Leaving no stone unturned The reality of growth. Guide #1 Execute the strategic plan

Transcription

1 Leaving no stone unturned The reality of growth Guide #1 Execute the strategic plan

2 About this series Reality of Growth series This series of ten guides tells the real story and leaves no stone unturned on how to tackle the often complex challenges that can literally trip up a growing company in the fast paced race to be successful in today s changing market. Leadership Talent Organisational design Technology Outsourcing Sales vs markets Raising capital Business risk Alliances Strategic planning

3 There s no such thing as it can t be done When Hillary conquered Everest in 1953 it marked one of the great achievements of human courage and endurance. It also showed how success comes from careful planning, risk assessment and analysis, knowing the competition (in Hillary s case this included knowing himself) and above all having the determination to carry out his vision right to the wire no matter how difficult it might become. They re the same kind of challenges faced by every growth business; where do I want to go, how will I get there, and what do I need on the journey? At the heart of Hillary s plan lay an executable strategy, founded on vision, planning and commitment. He also had unstinting support from Tenzing; a sounding board who could encourage, support and help guide the way to the top. Sound familiar? You re right they re the same ingredients you ve identified as essential to your success. Deloitte All rights reserved.

4 Contents Should I or shouldn t I 1 Your blueprint 3 Step 1 What s happening outside? 5 Step 2 What s happening inside? 7 Step 3 Down to the wire 9 Still on the wire 11 The wire stops here 13 Step 4 It s crunch time 15 You ve nailed it 17 A final word of advice 18 2

5 Should I or shouldn t I have a strategic plan? Of course you should How else are you going to make your vision a reality? Developing a plan that turns a good business into an awesome business is not rocket science, but it requires realism and aspiration in equal measure. A strategic plan is the beginning, not the end, of a never-ending growth cycle. It s a blueprint for action that should influence every action of every person in your organisation every day. Don t be bamboozled by the jargon this is your common sense guide on how to succeed at being awesome. It s about growing your business faster in your target market. 1

6 1 What s happening outside competitors market place IT compliance. 2 What s happening inside mission vision values imperatives for growth constraints. 4 3 Developing the strategy identify every option evaluate thoroughly set your course. Implement, implement, implement! communicate develop plans, targets measure reward be flexible. Figure 1: Your blueprint developing and managing a strategic plan 2

7 Your blueprint We re going to: talk you through where to go, how to get there and what to do along the way look at what s happening inside and outside the business, then work out what should be happening explore the vision what are the core values of your business, and how you can capture the support and enthusiasm of your people reflect on a whole range of things you know a lot about: customers, competition, processes, products, opportunities and threats pull it all into that rarest of works, a blueprint for action that will make your business more successful (see Figure 1). 3

8 Regulation Markets issues for customers economic implications segmentation. Competitors analyse their strengths/ weaknesses who are they how do they target? barrier to entry potential for price war. Technology current status the future convergence with stakeholders differentiation opportunities cost implications. current regulation environment likely changes here and offshore need for common standards. Figure 2: What s happening outside illustrates what to focus on when conducting a market and environmental analysis 4

9 What s happening outside? Take a long hard look To start with, take a critical look at what s happening outside your business (see Figure 2). Ask yourself: 1. What s happening in the market? 2. What are my competitors up to? 3. Where s the technology going, and what effect is it having? 4. What legislation or regulatory issues are coming up; could they make or break us? Sounds simple? It is and it isn t. Here are some tips for making the process easier: Get your best people to help you Unlock the potential Think outside the square Make it fun! Motivate them. Take them off for a free-wheeling, creative session and work them hard. They ve all got valuable perspectives on the industry so ask them to be candid and tell you, including what makes one competitor a star and the other less so. Competitors who have been in the market for a long time tend to get complacent and rarely drill down to untapped markets and emerging opportunities Encourage imagination and innovation insist that your people explore every opportunity to take the business to the next level. The goal is to work out how to make the most of what you do best and to compensate for what you re not so good at. Work through the risk and rewards of each scenario and prioritise what is important and what isn t. So where to from here? 5

