Strategic Tools and Management

Change is a complex, multifaceted process that impacts every aspect of an organization, from activities and people to culture and structure. While research suggests that most change efforts fail [1], the need for change remains inevitable. The dynamic environment today adds an extra layer of urgency … Read more

Organizational health matters more today than ever. Not only is it correlated with long-term performance, but it is also causal to it [1]. To win, leaders must leverage an organization’s distinctive strengths and address weaknesses. However, diagnosing an organization’s health is a challenging undertaking, given the … Read more

Organizational design (OD) is a complex undertaking with numerous steps and choices. Research suggests that only 10% of companies successfully align strategy with organizational design [1]. A recent McKinsey survey of over 2,500 business leaders worldwide found nearly 70% saw their organizations as overly complex and … Read more

The mnemonic CATWOE is a systematic thinking technique developed as part of the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). Its six elements—Customers, Actors, Transformation, Weltanschauung (meaning worldview in German), Owner, and Environmental constraints—help explore a system by underlining the roots that involve turning inputs into outputs [1]. CATWOE … Read more

Growth is a critical driver of corporate performance. An extra 5% revenue growth per year correlates with an additional 3-4% of shareholder returns—the equivalent of increasing market capitalization by 33-45% over a decade [1]. Yet very few companies manage to sustain long-term growth, and those that … Read more

Organizations must be prepared for change. They must evolve and adapt constantly to meet various challenges, from technological changes to the rise of new competitors to shifts in laws, regulations, and underlying economic trends. While leaders work hard to implement change initiatives, it is widely … Read more

Most companies today practice some form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to contribute to the well-being of the community and society they affect and depend on. This is evident from the fact that over 95% of S&P 500 companies publish an annual CSR report [1]. CSR … Read more

Services constitute over 60% of the world’s GDP [1], yet managing service quality is harder than managing the quality of goods. While goods can be evaluated through tangible cues such as style, hardness, color, label, feel, package, and fit, few cues exist for services. We’re all … Read more

Setting goals is undoubtedly beneficial for individuals, teams, and organizations. Numerous studies show that goal setting positively impacts productivity and performance [1]. However, not everyone, and not every organization, can stick to goals or drive positive results. A study of 800 million data points on the … Read more

Legendary Harvard professor Theodore Levitt argued that customers seek to “hire” a product to do a job. He said, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” A marketer’s prime task is to understand the job the customer wants to … Read more

Left unchecked, market forces continually conspire to deplete profits. Good business strategies can counteract those tendencies but are notoriously challenging to formulate and execute. To be successful, an organization must gain agreement on priorities and essential decisions and ensure it is prepared and willing to … Read more

Change is the only constant in any business environment—a continuous, inevitable change that envelopes and influences most organizational decisions. No sensible business decision can be made without considering both the world as it is and the world as it could be. Scenario planning is a … Read more

In every organization, there exist areas where instructions are vague, authority is fuzzy, budgets are nonexistent, and strategy is unclear. These are often the areas (or “white spaces”) where the greatest opportunities for performance gains lie. Rummler and Brache’s Nine Boxes Model is a performance … Read more

Technologists assume good innovations will automatically sell themselves, that the obvious benefits of a new idea will be widely realized, and that the innovation will spread. But this is rarely the case. During the seafaring age between 1500 and 1800, scurvy killed about two million … Read more

The most enduring management guru of them all, Peter Ducker, said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” VMOST is an analysis technique that helps organizations do both. It helps effectively articulate what they have set out to achieve (Vision, Mission, … Read more

Services constitute over 60% of the world’s GDP [1], yet measuring service quality is harder than measuring the quality of goods. While goods can be evaluated through tangible cues such as style, hardness, color, label, feel, package, and fit, few cues exist for services. Evidence for … Read more

The legendary Harvard professor Michael Porter has contributed several management ideas that are Newtonian in importance and have withstood the test of time and extreme events such as recessions, wars, and technological shifts [1]. The “Three Generic Strategies” is one such idea that simplifies the notion … Read more

