Strategy Development Processes and Services

Understanding current competitive advantages, capabilities, and core competencies is critical to the planning process and serves as a springboard to the future. Before determining where the business will go and how to grow it, it is necessary to have an accurate assessment of the internal rate of change to ensure that the company has the capacity and agility to exceed the external rate of change. It is also essential to understand the organization’s current vision, goals, and aspirations (the “as-is”) so the vision, future goals, and aspirations that will guide the journey can be defined or refined.

Successfully developing strategy requires organizations to be clear about what winning or success means to them. They have to define the future outcomes they want to achieve and their key measures of effectiveness. A clearly defined structure and organized set of strategic disciplines that go along with the strategy gives people in the organization greater clarity about what is expected of them, as well as how they fit and why they matter. Ultimately, businesses exist to create value for owners, customers, and stakeholders, so they too must understand the context of the strategy, dilemmas and issues, objectives, and opportunities that will help the organization transform and get to a better place, or a better position in the future.

CMOE has deep experience in the strategy field. We often work with senior teams to develop or improve strategy that will help them maintain their current competitive advantage, find new sources of competitive advantage, and sustain long-term growth. Strategy does not need to be complicated, but it is important to discuss, debate, and create plans using a common template.
We always begin the strategy-development process with an assessment and thorough analysis of the organization so that we understand the client’s background and challenges, as well as the key factors that have led to their success to this point in time. This process also helps us discover the dominant thought patterns in the firm and the assumptions people make about the following areas:

• The organization’s current direction
• The organization’s infrastructure
• The predominant point of view about the organization’s competitors and suppliers
• The level of risk and opportunities present in the external business environment

We also want to know how the organization views the customers and what the customers think: Do customers find working with the company easy, or is it challenging? This foundation becomes the jumping-off point for building strategy that addresses the challenges and opportunities facing the organization.

While each client’s strategy-development retreat is unique, CMOE’s process typically includes the following steps:

1. Gather objective data to understand where the business is today: the business drivers, current business model, history of the organization, and dilemmas the organization faces.
2. Understand the organization’s current strategy process and plan of action.
3. Analyze current priorities, initiatives, and programs and assess how they can be utilized to maintain continuity in addition to developing an understanding of the changes that are needed to position the company for long-term success.
4. Identify creative tools to be introduced at the strategy retreat that will enhance the strategy-formulation process.
5. Design a customized strategy process or methodology that addresses the organization’s needs and meets its requirements. Formulate a practical agenda for the retreat that will enable the business to go forward with more strategic intent and shape the future.
6. Prior to each retreat, attendees complete assignments, respond to questions, and read relevant articles or other materials to prepare for an intensely interactive and focused experience. The pre-work is organized and made available prior to the session in order to accelerate the strategy-development process and lay the foundation for a productive and rewarding experience at the retreat.
7. Facilitate the strategy retreat in a way that enables the leadership team members to collaborate and build consensus on key decisions and solutions that address the organization’s challenges, as well as allow them to resolve issues and differences in a constructive and positive way.
8. When the retreat is completed, we ensure that leadership team members have an ongoing role or responsibility for Strategic Opportunities for Improvement so the organization can be prepared to operationalize the strategy. We call them SOFI teams. These teams are responsible for achieving results and being accountable for progress. Because strategy is a process, we conduct a “Results Forum” after six months to share updates and receive input and guidance from other accountability teams.

As a result of this process, CMOE is able to help the organization’s leaders walk away with strategies and plans that are more aligned. They are also provided with the structure needed to cascade the strategies and plans down so that supporting strategies, accountability, and discipline can be established throughout the organization.