How can you identify problems in Business Strategy?

To identify problems in a business strategy: 1. Review KPIs and metrics for missed targets. Check for strong execution plan and results from it clearly. 2. Analyze customer feedback and market trends for dissatisfaction or lost market share. 3. Benchmark against competitors for innovation and market presence. 4. Gather employee feedback for operational and execution insights. 5. Examine financial statements for profitability and resource allocation issues. 6. Conduct a SWOT analysis for internal and external strategic impacts. 7. Check if the strategy aligns with long-term goals. 8. Assess the strategy's adaptability to market changes. 9. Ensure the strategy is forward-looking and innovative. 10. Evaluate risk management effectiveness.

O primeiro passo para identificar problemas precisa começar com uma simples e honesta conversa entre times, pois a diversidade de perspectivas é uma fonte rica para inovação e insights. A equipe de vendas, por exemplo, pode ter percepções únicas sobre desafios que não são capturados por KPIs tradicionais. Ao promover um diálogo aberto, a gestão pode descobrir pontos valiosos para uma tomada de decisão forte e assertiva.

Make sure you assign enough time for your key people to carry out this exercise thoroughly and collectively. All functions need to be represented and have an equal say in inputting information into the SWOT analysis. I recommend taking at least one day at an offsite location just for this first stage. Have an independent facilitator to ensure everyone gets heard and the conversation is evenly balanced across all aspects of the business. Don't use this exercise to try and solve problems or leverage opportunity. That comes later.

Business strategy is very crucial element for further growth of any business. Whenever we devise any Business strategy we should always look upon various factors and after analysing all factors, which impact the Strategy, we should go ahead. Many a times, it seems that everything is going right and at the end we come to know that no this strategy is not workable. To avoid such failures, analysing the probable problems or errors is very much necessary and SWOT analysis is a great tool, through which we can analyse the business strategy in detail by having deep understanding of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Once we will have detailed SWOT analysis with us, it will become easier to implement business strategy smoothly.

A plan is not a strategy. Strategy is what you decide to be, and not to be, in order to provide a highly differentiated position in the market. Strategy should be related to the business strengths and vocation, something that the organization have already proved to be good at and are willing to perform. After that, you can set a plan. My suggestion is to put in place the “creative anthropology”, witch is nothing but to be where things really happens in the market, and stay there just watching, until you come up with real information about the business. These information will provide outstanding insights to set a good plan and to check your performance so far.

Identifying problems in a business strategy is like being a detective in your own company. You've got to look for clues and patterns that tell you something's not quite right. Now, when it comes to the importance of defining the problem, it's like knowing the difference between a symptom and the actual disease. You might see a dip in sales (that's a symptom), but the real problem could be something deeper, like a product that's not meeting customer needs or a marketing message that's not resonating. Defining the problem is crucial because it sets the direction for everything that follows. It's like setting the GPS before you start driving; you need to know where you're going to plan the best route to get there.

Now that we've spoken to all the stakeholders involved in the execution of a strategy, it's essential to understand what hurdle that we need to cross. Defining the hurdle is very important because till you don't define it, you're bound to be a little bit all over the place. Understanding the exact problem takes sharp focus and then going all out behind it to solve the issue.

Keep digging and digging. Keep asking, “yes, but why?”. Poor problem definition has obvious consequences in our effectiveness solution effectiveness

Defining the problem is crucial in strategy development as it provides clarity and focus, guiding resource allocation and goal setting. It ensures that solutions are effective and directly address core issues, prevents scope creep, aligns stakeholders, and establishes a baseline for evaluating the strategy's success. This phase is foundational, setting the stage for all subsequent project activities.

Always look at what the leading companies do, but not just in your Industry. Who is the best in detecting and solving problems? - most likely management consulting companies, more specifically MBBs. Most famous approach they use is MECE - Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive, which entails breaking problems down to more simple components but ensuring that there is no overlapping and that you cover everything (or at least everything that is statistically significant). This allows focusing on most probable causes, which, in turn, allows for faster learning about the specific issues (by having more time to deeper explore a single narrow topic) and, consequently, facilitates coming up with best solutions.

To generate effective solutions in business strategy, engage in diverse brainstorming. Invite input from all levels of your team, considering various viewpoints. For example, a junior employee might offer fresh insights on a customer issue that senior leaders overlook. You must prioritize inclusivity and creativity to uncover the most impactful solutions.

Before generating solutions, one must identify the different stakeholders and user personas that are impacted by the defined problem(s), whom may later be impacted by solutions. This allows you to prioritize users who are the most in need, while aligned with your available resources and capacity to solve a problem (ex: budget, time, talent). After all, during strategy execution, companies almost never sponsor all of the brainstormed solutions you’ll present in your business strategy.

For this inputs of maximum stakeholders should be explored. A clear picture can emerge only then. These could be customers (big and small), channel partners, internal employees, back end and front end teams etc

It is paramount to ensure a disciplined management meeting structure exists in organizations today. So often, teams only begin to convene when problems arise. Inevitably they all agree to come together to resolve issues however lack experience of working together. Ensure you are touching base regularly, in good times and bad, in order to ensure problem recognition and resolution.

Para hallar soluciones innovadoras en la estrategia empresarial, es crucial abrir las puertas a una lluvia de ideas diversa. Anima a todos los niveles de tu equipo a compartir sus opiniones, permitiendo la consideración de distintos puntos de vista. Por ejemplo, la perspectiva de un empleado junior podría revelar enfoques únicos para abordar problemas de clientes que podrían pasar desapercibidos para los líderes senior. Priorizar la inclusión y la creatividad es esencial para descubrir soluciones impactantes. Al fomentar un ambiente donde cada voz es valorada, se propicia un terreno fértil para la generación de ideas disruptivas y efectivas.

