Developing effective strategies is becoming increasingly more difficult. Tough financial conditions and intensifying market competition has led to businesses seeking new, powerful strategies in order to counter these difficult market forces. But how does a business go about developing effective strategies?
McKinsey, in a recent article, highlighted five central building blocks of strategy; diagnose, forecast, search, choose and commit. The key, underlying factor that emerged from this was the value of insight.
Deep insight is crucial in analysing and understanding the environment in which a company operates and developing the strategies needed to succeed in that environment. Insight requires a thorough understanding of where and why a company and its competitors create (or destroy) value in order to stay competitive in the market. After all, it’s the companies who have a deep understanding of their markets that are ultimately the most successful.
So, why is insight so important for developing strategies? It all boils down to understanding and challenging existing perceptions about a company’s performances and successes. Making better, more-informed decisions stems from identifying the reasons behind past successes and failures, and challenging underlying and deeply held beliefs surrounding how and why the company does things the way it does. It is only when fundamentally different thinking is introduced that new and potentially powerful strategies can emerge that can overhaul a company’s strategic direction, hopefully for the better.
Gathering insight can be done through conducting market intelligence and competitor intelligence studies. The aim of either study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the business’s competitive environment, and provide the necessary intelligence to improve strategic decision making. For example, a business may conduct market entry research, market assessment research, needs assessment research or branding and segmentation research. The insights gathered from these studies can then help to piece together a detailed understanding of the market and start to formulate effective strategies that should provide results.
With a new year ahead, don’t be left behind by your competition and speak to the market intelligence specialists; B2B International.
