Any enterprise, like a living mechanism, should emerge, grow and develop, bringing its creator certain benefits (profit, name on the market, etc.). Such a mechanism is not easy to develop; it is necessary to specify and identify the strategy by which such an enterprise will move in one or another field. As the conditions of the modern market are becoming more and more like expressways, it is necessary to understand the trajectory of successful movement and take into account the rules, as new as old.
In the beginning was a strategy
Thanks to the competent development of the strategy, you can not only develop your mechanism into an adult, stronger business (or any other structure), but also provide it with prosperity for many decades. Such a project activity is called a development strategy, and its detailed description is given below.
Definition of a strategy 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 the 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, such a 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 should understand that his “living mechanism” must be plastic. This will help not only adapt to the changing external environment and receive 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 once, therefore, it is first necessary to take into account the initial parameters of the enterprise itself.
Comprehensive enterprise analysis
An action that sets the stage for the next steps. Since each enterprise is unique in its properties, it is necessary to identify its purpose - accordingly, for what the strategy is being developed. It must meet several factors:
- The specifics. A clear and understandable direction with a single result. The paths can be any, but the goal cannot be immediately 7 positions that are not coordinated with each other.
- Matching. Just what I mentioned above - goals cannot contradict, it will not be effective. For example, you can’t learn to drive a car and an airplane at the same time, but you can combine car trips with studying the city map or the principles of its mechanism.
- Amount. The development strategy should have a quantity (by how much the enterprise should develop over a certain period of time). It cannot be “in some time the turnover will increase by a little bit”, but “in half a year the turnover should increase 2.5 times” is already the correct goal setting.
- Comparison in time and space. An adjustment is also made here, since the goal must be achievable. To open a branch of an enterprise on Saturn to the environment, for example, is the most obvious option for reaching the target. It is unrealistic on all sides, so you should not pay attention to it.
Planning
- Market analysis - a set of measures to collect information from the environment in which the main activity of the enterprise. It is worth considering that here it is important not to be limited only by the market and occupied niche, but to receive the so-called feedback from the enterprise itself: what are the volumes in production, what affects the commodity circulation, 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 sophisticated systems will prostrate themselves before the collapse of the currency, natural factors and other negative situations that the manager cannot influence. Despite this, it is possible and necessary to monitor such factors and analyze the impact, since their impact can damage vital aspects.
A marketing plan is a collection of all the above points. Information processing and identification of specifics in the current time mode, forecast for the future and so on. 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 focus on the most effective tools and strategies that make up the enterprise.
Basic strategies
Having the necessary knowledge, research and analysis, you can move on to the most basic strategies of the organization, since they are the basis for all subsequent manipulations and directly affect the achievement of a high-quality result.
Basic strategies include:
- Limited growth. This is primarily stability. The tool is used when the mechanism has grown and matured, and the current position of the manager is satisfied. The 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 enterprise has really achieved positive dynamics).
- Height. The opposite of the previous strategy. Suitable for barely matured enterprises, will help to increase the pace and increase turnover. There are more risks, but there is a confident opportunity to reach a level of limited growth (when a certain success is achieved and you just need to maintain it). However, healthy excitement and creativity, the so-called informal tools, are welcome here.
- Abbreviation. Last resort strategy. The most unfavorable choice for the enterprise. It is used if current indicators are worse than the previous one. As an instrument, it means price reduction, stock policy, freezing of certain industries, restructuring, etc. In a word, the level of targets is intentionally reduced.
- 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, where several enterprises are included, and it is possible to apply a reduction strategy for one industry and growth for another.
Decision variability
What is the result? Of course, in each of the four points there are many more variations, tools and levers for providing an injection effect. This allows:
- selectively influence the necessary areas;
- create a unique strategy for a particular company in a certain period of time;
- predicting market behavior in advance and predicting enterprise activity in order to coordinate it in time;
- have a clear idea of the current state of the enterprise and effectively monitor immediately at all levels (both inside and outside);
- the ability to open new niches and explore the market from previously unknown positions.
And this is only part of the many benefits that leaders and managers discover each year.
Strategy Selection Techniques
Of course, many dream of revealing a special, specific version of the strategy. However, all of them are in any case based on two methods:
- Formal. It is based on mathematical analysis, exact calculus, probability and so on.
- Informal. Here, the human factor acts as the foundation, for example, talent, intuition, creativity.
In general, this division is similar to comparing all types of people in the form of technicians and humanitarians. The big mistake is to be limited to only one method. It is reasonable to assume that the main basis is formal, but informal contributes to the development of a “living organism”, since any enterprise is primarily people. But coordinating people with dry formulas and numbers is impossible.
The following are examples of several interesting strategies based on the conclusions of specialists who, as they say, remoteness, fill the form with content.
An example of a basic growth strategy. Integration
The growth of the enterprise is due to a lot of factors, as a rule, they are obvious and widespread (more profit - more growth). One of the specific strategy tools is integration. In the management sphere, this concept implies a merger or acquisition by one enterprise of another. Do not assume that this entails some 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, and 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 debugged system.
By Michael Porter
The famous American economist with hard work managed to identify three primary types of basic strategies. According to Porter, they look like this:
- Cost Leadership. Used by large enterprises with a large turnover of products. The main advantage in the competitive market here is reliability in the supply of raw materials, savings in the areas sold and stable distribution channels.
- Differentiation strategy. It is applicable for enterprises producing a product unique in properties and qualities, whose unique properties are accessible to a wide segment of consumers. However, it is worth considering that such a strategy cannot be as long as leadership in costs, because over time the product will somehow lose its uniqueness, and consumers will be able to opt for a better or more profitable product with the same properties.
- Focus strategy. Not the easiest choice, given the speed with which the market (of any) is filled, since goods and services are released faster than the consumer could understand that he really needed it. Accordingly, the need encourages the acquisition, use and so on. A special concentration of risks is collected in the focusing strategy, since here the managerial person risks staying unprofitable. But if the basic strategy was carried out correctly and the marketing plan worked, then a busy niche will be a comfortable environment for monopolization or for creating healthy competition.
In short, Porter's basic strategies are a mathematical table where the choice of each of the strategies affects the strengths or weaknesses that control other areas.
According to Makshanov
The basic strategies of Sergey Makshanov (domestic specialist in the field of business and business training, partner of the Synergy school) are different, since they were developed in Russian realities, relying on a long-term system of development and creation of enterprises in the country.
The basic principle is 365/7/24. The company must make a profit every day, every hour, every year. Setting the mechanism for such work is difficult, but possible. This helps:
- professional staff (will help to systematize work effectively);
- internal organization system (the mechanism will not work if he does not know how to do this);
- monitoring
- to establish a demand-supply system (to have unique competitive chips in stock, not to 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 begins from within. The main pillar is the choice of a basic strategy. Well-developed algorithms in the home or school environment will make it easier to survive the attacks of the external environment. Also, the business coach emphasized that in recent years the total number of enterprises has been rapidly decreasing. He attributes this to a complete rejection of any kind of business strategy, which is the first step on the road to liquidation.