10 Customers Resources are they unique? are they highly skilled? access to capital? strategic alliances & partnerships? how is intellectual capital developed? Infrastructure is it aligned to customer needs? are management reporting systems up to scratch? is information shared? is there an adequate feedback process? Products do you leverage core competencies across product lines? can current products be used to leverage new products? do customers recognise & value your products? do you understand them by profitability, geography relationship etc? do they have input into new developments? Figure 3: What s happening inside illustrates what the internal analysis should focus on 6

11 What s happening inside? Face up to the mirror You know what s happening in your market: what competitors are up to, how technology is changing, and which way the regulatory wind is blowing. It s time to do some serious and honest navel-gazing and look at your business from the inside out. This is not the time for rose-coloured glasses or pandering to large egos. You re not there to bond; you re there to ruthlessly work out what you do well, where the business plan lacks substance, and what you need to do to bridge the gap. If the facilitator is good, you ll know at the end of the process what you do better than anyone else and how you can use these strengths to best effect. Now you and the team can develop key insights with a shared understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as areas where you can exploit your competitive advantage and stretch industry boundaries. Be ruthless and be prepared: this is not always a popular process. You might need a good facilitator to help work through the resource, infrastructure, product and customer issues (see Figure 3). 7

12 Low risk - Are you maintaining a presence? Less risk - Are you adapting to the future? High risk respond quickly - Are you shaping the future? seize opportunity low investment avoid premature commitments issues for customers economic implications segmentation Figure 4: Down to the wire where should I play? Work out the risks and rewards so you know you re playing in the best market 8

13 Down to the wire So, how do you choose between all the strategic possibilities that will have emerged from these exercises? Here are a few tips to help you maintain the momentum and focus your plan: brainstorm every idea, then debate the pros and cons. Don t hold back the smallest idea can provide a platform to build sound growth. recognise that building upon what you re already good at, or can be good at, will give you an edge. understand who you have in your business, and their potential to take it where you want it to go. Do you want to shape the future of your industry? Do you want to adapt to it? Or do you just want to play in the same sandpit? work through the risk factors of your ideas; for example, aiming to shape the future of an industry is high-risk, high-reward stuff (see Figure 4). benchmark every strategy against your vision and goals. Will they help you achieve them? 9

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15 Still on the wire You ve narrowed the options, so picking the best one is the next challenge. This can be a tough process, because it may mean rejecting what appear to be convincing business options with great potential. But the rewards are well worth it: commitment to a goal, and a solid foundation to build a strategy. Analyse the risks and rewards of every option from a market perspective and your capacity to deliver. Keep in mind the market risks associated with positioning your business many of which are beyond your direct control. However, remember you can almost always control the implementation risks: you manage the resources, infrastructure, intellectual property and everything else that you need to make it happen. 11

16 3 Coin a catch cry 1 2 Strategic focus what do you do best what is valued by the market. Differentiation superior performance invest heavily in these products or competencies. what is your compelling catch cry (can you explain your call to action in 30 secs or less)? Figure 5: The wire stops here determining your value proposition 12

17 The wire stops here With options and a strategic direction emerging, the next step is to work out how to go from good to great. We call this the value proposition (see Figure 5). The chart opposite gives you a pretty good idea of what sort of outcomes you could reasonably expect. This is when it becomes really important to align the resources you ve got inside the company with the opportunities that lie outside. Get this wrong and you ll pay the price for years to come. Other traps you should be wary of include: trying to be all things to all people confusing customers by offering very different products or services at the same time temptation to stray from the blueprint and race off in a new direction. If you ve aligned everything and everyone in the organisation to deliver something better than any of your competitors, stick to your plan and see it through. 13

18 Communicate, communicate, communicate Develop plans & personal goals Link resources to budgets Encourage, measure, reward Monitor, fine tune Be flexible Figure 6: The six crucial steps required to implement the strategy 14

19 It s crunch time So where to from here? You ve put in the hard yards, developed a focused plan of action and motivated the team. It should be all plain sailing from here right? Well, you ve done the easy part compared to what lies ahead. Fail to get the next bit right and you re doomed. To succeed, you need to communicate passion and energy from the top. Senior managers can t pass the buck they ve got to communicate the strategy. In most successful organisations, senior people are the internal sales people that infuse staff with a passion for success. In addition to the chart opposite (see Figure 6) effective communication includes: telling everyone what you re doing and why you re doing it putting in place continuous education programs that give your people the skills to do what you want them to do establishing goal-setting programs that keep everyone focused on the main game reinforcing these goals with motivating remuneration and reward systems. 15

