From theory to action: the story of one strategy 267
• Who are we? • What do we offer that is unique? • Where are we headed, exactly?
• What is critical for success? • What activities must we do? • What should we not do?
Position Mission and Vision
Priorities Key Actions
Performance Success Metrics
Payments Budget
• How do we measure success? • What controls should we implement? • How is our return vs. competitors’?
• How much do we have to spend? • How should we allocate resources? • What budget process should we use?
Figure 12.1 Paul’s 4 Ps of Strategy
Second, I will pay particular attention to the activities of strategy during the process . As activities seem to be the focus of some recent strategy research, I will document the activities I undertake to compare with what researchers are finding elsewhere. Since commitments and actions are essentially the tools of strategy, I will also think carefully about the activi- ties that will be needed to support the stated strategy I am creating. The emphasis on decision making is one of the key tenets I use in all of my strategy sessions to students and executives: ‘The whole goal of strategy is to ensure that the daily decision making of employees within an organiz- ation is consistent with the agreed-upon positioning and priorities.’ Third, in terms of application of the strategic communication advice, I will create a strategy captured in a clear, concise manner and ensure that I use no more than 35 words for the high level strategy statements . Toward that end, I will utilize a framework that I created for my strategy students that I refer to as ‘Paul’s 4 Ps of Strategy’, which is shown in Figure 12.1 (Friga, 2009). I will also implement and recommend guidance that all strategies should be documentable on one page. The first ‘P’ is Position . In my mind, this is the starting point for any strategy – the mission and vision for the organization. The mission answers the question ‘Why are we here?’ and the vision addresses the question of ‘Where are we going?’ Both statements must be clear and concise so that they can be understood by everyone in the organization, so as to be helpful to drive daily decision making. In my case, the positioning statements must be clearly understood by the students in the program, recruiters, and fellow faculty and staff with whom I interact. Two other constituent
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