When evaluating solutions in business strategy, you should consider practicality and impact. For example, a low-cost solution might save resources but fail to address the core issue. Use a decision matrix to weigh options against factors like cost, feasibility, and alignment with goals. Choose the solution that effectively solves the problem with minimal negative trade-offs.

Es común que las organizaciones caigan en la trampa de evitar discutir las deficiencias de la estrategia, lo que nos lleva al camino de Abilene, donde todos asumen que son los únicos preocupados por su falta de efectividad. En talleres anteriores, implementamos una dinámica efectiva utilizando "sombreros" simbólicos. Cada persona asumía un rol diferente; por ejemplo, el ingeniero adoptaba la perspectiva del director financiero. Esta estrategia abrió un diálogo honesto, transformando los problemas de críticas a departamentos específicos en oportunidades para reflexionar y pensar en conjunto.

I believe it is key to set how you are going to measure the effectiveness of a solution before you start implementing it. The metrics need to be simple and (yes!) measurable and it should compute meaningful business consequences (rather than vanity metrics so well covered by Eric Ries's The Lean Start-up).

A common trap for organizations is that the team ends upon the road to Abilene and nobody speaks up on shortcomings of where the strategy stands because everyone thinks they’re the only one thinking it’s not going to work. We’ve done successful workshops in the past in which we handed out „hats“ for people to represent a certain persona - the engineer would be comfortable to say „as a CFO I’d be concerned about our roadmap to reduce COGS as we scale“ etc, you get the idea. It helped open an honest dialogue in which problems that needed to be highlighted were no longer a reflection of the performance of certain departments but they became an opportunity for everyone to think n through together.

Solution evaluation should be done with a wholistic approach and zero biases. While evaluating a situation overall organisational view needs to be considered sometime a solution may be cost effective however, it may deviate you from organisational purpose and vision. It’s advisable to create the Business Strategy Canvas and evaluate the solution basis business outcomes.

Look at early results, analyse early failures of your solution and implementation, try to pivot for the failures, and repeat some early successes across a broader geographical spectrum organisation. If it works, encapsulate the learnings and where you failed. Ensure that those are communicated so people don't repeat the same mistakes. Share best practices and appreciate people because that is how stakeholders get behind a strategy to execute it to completion. A mantra I have followed is that don't be the most intelligent person in the room. You will find it challenging to overcome roadblocks if you have to make all the decisions, so always communicate and hire people who are more intelligent than you.

Analiza cuidadosamente los primeros resultados y examina los fallos en la solución e implementación inicial. Experimenta con pivotes para corregir los errores y replica los éxitos iniciales en una escala geográfica más amplia. Es fundamental encapsular los aprendizajes, incluidos los fallos, y asegurarse de que se compartan para evitar repeticiones de errores. Fomenta la difusión de las mejores prácticas y reconoce el aporte de las personas; esta dinámica respalda la ejecución exitosa de una estrategia. Un mantra valioso es no ser la persona más inteligente en la sala; facilita superar obstáculos al fomentar la toma de decisiones colaborativa y la contratación de individuos más capacitados.

To implement solutions effectively, focus on actionable steps and clear communication. For example, if you're addressing a sales decline, start by setting realistic goals, like increasing customer engagement by 10%. Then, assign specific tasks to team members, ensuring everyone understands their role. Regularly monitor progress and be ready to adjust strategies based on feedback and results. This approach ensures your solution is not only implemented but also continuously improved.

If you have followed a genuine approach to seek diverging ideas from across functions and levels and then a convergent few, selling the solution will be relatively easy. If the solution has been devised by the 'boss', selling the solution within the implementing organization in the first instance will still be worthwhile. Once the solution is sold, implementation is a matter of good project management and then change management.

Uma maneira que achei bastante funcional é começar estruturando uma boa comunicação com todo time que irá ajudar na implementação, deixando todos cientes de porque tal coisa está sendo implementada e quais impactos cada área terá, papéis e responsabilidades devem ser clarificados.

As a Management Consultant, here is what I recommend: To effectively identify problems in business strategy, consider practical engagement with your team. Regularly review key metrics and feedback. For example, if sales are declining, engage sales and marketing teams to understand market changes and customer preferences.

I’d start by saying that except for extremely specialized functions like say, cross-border M&A tax, or independent accounting valuation, consultants generally don’t bring much to the plate other than interviewing your own employees and external stakeholders to find out what a good Management team would already know ! All this glamorized process around Strategy formulation and execution is pretty meaningless if you don’t start from the beginning which is innovation, i.e. solving client (existing and prospective) issues. This of course requires Management engagement with clients and Board focus on innovation… a rare occurrence according to HBR

I think it’s key to use a combination of convergent and divergent thinking to solve problems. Convergent thinking is about peeling the onion to get to the root of the problem. Divergent thinking is then coming up with multiple solutions with the aim that at least one of those would work.

Talk to your customers and prospective customers to assess your products and services and avenues for improvement in products or services! Sometimes you have to change process in production , pricing or marketing strategies etc.

The fundamental way to identify the problem in business strategy is to ask how can a business create value to its customers, suppliers and employees. If the current strategy does not answer this questions satisfactorily, then this is a red alert, a problem in the business strategy;