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21 You ve nailed the blueprint Time for action Once you re sure your people know where the organisation is headed, it s time to show them how to get there. This means demonstrating how people, money and other resources will come together to achieve the plan, including: developing schedules of action for what happens when making sure that all parts of the business, including financial resources, are focused on implementing the plan linking people s goals and job descriptions with the blueprint for action making the blueprint the yardstick for performance. If people implement it well, reward them accordingly. If they don t well, that s another story putting in place effective monitoring procedures to track how everything is going. In the wake of all successful, fast growing companies are the remains of senior managers who failed to make the blueprint a reality. We ve written this book to make you a hero, not a statistic 17

22 A final word of advice Try our strategy reality check Are you ready to: Take a critical look at the industry, market and competitors, and thoroughly evaluate internal resources and capabilities? Identify what you do better than anyone else, and what you don t? Define your vision, and thought through what will make your business awesome? Work through all the options to ensure what you take to the market is better than any competitor s offer? Thoroughly evaluate the risk factors from a market and internal resourcing perspective? Develop a blueprint for action that can be implemented? Realign all resources, capabilities and infrastructure to ensure they fully support the blueprint? Put in place communication and education programs and reward systems that will give your people the necessary skills and motivation? Establish accurate measuring and monitoring procedures to track how everything is going? Build sufficient flexibility into every aspect of the implementation stage so the organisation can respond quickly and effectively to market changes? 10 out of 10? Well done!

23 Focusing you on your business When was the last time you stepped outside your business, took a breath and thought about the value you are creating? Deloitte recognises the importance of creating value and as leaders in delivering tailored solutions for established, emerging and fast growth businesses have developed our exclusive GrowthPLUS system. GrowthPLUS is an integrated suite of business solutions, based on three cornerstone themes, strategy, capability and commitment Strategy Capability Commitment A clear articulation of where a business needs to go A plan of how a business can realise its strategy by developing existing, potential and related resources An understanding as to the commitment, skills and drive that is required to deliver the capability to meet the strategy The GrowthPLUS system Deloitte 2012 ValueMap ValueMaps provide a structure to challenge, plan and simply think about your business. The map plots the levers that could be pulled, the decisions that could be taken or the actions to be pursued, that will add the greatest value to your business. Using the map structure breaks the discussion around your business down into strategic, tactical and operational components. GrowthPLUS Portal Following the ValueMap structure the GrowthPLUS Portal in an innovative tool that provides an easy, tailored journey through the best of Deloitte s global intellectual property and services, as well as local case studies on value creation. The system takes a holistic approach and deals with core specialist areas such as tax, audit and compliance. Reality of Growth series This series of ten guides tells the real story and leaves no stone unturned on how to tackle the often complex challenges that can literally trip up a growing company in the fast paced race to be successful in today s changing market. Deloitte Fast 50 The Fast 50 invites public and private owned businesses large and small to benchmark their growth achievements against New Zealand s fastest growth companies. Through the information collected from Fast 50 companies, we truly understand the challenges confronting growing companies. For more information, please contact a growth specialist in your area Auckland Bill Hale +64 (0) bihale@deloitte.co.nz Hamilton Doug Wilson +64 (0) douwilson@deloitte.co.nz Wellington Mark Lash +64 (0) marklash@deloitte.co.nz Christchurch Shari Carter +64 (0) sharicarter@deloitte.co.nz Dunedin Kyle Cameron +64 (0) kycameron@deloitte.co.nz Dean Ellwood +64 (0) dellwood@deloitte.co.nz Michael Crawford +64 (0) micrawford@deloitte.co.nz Stephen Nicholas +64 (0) stephennicholas@deloitte.co.nz Grant Jarrold +64 (0) gjarrold@deloitte.co.nz Mike Horne +64 (0) mhorne@deloitte.co.nz

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