Breakthrough Strategy Development: Competing for the Future

Business Framework
Breakthrough Strategy Development:
Competing for the Future
This presentation discusses a new paradigm for competitive
strategy focused on developing breakthrough strategies for
seizing control of your industry and creating the markets of
tomorrow. “Competing for the future” means to identify,
create, and then dominate emerging market opportunities
before our competitors have the opportunity to exploit them.
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This deck discusses a new paradigm for competitive strategy—focused on
developing breakthrough strategies in competing for the future
Executive Summary
The contents of this presentation are largely based on the book, Competing for the Future, by Gary
Hamel and C.K. Prahalad. It discusses a new paradigm for competitive strategy focused on
developing breakthrough strategies for seizing control of your industry and creating the markets of
tomorrow.
“Competing for the future” means to identify, create, and then dominate emerging market
opportunities before our competitors have the opportunity to exploit them. It requires us to
anticipate and execute before competitors are aware of the need.
This document discusses the topics of 4 Strategic Initiatives, 3-Phase Approach to Competing for the
Future, Future Visioning Techniques, Business Model Design, Strategic Architecture, Strategic
Intent, Resource Leverage, Core Competencies, Expeditionary Marketing, Global Preemption,
Industry Leadership, and Organizational Design. This deck also contains some templates to
leverage in your business presentations.
PHASE 1
Compete for
Intellectual Leadership
PHASE 2
Compete for Manage
the Migration Path
PHASE 3
Compete for Market
Share and Leadership
Overlap
Overlap
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Contents
Overview
Strategic Initiative 1: Identify
Strategic Initiative 2: Understand
Strategic Initiative 3: Mobilize
Strategic Initiative 4: Arrive
Expeditionary Marketing
Global Preemption
Industry Leadership
Templates

Typically, a company will refuse to consider walking away from its past, unless it
realizes there is a clear and present danger to its ongoing existence
Altering Corporate Genetics
These are the 3 elements from which any vision of the future will be constructed.
To be able to forget our past, we must alter its corporate genetics—the set of biases,
industry acts, presuppositions, assumptions, beliefs, and preferences carried around in the
heads of our management team.
Our organization must also strive to develop worthwhile industry foresight—a vision of
where the industry is heading in the future. To develop this industry foresight, we must be
able to answer 3 critical questions:
1. What new benefits should be provided in the future?
2. Which competencies are required to deliver the benefits?
3. How will the customer interface vary in the future?
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Contents
Overview
Strategic Initiative 1: Identify
Strategic Initiative 2: Understand
Strategic Initiative 3: Mobilize
Strategic Initiative 4: Arrive
Expeditionary Marketing
Global Preemption
Industry Leadership
Templates

Here are techniques to follow to create a viable strategic architecture
Strategic Architecture Development Techniques (1 of 2)
1. At every level of the organization, ask the questions, “Given our unique set of
competencies, what can we do better than anyone else in the world? And, what new
business opportunities does that generate?”
2. Form a Strategic Architecture Council, drawn from every division of the company, to
identify new business opportunities that could be exploited.
3. Organize a company-wide event at which people from every level of the organization can
participate in challenging and rethinking the corporate assumptions, key aspirations, and
directions.
4. Form strategic alliances and other associations with other organizations with different sets of
skills and competencies. See what kind of hybrid products and services become possible.
5. Ask senior managers to summarize their answers to the question, “How will the future of our
industry be different?” Evaluate the answers—even what “the future” means to different people
may be as illuminating as the ideas put forward. Consider how broad the answers are.
Determine whether the company poses a competitive challenge to any other organization in the
future, or whether it remains locked in the past.
6. Encourage ambiguity and avoid making commitments to large, irreversible allocations of
resources. Realize that flexibility in strategic architecture is not only desirable, but essential
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In initiative 3, we must energize and unite the company for the journey ahead
Strategic Initiative 3: Mobilize IDENTIFY
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The race to the future of any market does not go to the company with the greatest resources
at the start of the race. Rather, the winner is invariably the company that is the most
resourceful—that has the clearest vision of the future around which the energy and efforts
of the entire organization are focused.
Stretching and using leverage provides the fuel for the journey the company must go on
if it is to arrive at the intended future circumstances.
To overcome any constraints on
resources by creating greater leverage.
To allocate scarce resources across
various projects effectively.
To stretch—by finding ways to achieve
targets that seem impossible.
To align goals and resources
productively as possible.
NEW STRATEGYCURRENT STRATEGY

