2005 Q2 Creating a Strategic Architecture
Planning for the future is usually a daunting task but one that is necessary for guiding your company in new directions. At the core of planning is understanding the future requirements of customers so that you can harness the resources necessary in order to prevail in an uncertain economy.
One of the approaches that SPG has undertaken in assessing the future direction for a company is the development of a strategic architecture that provides the infrastructure for a company. A strategic architecture identifies what the company must be doing right now to intercept the future. It is the essential link between today and tomorrow. The question addressed by strategic architecture is not what we must do to maximize our revenues or share in an existing product market, but what must we do today, in terms of competence acquisition, to prepare ourselves to capture a significant share of the future revenues in an emerging opportunity arena.
Strategic Architecture identifies the following:
- What competencies must your company be building?
- What new customer groups must your company begin to understand?
- What new channels should your company be exploring?
- What new development priorities should your company be exploring?
As Gary Hamel, author of Competing for the Future stated: “The future is to be found in the intersection of changes in technology, lifestyles, regulation, demographics and geopolitics.” Taking his statement a step further results in probing the underlying factors impacting change. For example, what emerging technologies are taking place that could have profound implications for your company? How are the lifestyles of your current and prospective customers changing and how do you capitalize on them? Will governmental regulation impact the way you do business? How is your customer profile changing as a result of demographic influences such as age, income, etc? How will the geopolitical environment impact your decisions in terms of geographic considerations for capital investment?
By answering these questions you can begin to sketch what your company will look like in five years?
- What will be the size of your company in terms of revenues and assets?
- How many facilities and where will they be located?
- What core competencies need to be developed? A core competence is a bundle of skills and technologies that enables your company to provide a particular benefit to customers.
- Will your business need further specialization in order to compete?
- How many employees will be needed to provide your products and services to your expanding customer base?
Dialoguing these and similar questions at your strategic planning meetings will result in building a strategic architecture that is essential for your company to prevail in the ever changing business environment.