| Strategic
reflection is a dynamic exercise that allows you
to constantly align actions at the strategy application
level. It has to focus on the followinging:
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making
shared, strategic choices
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providing the organization
with a plan consistent with these choices,
and orienting and supporting its execution;
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involving all contributors and stakeholders
in attaining the objectives.
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If
your business is rolling smoothly, you certainly
want it to carry on this way. If it is going through
hard times, you want to know why, whether these
hardships will be brief or not, whether all businesses
in its activity line are experiencing the same
difficulties, whether its plight is due to its
strategy, the application of same or the people
applying it
Here are some of the changes within your various
business contexts that lead to reflecting on the
firm’s strategic planning:
| -
new line of products or services; |
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- opening up of new markets; |
| -
concrete actions from competitors within
the market; |
| -
changes in the rules of the game (laws,
regulations, etc.); |
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- alliances or mergers; |
| -
shrinking market shares; |
| -
changes in market conditions; |
| -
change in the firm’s positioning
(image or location); |
| -
emergence of new competitors, trends
or technologies; |
| -
any other effect leading to questioning.
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The
top 5 dangers you have to look out for if you
neglect strategic reflection are as follows:
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If you are careless about knowing your clients
well, you will never find their tender spots,
and selling them anything will prove much
more difficult. |
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If
you disregard analyzing your competitors or
your industry, savvy ideas you could have
borrowed will probably pass you by, and you
will not be in a position to effectively evaluate
what satisfies or dissatisfies your clients. |
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If
you do not make the right decisions concerning
your product, you will spend as much as your
competitors in research and development, but
without offering the features that clients
look for. |
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If you do not make the
right decisions concerning your distribution,
clients looking to acquire your product could
end up not finding it, while those who have
no use for it will face it every day. |
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If you fail to maintain your plan’s
continuity and track past results, you will
be continually forced to re-invent the wheel. |
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