Any enterprise, like a living mechanism, must be born, grow and develop, bringing certain benefits to its creator (profit, name on the market, etc.). It is not enough just to develop such a mechanism, it is necessary to concretize and identify the strategy by which such an enterprise will move in a particular area. As today's market conditions become more and more like a highway, it is necessary to understand the trajectory of successful movement and take into account the rules, both new and old.
In the beginning there was a strategy
Thanks to the competent development of a strategy, you can not only develop your mechanism into an adult, strengthened business (or any other structure), but also ensure its prosperity for many decades. This project activity is called a development strategy and is described in detail below.
Definitionstrategy and its specifics
As a concept, an enterprise development strategy is characterized very simply - it is a pre-selected set of tools for the effective development of an enterprise as a whole, with the possibility of changing some of its structures, at the same time, operating with both short-term and long-term changes.
Obviously, this definition of strategy is not very specific. And all because specificity is an obstacle to such activities, since the market is very flexible, and a good manager must understand that his "living mechanism" must be plastic. This will help not only to adapt to the changing external environment and obtain an effective volume of turnover, but also smooth out all possible losses in times of crisis. The specificity lies in the fact that it is impossible to follow a certain algorithm, a template that was used somewhere and some time ago, so first you need to take into account the initial parameters of the enterprise itself.
Comprehensive enterprise analysis
Action that sets the stage for the next steps. Since each enterprise is unique in its properties, it is necessary to identify its goal - accordingly, what the strategy is being developed for. It must meet several factors:
- Specific. A clear and understandable direction with a single result. The paths can be any, but the goal cannot have 7 positions at once that are not coordinated with each other.
- Agreement. Just what was discussed above - the goals cannot contradict, it will noteffectively. For example, you cannot learn to drive a car and an airplane at the same time, but you can combine car trips with studying a city map or the principles of its mechanism.
- Quantity. The development strategy should have a quantity (how much the enterprise should develop in a certain period of time). It cannot be “after some time the turnover will grow by a little”, but “turnover should increase by 2.5 times in six months” is already the right goal setting.
- Comparison in time and space. Here, too, an adjustment is made, since the goal must be achievable. To open a branch of the enterprise on Saturn by Wednesday, for example, is the most obvious option for the inaccessibility of the goal. She's unreal in every way, so don't pay attention to her.
Planning
- Market analysis is a set of measures to collect information from the environment in which the main activity of the enterprise takes place. It is worth considering that here it is important not to be limited only by the market and the niche occupied, but to get the so-called feedback from the enterprise itself: what are the volumes in production, what affects the turnover, etc.
- Partners and competitors. It is useful to collect information about their activities, as this can effectively develop an antitrust strategy, as well as adopt some tools.
- External factors. Despite their detachment from the main indicators, they are perhaps the most important point. All the most thoughtful systems will fall on their faces beforethe collapse of the currency, natural factors and other negative situations that the manager is unable to influence. Despite this, it is possible and necessary to monitor such factors and conduct an impact analysis, as their impact can damage vital aspects.
Marketing plan - a collection of all the above items. Information processing and identification of specifics in the current time mode, forecast for the future, etc. It is worth noting that such a plan is also not final. It can and should be varied, taking into account changes in the internal and external environment of the enterprise. In the future, we will talk about the most effective tools and strategies that make up the enterprise.
Basic Strategies
Having the necessary knowledge base, research and analysis, you can move on to the most basic organization strategies, since they are the basis for all subsequent manipulations and directly affect the achievement of a quality result.
Basic strategies include:
- Limited growth. First of all, it is stability. The tool is used when the mechanism has grown and strengthened, and the current position of the manager suits. Growth is due to the previously chosen course to eliminate new risks. The pace of such a strategy is low, but relatively static (provided that the company has really achieved positive dynamics).
- Height. The opposite of the previous strategy. Suitable for barely mature enterprises, it will help to increase the pace and increase turnover. more risk, butthere is a sure opportunity to reach the level of limited growth (when some success is achieved and you just need to maintain it). However, he althy passion and creativity, the so-called informal tools, are welcome here.
- Reduction. Last resort strategy. The most unfavorable choice for the enterprise. It is used if the current performance is worse than the previous one. As a tool, it is price reduction, promotional policy, freezing of certain industries, restructuring, and so on. In a word, the level of targets is deliberately lowered.