At the heart of every organization’s strategy is a desire to combine the work of addressing everyday challenges with an ability to raise its perspective and identify the overall way forward. However, daily problem-solving takes over in many organizations, and long-term strategic work gets neglected. … Read more

Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results (SOAR) is a strengths-based framework for strategic thinking, planning, conversations, and leading. It is “strengths-based” because it originates from a management approach known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) [1], which deals with the co-evolutionary search for the best in people, their organizations, … Read more

Change is the only constant in the business world. Amidst an ever-changing business landscape, organizations must set clear strategic goals and objectives that guide their efforts and decision-making. Strategic goals are a key component of the strategic planning process. Done right, they position an organization … Read more

A fast-food joint typically offers a limited menu while relying on highly mechanized processes for quick service. In contrast, a gourmet restaurant focuses on bespoke, handmade dishes, taking time to customize to the customer’s liking and taste. While the former may sell hundreds of dishes … Read more

Every organization needs a mission, a vision, and a set of values to develop a great culture. Its mission is the purpose and reason for being. Its vision is its aspiration for itself. Its values (or virtues) are the way it commits to working. What … Read more

In the real world, a flywheel is a mechanical contraption, a heavy wheel of a sort that is initially resistant to rotation but gets easier as it gains momentum and builds immense rotational energy. The Flywheel Effect applies this physical phenomenon to the world of … Read more

The business world today is more interconnected than ever. From supply chains to the flow of information, everything is going through rapid, unpredictable, and unprecedented change. The digital revolution has enabled firms to leverage data and connectivity to make rapid decisions, but it has also … Read more

The ancient Greek poet Archilochus of Paros wrote, “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” The Hedgehog Concept takes this and applies it to the world of business. It categorizes businesses into two types – the first are like foxes … Read more

The sheer volume of metrics an organization can measure or monitor can be overwhelming. Trying to focus on too many of them is not only impractical, unnecessary, and sub-optimal but can also undermine success. In an increasingly complex world, identifying data needed for executive decision-making … Read more

The only thing certain about business environments is uncertainty. A risk-intelligent enterprise must proactively address risks, leverage opportunities, and position itself to respond rapidly as the landscape evolves. Yet, most organizations often struggle to achieve the strategic flexibility and agility required to be in that … Read more

Silicon Valley giants such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, LinkedIn, Airbnb, and X (Twitter) have had one thing in common – the way they set objectives and measure results. Since their early days, these firms have used a goal-setting framework known as Objectives and Key Results … Read more

Organizations need to continuously improve to stay in business and keep delivering value. The classical model of improvement using large programs takes too long and is often inefficient and/or ineffective. To excel in today’s fast-paced world, businesses need to make better, faster, and cheaper improvements … Read more

Businesses operate in a world of hyper-competition where demand is often insufficient to sustain all providers of goods and services. The foundation on which companies traditionally based their dominance no longer holds. Changes in information technology, financial systems, production techniques, and the rise of companies … Read more

Military officials often utilize the PMESII-PT as an analytical tool – a starting point to assess and define defense and military environments. PMESII stands for Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, and Infrastructure. Two additional variables – Physical environment and Time were added later to the … Read more

A Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is a quality unique to a business’s product or service that differentiates it from its rivals and compels customers to make a purchase. The concept’s origin dates to the 1940s when advertising agencies used it as a tool to develop … Read more

Every organization in the world knows “what” they do, most know “how” to do it, but only a few know “why” they do what they do. This “why” isn’t about profit maximization. It’s the reason for the organization’s existence. See also: Mission Statement What is … Read more

First-mover advantage is among the few management concepts with such intuitive appeal that its validity is almost taken for granted. However, there has been a long-running debate in the industry about the value of being first to market. While most executives firmly believe that early … Read more

