Will Form 5495 Strategies 2017-2024

Since this is a strategy course, it seems only natural to start with a discussion of what strategy is and what it isn't. First, consider the following strategy statements drawn from actual documents and announcements from well-respected companies. "Our strategy is to be the low-cost provider." "We are pursuing a global strategy." "The company's strategy is to integrate a set of regional acquisitions." "Strategy is to provide unrivaled customer service." "Chick intent is to always be the first mover." "Our strategy is to move from defense to industrial applications." What do these strategy statements all have in common? Well, first of all, none of them are actually strategies. They represent tactics, goals, objectives, and descriptions, but not strategies. They are mere strategic threads, small components of overall strategies. The problem is that in recent years, strategy has become something of a buzzword. Whenever we want to sound smart and demonstrate our business acumen, we just make sure the word strategy shows up in our ideas. The result is that we now refer to many mundane and uninteresting aspects of the business as being strategic when they are really only small pieces of the overall business strategy. So then, what is the strategy? Being clear about what a strategy is will help us understand more clearly what a strategy is not. Well, the word strategy originally comes from the Greek word "strategos," meaning the art of the general. In other words, the origin of strategy comes from the art of war and specifically the role of the general in a war. In fact, there's a famous treatise entitled "The Art of War" that is said to have been authored by its son, Sue, a legendary Chinese general around the 2nd century BC. Strategists consider "The Art of War" to be one...