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The Lords of Strategy is a good read on whether thought leaders add value to a business and this is an interview with the author, Howard.Kiechel.
It is hard to remember a time when business did not have strategy but it was only developed in the Seventies. It was the first time they had a systematic way to look a their customers and their processes, along with their costs.
Concepts have developed further and it is so common now for companies to have a strategy, that we overlook how powerful it can be. Michael Porter was the first to create a strategy course as part of the MBA curriculum.
Now, strategy is more specific and granular looking at specifics.
Strategic planning is now not the big plan; it is more adaptive and looks at how to change more quickly. Strategy has fought between the strategy number people and the strategy people people. Tom Peters lead the camp focussed on people and has now gained the same recognition.
Strategy has a place still. Companies have a difficult time asking and the big three strategy questions:
- Who is your customer?
- Who are your competitors and
- What are your costs?
These three still stand as the big three questions that every company needs to discuss. The Big 3 Car companies in the US stopped asking on all three and look at where their results are compared to twenty years ago.
The best consultants are those that are either great on the people element or are looking for the patterns and pushing to ask the right big three questions.
http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2010/03/the-secret-origins-of-corporat.html
Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet, Attracting Private Equity to your Business.
