Ubiquitous Strategy: An Extension Of Vision

An extension of vision

- Dr. Yasho V Verma

 It’s a wrap of our strategy discussions as we arrive at the last in the series. I had started with reiterating Michael Porter’s elements of strategic positioning entailing cost leadership, differentiation and focus that drive companies towards competitive advantage. With help from some exemplary cases like Indigo Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Walmart, we studied their respective USP’s in the industries they thrive in and observed how these companies are creating sustainable competitive advantage. I presented the reasons why organisations in current times have recognised that competitive advantage comes more from intangible assets like knowledge, capabilities and relationships created over many years of perseverance. We have also discussed relevance of Balanced Scorecards, a performance measurement tool introduced in 1996 by Robert Kaplan and David Norton that allow a modest reference to a templatised strategy execution and therefore must also be customised as per company’s behaviour and cultural outlook.

In this part, I would like to again break our big strategy conversation into simple dialogues easy to comprehend and follow. I as Chief Operating Officer in my earlier corporate roles was absolutely convinced with the idea of also breaking big strategies into sub strategies. Strategies must be translated into operational terms by aligning mindsets and actions of all involved towards strategy creation and execution. Every employee must be involved in the process.