The Strategy Workout

Put yourself and your business through the strategy workout.

Every year thousands of senior and middle managers are asked to devise or revise a strategic plan for their business.

Many succeed, some fail.

Every year those same executives are asked to implement the strategies they have devised

Some succeed, many fail.

The Strategy Workout is based around a proven and simple-to-use set of strategy analysis tools which will enable busy executives to develop their own practical strategy in the minimum of time.

This interactive book combines a tried and tested strategy audit, which will help you to create and test the strength of a new strategy, with a program for overcoming the difficulties of implementation.

The Strategy Workout is written to be your companion throughout the strategy process. As an added benefit, Dr Levicki has offered to answer a question of your choice, to help you get the right strategy for your business plan and to ensure successful implementation.

• List of Case Studies
• List of Figures
• Foreword
• The Objectives of the Book
• A Different Way of Analyzing Strategy
• Implementation is Much Harder
• Acknowledgements
• Part One: "The Warm Up"
  Test Your Strategic Strength with an Initial Workout
1. Introduction and Workout Test of Fitness
• How This Book Works
• A Definition of Strategy
• How to Use this Book
• Methodology and Layout
• What Type of Organization Needs a Strategy?
• Who Should Devise Strategy?
• Who Should Implement Strategy?
• What To Do Now
• The Strategy Workout
• The Mission Audit
• The Market Environment Audit
• The External Environment Audit
• The Competition Audit
• Individual Competitor Audit
• Auditing Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses
• Summary of Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses
• Culture Audit
• Long-Term Strategy
• Short-Term Plans
• Summary
• Part Two: "The Marathon"
  Understand the Workout Fitness Test in Depth
2. The Mission Statement, or Why Are We in Business?
• Definition of a Mission Statement
• What is the Vision of the Organization's Leader?
• What Core Competences of the Organization are needed for this Vision?
• How Does the Organization Treat Its People?
• How Does the Organization Treat Its Customers?
• What Will the Organization Look Like in Five to Ten Years' Time?
• Philosophical Paradox
• The Long-Term Dream: Mission versus Vision
• The Mission Workout
3. Examining the External Environment, or What's Going on Out There?
• Start The Strategic Analysis Outside the Organization
• What External Environments Do We Mean?
• International Markets
• National Markets
• Regional Markets
• Economic Trends
• Industry Leaders
• Availability of Capital
• Where is the Profit in Your Industry?
• The Height of Entry and Exit Barriers
• Is the Industry Different in Each National Market?
• The Politics Affecting Your Interests
• Influencing Legislators and Legislation
• Demographics in the External Environment
• Expectations, Trends, and Tendencies in Your Industry
• The External Environment Workout
4. Studying the Competitors
• Introduction
• Top Industry Performers
• Other Important National Competitors
• The Most Dangerous People in Competing Organizations
• Important regional or Local Competitors
• The Many Sources of Competition
• Individual Competitor Profiles
• Workout on Competitor Analysis
• Current Industry Competitors
• Workout on Individual Competitors Profile
5. Analyzing inside the Organization
• Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses (SNW) Analysis
• Information Technology is a Common Weakness
• Turning Around Weaknesses and Neutrals
• It Takes a Long Time to Make a Difference
• Internal Change Should Be at the Rate of Change of the External Environment
• Your Best Strengths Are the Source of Your Worst Weaknesses
• Choose Internal Strengths that Are Enduringly Useful Rather than Ephemeral
• Not Science but Good Quality Checklists
• The Checklists for Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses Analysis
• A Note on the Profitability of Industries
• The Problem of Objectivity
• Workout Audit of Strengths, Neutrals, and Weaknesses
• Summary of SNW Analysis
6. Organizational Culture, or How Do We Really Do Things Around Here?
• Culture — What is it?
• The Culture Audit Looks at "What Is" — Culture Change Looks at "What Should Be"
• Components of The Culture Audit
• The Culture Workout
7. Define the Long-Term Strategy First
• There Is Not a Lot of Choice
• Going for Growth
• Stability Strategy
• Retrenchment or Liquidation Strategy
• Business Level Strategies
• Focus Strategies
• Choosing your Time Horizon
• Integration and Differentiation
• Strategies to Avoid
• Long-Term Strategy Workout
8. Designing an Organizational Structure
• Theory versus What Happens in Practice
• The Purposes of Organizational Structure
• Different Bases of Structural Design
• So, What Structures Work If They All Have Weaknesses?
• Informal Structures
• Conclusion
• Organizational Structure Workout
9. Choosing the Short-Term Tactics
• The Difference between Tactics and Strategy
• The Rule for Setting Short-Term Tactics
• Tactics Must Be Measurable and Unambiguous
• Budgets and Tasks
• Criteria for Short-Term Objectives
• Summary
• Short-Term Tactics Workout
• Part One: the Short-Term Targets
• Part Two: the Accounts
• Part Three: "Breaking Through the Pain Barrier"
  Putting the Workout into Action
10. Strategy Is Easy — Implementation Is Hard
• An Hypothesis of Strategy Implementation Failure
• The Beginnings of Strategic Failure
• Stakeholder Concepts
• What Goes Wrong?
• The Special Problems of Different Levels of Leadership
• Integration and Differentiation
• Delivery of Objectives
• The Essential Fabric of the Organization Is Based on Loyalty
• The Abnormal Psychologies of Senior Managers
• Conclusions
11. Getting Implementation Right
• The Formula For Success
• The Practicalities of implementation
• Basic Criteria of Skills
• Audit the Skills of the Rest of the Workforce
• The Structure of the Organization
• But If One Has to Restructure?
• Evolution Always Beats Revolution
• How Can You Become a Great Leader?
• Continuous Improvement
• Stay In Touch with All Your Stakeholders
• Communications
• The Value of Stability
• Doubts and Fears
• Beware Hubris
• How to be Lucky
• Last Word on Luck
• Conclusion
• Part Four: Cooling Down Gently
  Now Measure Your Final Strategy Workout Fitness
• Appendix 1: Test Your New Understanding with a Final Workout
• Appendix 2: Additional Reading Materials Mentioned Throughout the Book

Strategy analysis for idiots. Read the second edition instead.