- Combined strategy. This is a combination of the above basic development strategies in different variations and proportions. A similar scheme is used in large enterprises, for example, in holdings, which include several enterprises, and it is possible to apply a reduction strategy for one industry and growth for another.
Variability of solutions
What is the result? Of course, in each of the four points there are many more variations, tools and levers to ensure injection exposure. This allows:
- selectively influence the necessary areas;
- create a unique strategy for a certain enterprise in a certain period of time;
- anticipate market behavior in advance and predict the activity of the enterprise in order to coordinate it in time;
- have a visual representation of the current state of the enterprise and effectively monitor at all levels at once (both internally andoutside);
- the opportunity to discover new niches and explore the market from previously unknown positions.
And these are just a few of the many benefits executives and managers discover each year.
Methods for choosing a strategy
Of course, many people dream of identifying a special, specific version of the strategy. However, all of them are in any case based on two methods:
- Formal. Relies on mathematical analysis, exact calculations, probability and more.
- Informal. Here the foundation is the human factor, such as talent, intuition, creativity.
In general, this division is like comparing all types of people in the form of technicians and humanitarians. A big mistake is to limit yourself to only one method. It is reasonable to believe that the main base is the formal one, but the informal one contributes to the development of a “living organism”, since any enterprise is primarily people. And it is impossible to coordinate people with dry formulas and numbers.
The following are examples of several interesting strategies based on the opinions of experts who manage to, as they say, fill the form with content.
An example of a basic growth strategy. Integration
The growth of an enterprise is due to a lot of factors, as a rule, they are obvious and widespread (more profit - more growth). One of the specific tools of the strategy is integration. In the management sphere, this concept implies a merger or acquisition by one enterprise.another. Do not assume that this entails any negative consequences. On the contrary, this practice helps both a large enterprise and a small one, their growth is interconnected. Ultimately, the former has a young and determined team with new technologies, while the latter has a platform and resources for implementation, which increases the growth of two organizations at once. In the future, as a rule, they turn into a single well-functioning system.
By Michael Porter
The famous American economist worked hard to identify three primary types of basic strategies. According to Porter, they look like this:
- Cost leadership. It is used by large enterprises with a large turnover of products. The main advantage in the competitive market here is the reliability in the supply of raw materials, savings on realizable space and stable distribution channels.
- Strategy of differentiation. It is applicable for enterprises producing a product with unique properties and qualities, whose unique properties are available to a wide segment of consumers. However, it is worth considering here that such a strategy cannot be as long as cost leadership, since over time the product will somehow lose its uniqueness, and consumers will be able to make a choice in favor of a better or more profitable product with the same properties.
- Focus strategy. Not the easiest choice, given the speed with which the market (any) fills up, since goods and services are released faster than the consumer could understand that he really needed it. Accordingly, the needencourages purchase, use, and so on. The focusing strategy contains a special concentration of risks, since here the manager runs the risk of remaining unprofitable. But if the basic strategy was carried out correctly and the marketing plan worked, then the occupied niche will be a comfortable environment for monopolization or for creating he althy competition.
In a word, Porter's basic strategies are a mathematical table, where the choice of each of the strategies affects the strengths or weaknesses that control other directions.
According to Makshanov
The basic strategies of Sergei Makshanov (a domestic specialist in business and business training, a partner of the Synergy school) are different because they were developed in Russian realities, based on a long-term system of development and creation of enterprises in the country.
The basic principle is 365/7/24. The enterprise must make a profit every day, every hour, every year. Setting up a mechanism for such work is difficult, but possible. Help with this:
- professional staff (will help to effectively systematize work);
- internal organization system (mechanism won't work if it doesn't know how to do it);
- monitoring;
- establish a supply-demand system (have unique competitive chips in stock, do not save on top management and advertising).
Conclusion
"If there is no growth, look at yourself in the mirror." S. Makshanov is sure that the basis of any activity beginsfrom within. The main pillar is the choice of the basic strategy. Well-established algorithms in a home or school environment will make it easier to survive attacks from the external environment. The business coach also emphasized that in recent years the total number of enterprises has been rapidly declining. He attributes this to the complete abandonment of any kind of strategy in business, which is the first step towards liquidation.
