out to explore and discuss how organizations can create advantange through strategic planning. I will hammer out the process I have used for years that combines bits and pieces of concepts from well-known strategists and authors such as Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm), Micheal Treacy (Discipline of Market Leaders), Norton and Kaplan (The Balanced Scorecard), and many more.

Frequently, I will refer to a fictional set of businesses (fruit stands) to outline the process. The goal of using the fruit stands example is to emphasize the simplicity of the strategic planning process. Every business, whether a fruit stand, dry cleaner, web designer or billion-dollar retail chain, must have a strategy that is understood by its employees. The strategy must clearly highlight how the product or service creates customer value and how that value will be delivered. Additionally, I will consistently and continuously refer to the three rules I have refined for successful organizations:

1. Selectively choose your clients and/or customers.
2. Organize the business around delivering a specific type of value to your select customer.
3. Discipline yourself and your management to stick to the first two rules.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Joe is right on. Strategy is critical to an organization's success and strategy is not usually well understood by members of the organization. I also very much like Joe's simple approach to strategy and will participate.

Hello, Joe, it sounds like your are going with your passion.

Pat Engstrom

Anonymous said...

I could not agree more. I think even when a organization has come up with a decent strategy, it still needs to be brought down to all levels to ensure success. Most companies fail to do so on even the most basic levels. Success is based on the WHOLE company understanding a strategy and working as a team to succeed.

Good job Joe!

Dave

Joe F. Clark said...

Thanks to you both for the comments. I hope to create some clarity and solutions that will help to address the issues you mentioned in your comments. Also, the value of this blog will come from the years of collective experience of those that participate. Let's keep it going. More to come...