The Theory of Change (ToC) is a structured approach used in program planning and evaluation. It seeks to explain what impact is created by a programme or system, and how that impact was generated. ToC articulates how the change will happen, and as a result, … Read more

Few businesses that have stuck to their traditional products and markets have managed to grow in the long term. Over the past century, America’s most valued companies that made it to Forbes’s top ten were very different when compared across the years 1917, 1967 and … Read more

Markets today are characterized by an abundance of options. From dining out to acquiring an automobile to deciding the next smartphone upgrade, consumers face an increasing number of choices. If companies could find a way to stand out from the crowd in the eyes of … Read more

Organizations that view quality as the sole responsibility of the “quality controller” or a “quality department” have seen limited success. Quality permeates an organization from the arrival of raw materials to the departure of finished products. It is ingrained in every step of the process … Read more

Understanding customers is not enough. Firms gain a competitive advantage only when they do better than their competitors in satisfying the target consumers’ needs. Competition is one of the most inevitable forces in the business world. No matter how big or small, a firm has … Read more

People expect some benefit when they use the products and services an organization provides. They want to get some job done, solve a problem, or experience a particular emotion. It is only when they perceive this benefit as valuable they’ll give something in return – … Read more

The movement of an organization from its present position to a desirable but uncertain future position is called strategy. It describes how the organization intends to create value for its shareholders, customers, and citizens. But because the organization has never been to this future place, … Read more

The complexity of managing an organization requires that managers be able to view performance in several areas simultaneously. Akin to a cockpit in a jet plane, executives need a full battery of instrumentation to guide their companies and monitor the journey toward excellent future outcomes. … Read more

Persuasion has been the subject of philosophical and academic inquiry since at least the time of Aristotle, but the scientific study of persuasion did not begin until the early post-World War II period.[1] Early research in this area was guided by the notion that persuasion … Read more

What is a Go-To-Market Strategy Go-To-Market Strategy (GTM strategy) is a game plan for reaching and serving the right customers in the right markets, through the right channels, with the right products and the right value proposition. Its purpose is to create a powerful, winning … Read more

What is the Triple Bottom Line Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a framework for measuring and reporting corporate performance against Economic, Social, and Environmental parameters. It consists of three Ps: Profit, People and Planet. First is the traditional measure of corporate profit – the “bottom … Read more

Five Whys is an effective problem-solving approach that constitutes a questioning process designed to drill down into the details of a problem and peel away the layers of symptoms. The technique was originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was used during the evolution of manufacturing … Read more

There are limits to the value companies can generate by focusing purely on the price of the products and services they buy. When buyers and suppliers are willing and able to cooperate, they often find ways to unlock new sources of value that benefit them … Read more

“Whenever there is a product for a customer, there is a value stream. The challenge lies in seeing it.” Mike Rother and John Shook – Learning to see[1] What is Value Stream Mapping (VSM) Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a pencil-and-paper tool that helps see … Read more

What is Gap Analysis Gap Analysis is the examination and comparison of two views of a business system: the current or ‘as is’ view – the situation as it exists, and the desired or ‘to be’ view – a conceptual, desired future. The aim of … Read more

What is The Pygmalion Effect The Pygmalion effect is based on the notion that the way one person treats another can, for better or worse, be transforming. It is a psychological phenomenon in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area and … Read more

What is the Business Model Canvas Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a framework that helps determine how a business creates, delivers, and captures values. It is a visual representation of the important aspects or parts to consider when designing a Business Model. BMC aids in … Read more

What is the Johari Window The Johari Window is a conceptual tool for illustrating the interaction between what is known/unknown to oneself and to others. It helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. When two parties interact, they initiate a relationship whose … Read more

What is the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Cycle Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (PDCA) is a four-step, iterative by-design method used for control and continual improvement of processes and products. It is also known as the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle, Deming cycle, Control Circle/Cycle or the Shewhart cycle. PDCA is an … Read more

