A development strategy is a way for a company to move from its current state to its target state. To develop a development strategy, it is necessary to determine the target “State B” and understand the recent “State A.” But it is also desirable to select why you want to change the current position in the company.
How to understand where my company is now?
Let’s say your company needs a development strategy. To do this, it is necessary to answer the question: “What should the company become at a completely new qualitative level?” and “What should it become in terms of target indicators?”.
- The first component (qualitative level of development) is content. New ideas are needed to develop any company that has been successfully operating in the market for many years. Most often, this is due to the expansion of the product line or the strengthening of the existing one.
- The second component (quantitative level of development) is a description of the new target state (Strategic Goal) according to the required indicators (digitization). It is best if the strategic goal is presented in several interrelated goals. As a result, it will be easier to set tasks for all employees of the company.
If your company provides services and your main asset is people, then the list of targets to be achieved as part of the implementation of the strategy should include, for example, a list of services, including new ones (product line), the number of key specialists, the number of projects per year, other characteristic indicators for your company, turnover, marginality, profit.
The following is fundamentally important: the development strategy must include introducing the necessary management tools. But precisely those that are needed at the current stage of business development (at point “A”).
To do this, you need to understand at what stage the business is now and what growth points exist for each step.
Stages of strategy development
All stages of strategy development are described below.
Analysis of external and internal environment factors
This is an analysis of the market and, in general, everything outside the company. Any company in its activities interacts with the external environment, trying to meet the market’s demands with the help of its products and services. The company’s success will depend on how its product or service meets the market’s needs.
Analysis of the internal environment is the study of the structure of the enterprise. The analysis is carried out according to the main criteria.
Strategic Analysis
The main task at this stage is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the company and assess the opportunities and threats. To do this, we use SWOT analysis.
SWOT analysis (from English SWOT Analysis) is a type of situational analysis that allows you to assess the current and future competitiveness of a company’s product in the market by analyzing the internal and external environment of the organization.
Formulating a strategy
After completing the analysis of the external and internal environment of the enterprise, SWOT analysis, it is necessary to find a balance between all factors so that the competitive advantages of the organization, its strengths are aimed at realizing the opportunities and eliminating threats to the external environment, as well as the weaknesses of the organization.
Monitoring the timing of the implementation of the strategy
This stage is final but the most important. Now you, the owner of the company, need to achieve the implementation of plans from your employees. To do this, action schedules are developed for each unit with the full detail of each stage. Implementation deadlines are set, responsible persons are appointed, and weekly performance monitoring is introduced.