What Is Strategy

1. What is strategy?

According to Markides (2004) strategy is:

• Distinctive Strategic positioning

Strategy is about continuosly developing and re-designing a distinctive strategic position which embraces innovation as a means to develop a strong competitive advantage within any type of industry.

• Strategic Innovation - Coping with environment

Strategy must evolve to cope with the uncertainty and everchanging conditions of the environment; otherwise the company’s survival will be compromised.

• Building blocks of strategy

Markides (2004) suggests three parameters which must be stated within the company in a clear and explicit way giving its members a certain degree of autonomy for desicion making gradually defining the company’s strategic position. These “boundaries” or “building blocks” as the author calls them include: target and non target customers, product range and means to reach potential customers.

• Climate and culture of innovation strategy

Companies must develop a “learning organisation” which fosters creativity and innovation using tactics such as the creation of a positive crisis and brainstorming. This will allow the company to react against internal and external changes remaining flexible.

• Combining Choices

“A company is a complex system of interrelated and interdependant activities” (Markides, 2004) and therefore managers must design a system which not only integrates the different activities but also embraces flexibility as a way of coping with external and internal changes.

2. Four Elements

The author suggests that organisational environment is made up of four key elements which are “created” / manipulated by managers and he also states that these elements should serve the unique purpose of facilitating the adoption and development of a superior strategy. These elements are: culture, incentives, structure and people.

If we take a look at two of the four elements suggested by the author we will immediately identify a...