What is 5S Methodology 5S Methodology is a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set-in-order), Seisō (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Shitsuke (Sustain) to organize a workspace for efficiency and effectiveness. By identifying and storing the items used, … Read more

What is Six Sigma Six Sigma (6σ, 6 sigma) is a data-driven and customer-focused approach to improving the quality and efficiency of business processes. It aims to reduce variation and defects in products or services and to achieve near-perfection in meeting customer expectations. Six Sigma … Read more

What is Pareto Analysis Pareto Analysis (also referred to as Pareto Chart or Pareto Diagram) is one of the Seven Basic Quality Tools[1] for process improvement. These seven basic tools form the fixed set of visual exercises most helpful in troubleshooting issues related to quality. … Read more

What is the Theory of Constraints Theory of Constraints (TOC), a process improvement approach that aims to improve the performance and profitability of any system by identifying and eliminating the “constraint” that limits its output, throughput, and goal achievement. Dr Eliyahu Goldratt[1], an Israeli physicist … Read more

“Are you sure you have a strategy?” – was the title of the article in which Donald Hambrick and James Fredrickson introduced the “Strategy Diamond” – a management framework for strategy formulation.[1] Companies use the term strategy in various contexts, such as service strategy, branding … Read more

This article is a comprehensive exploration of the Blue Ocean Strategy that provides organizations with the frameworks and analytical tools to create and capture uncontested markets and unlock vast growth opportunities. The term Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) was first coined by Professors Chan Kim and … Read more

Definition of the McKinsey 7S Model McKinsey 7S model is a tool that analyzes company’s organizational design by looking at 7 key internal elements: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills, in order to identify if they are effectively aligned and allow the … Read more

Definition of the VRIO Framework VRIO framework is the tool used to a analyze firm’s internal resources and capabilities to find out if they can be a source of sustained competitive advantage. The term VRIO comes from the words value, rarity, imitability and organization. What … Read more

Definition Value chain analysis (VCA) is a process where a firm identifies its primary and support activities that add value to its final product and then analyzes these activities to reduce costs or increase differentiation. Value chain represents the internal activities a firm engages in … Read more

Definition SWOT analysis involves the collection and portrayal of information about internal and external factors that have, or may have, an impact on business.[2] SWOT is a framework that allows managers to synthesize insights obtained from an internal analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses … Read more

Definition GE-McKinsey nine-box matrix is a strategy tool that offers a systematic approach for the multi-business corporation to prioritize its investments among its business units.[1] GE-McKinsey is a framework that evaluates business portfolio, provides further strategic implications and helps to prioritize the investment needed for … Read more

Definition BCG matrix (or growth-share matrix) is a corporate planning tool which is used to portray a firm’s brand portfolio or SBUs on a quadrant along the relative market share axis (horizontal axis) and speed of market growth (vertical axis) axis. Growth-share matrix is a … Read more

Definition The Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) is a tool that compares the firm and its rivals and reveals their relative strengths and weaknesses. What is the Competitive Profile Matrix Firms often use CPM to better understand the external environment and the competition in a particular … Read more

Benchmarking Definition Benchmarking is a strategy tool used to compare the performance of business processes and products with the best performances of other companies inside and outside the industry. Benchmarking is the search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance. What is Benchmarking … Read more

Definition Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix is a strategy tool used to evaluate firm’s internal environment and to reveal its strengths as well as weaknesses.[1] External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix is a strategy tool used to examine company’s external environment and to identify the available … Read more

Definition Porter’s five forces model is an analysis tool that uses five industry forces to determine the intensity of competition in an industry and its profitability level.[1] What is Porter’s Five Forces The Five forces model was created by M. Porter in 1979 to understand … Read more

Definition PEST analysis is an analysis of the political, economic, social and technological factors in the external environment of an organization, which can affect its activities and performance.[1] PESTEL model (or PESTLE model) involves the collection and portrayal of information about external factors which have, … Read more