organizations need a “competitive” strategic plan in todays digital economy
TRANSCRIPT
Organizations Need a “Competitive”
Strategic Plan in Today’s Digital
Economy
Contributed by Anthony Gable on January 9, 2015 in Strategy,
Marketing, & Sales
It is not the strongest or the most intelligent
who will survive, but those who can best
manage change. – Charles Darwin
During my several decades of consulting with
clients in a multitude of markets, I almost
invariably have found that those
organizations who are in greatest need of changing their approach to being competitive,
profitable, and successful, are those in need of creating and developing a Strategic
Plan. Rarely have I encountered a successful company that is capable of sustaining growth
without one. Should those rare companies be lucky enough to be in that situation, I have
found that to a large extent, they are in the embryonic or relatively early growth stages. For
those “other” and similar organizations facing those hurdles I have earlier referred to, and
which I have greatly enjoyed helping to create a workable plan, I propose here to offer my
findings of those elements which have usually been neglected within their existing “game
plan” for growth.
The most frequent area of concern which I find most of these organizations facing, is an
inadequate and occasionally almost non-existent RECENT understanding of the true
nature of the competition & THE COMPETITIVE MARKET POSITION within
which they CURRENTLY compete . When we encounter this, at out first opportunity,
we insist that they create and develop a new and definitive profile of their market and
competitor environment as it currently exists , rather than rely upon initial
understandings and considerations originally employed when entering their chosen market.
Things change rapidly in today’s Digital Economy! “Traditional” requirements necessary to
be competitive are of questionable value in an environment that now allows the
customer / client to have much greater control to make choices regarding the
product and services they seek through internet search capability. Customers /
Clients today relish their overwhelming ability to compare available products,
pricing, quality, “reviews” of company reputation, and responsibilities toward
social and environmental issues, etc.. The most critical factor, however, is that
market competitors have exactly the same ability via the internet to “scout”
competitor strategies and approaches to gain market share as well.
We do not discount those many additional areas in which organizations may find
themselves lacking, including loss of focus, necessary changes in management
competencies, distribution and partnering opportunities, cost-reducing technology, out-
dated or now irrelevant product offerings, etc.. But a lack of awareness and involvement in
the essential need to take more seriously today’s requirements to be competitive
brought on by internet exposure is critical to growth. No longer is it possible to gain
continued and future success in the absence of a Strategic Plan which clearly outlines an
organizational approach to compete based upon a productive understanding of
competitor efforts and associated customer / client needs and capabilities .
Creating an effective plan will normally require a somewhat dynamic change in
organizational thinking, and sometimes, direction, but is far from an insurmountable
mountain to climb. In reality, and much more often, the unifying “team” effort required
for plan implementation creates greatly improved company spirit, morale and challenge for
employees, equaling PLAN SUCCESS!!!
About Anthony Gable
Anthony Gable, MBA, owner of Echelon Associates, is a Strategic Planning Specialist. He has been
advising individual owners, executives, and profit-center (SBU) heads and their teams on the strategic
planning process since 1983. Prior to that, he gained management experience from years of wide-
reaching exposure in the corporate sector as a manager and executive. You can view his documents on
Strategic Planning here .
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