Search results for ""author marc baaij""

Formulating a strategy is one of the most important but also one of the most difficult challenges faced by businesses: How may one translate a concern into a structured issue and the hypotheses for addressing that issue? How should one approach the designing and executing of the analyses through which these hypotheses can be tested, thus creating the insights from which new strategic options can be developed? And how can one identify the “best bets” from among the many different strategic options available, and determine how these may be translated into a coherent business strategy that the organization and its stakeholders can buy into? This book helps to answer these questions for the senior manager responsible for company strategy; the project manager who’s been asked to chart and defend a new strategic course of action; and the student wishing to “learn the ropes” of strategy-creation. This book offers no theoretical strategy “frameworks”. Nor does it propagate a specific strategy of any kind. It is, quite simply, a “cook book” describing a step-by-step, focused and fast approach for creating a new strategy at medium-sized and large businesses. It is a proven method used by top management consultants to help clients develop new strategies. The Craft of Strategy Formation provides a crisp account of the consecutive steps to take (and pitfalls to watch out for) when typically vague business concerns need to be translated into actionable strategy fast. Featuring the tried-and-tested analytical and organizational approach of top management consultants, this integral account of how strategy is crafted in practice offers a welcome break from traditional handbooks featuring largely isolated frameworks, tools and cases; highly theoretical academic treatises; and largely anecdotal “infotainment” books for the general reader.

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In an increasingly connected world experiencing accelerating levels of technological disruption, the strategic challenges for business leaders are greater than ever before, and conventional approaches to strategy are unable to contend with today's VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) business environment. A new approach to strategic decision-making is required to motivate and mobilize stakeholders to achieve the business’s overarching goals, such as making a profit and delivering on people- and planet-related objectives. Mapping a Winning Strategy introduces a new mapping method for creating and executing an effective business strategy. This method uses visual maps to engage colleagues throughout the organization, ensuring that every stakeholder’s voice is considered by avoiding a top-down approach. It also enables business leaders to identify the strategic issues they face without distraction, so that a clear path is formed towards the best strategic plan. By mapping out the most effective strategy, organizations can anticipate and manage roadblocks to strategic change and make winning and well-executed operational choices.

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