There are 5 ways resource leverage can be achieved
Ways to Achieve Resource Leverage (1 of 2)
1
By concentrating resources on key strategic goals, rather than spreading them
over more initiatives. This is done by:
• Eliminating competing goals.
• Maintaining consistency over extended periods.
• Focusing on goals that are the most important.
• Targeting activities that create the most added value.
By being more efficient at accumulating resources. This includes the ability to learn from
experience and extract valuable lessons for productivity enhancements. It will also embody
strategic alliances, joint venture, licensing arrangements, and other commercial tie-ups under
which the resources of 3rd parties can be borrowed or harnessed.
In this context, the organization’s abilities to absorb the insights gained is an important factor.
Resources can also be accumulated by forming links with suppliers, sharing development risks
with key customers, acquiring resources on more favorable terms in specific geographical
locations, or seeking government funding for research projects or the like.
2
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In the final initiative, we must get to the future before our competitors—and
without risk
Strategic Initiative 4: Arrive (1 of 2) IDENTIFY
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The payoff occurs when our company converts intellectual leadership into market
leadership before our competitors do. This will require the following approach to a new
strategy:
Compete for leadership in a core
competence.
Compete for leadership in a product
category.
Compete for control of the industry’s
future direction.
Compete for market share of an existing
industry.
NEW STRATEGYCURRENT STRATEGY
Compete as part of a coalition of
businesses working together.
Compete for a standalone business
organization.

It is critical to learn how to develop core competencies
Core Competency
We can define Core Competency as:
1. A bundle of integrated skills and technologies, rather than one
specific of discrete skill or technology.
2. Contributes meaningfully to long-term corporate or organizational
prosperity by:
1. Providing customer-perceived added value.
2. Being a unique point of differentiation.
3. Generating a broad away of new products and services.
3. Is not an asset that show up on a balance sheet, such as a brand,
factory, distribution channel, or patent.
4. Increases in value over time if properly managed, rather than becoming
outmoded or replaceable.
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Core Competency Development Competition (2 of 2)
4
Be willing to reallocate core competency assets to those parts of the business where
the greatest future benefits can be derived, as opposed to those area where traditional
results have been generated.
This will generally require a corporate culture that understands and values core
competencies highly.
Protect and defend its core competencies by:
• Appointing internal guardians and stewards.
• Conducting regular benchmark comparative tests.
• Building an inner core of competency specialists.
• Watching for erosive practices or habits that may creep in.
• Articulating and highlighting competency priorities.
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Since the objective is to reach the future quicker than competitors,
Expeditionary Marketing is of vital importance
Expeditionary Marketing Details
Every new product launch team believes they will hit the bulls eye in terms of customer demand and
requisite product performance offered, but, as we know, very few ever do. In fact, the only worthwhile
learning any company every does is when it places its product offerings in front of consumers and sees
whether or not they respond.
What counts most in Expeditionary Marketing is not hitting the bulls eye the first time. It is staying active
in the market long enough to learn how your product offering needs to be altered and improved to make it
more attractive to its intended market.
With this in mind, the amount of time and cost required to launch each new product offering becomes of
paramount interest. The fast and more cost effectively a company can repackage and relaunch a product
package, the better. Note that this requires our organization to have a healthy tolerance for new product
failures, as a good way to learn rather than the kiss of death for a corporate career.
The heart of Expeditionary Marketing is to get into the marketplace and learn from customers what works
and what doesn’t work, while potential competitors are still fiddling around in the labs.
Expeditionary Marketing is particularly important for emerging markets, where no
historical information exists.

Most of the world’s most successful commercial enterprises establish a banner
brand under which their global marketing programs are arranged
Global Banner Brand Model
The primary goal of a banner brand is to predispose consumers to try new products, as
they become available—thereby securing the first-mover advantages.
Disney
Studios
Disney
Parks and
Resorts
Disney
Media
Networks
Disney
Consumer
Products
CONSUMERS BANNER BRAND
BUSINESS
UNIT
CORE
PRODUCTS
CORE
COMPETENCIES
Illustrative example:
Some companies use
a corporate name as
its banner brand, a
product family name,
or something entirely
different.

To achieve industry leadership, we need to begin thinking and acting differently
Industry Leadership Overview
If a company aspires industry leadership, it must differentiate itself by thinking and actively differently
about these 3 key topics:
Competitiveness
1
Business Strategy
2
Organizational Design
3

We must also change how think and act with respect to business strategy
Changing Perspective on Business Strategy
Competitiveness
1
Business Strategy
2
3
To be able to compete in the future, we need.
1. A view of the future (i.e. industry foresight); and
2. A blueprint for getting there (i.e. strategic architecture).
Most Strategic Planning is incremental, while Strategic Architecture opens up new markets and focuses on new
business opportunities. Strategic Planning often focuses on tactics and operational issues facing business units.
On the other hand, Strategic Architecture looks at the way the industry can be reshaped to the fir’s advantage in
the future, which core competencies will be required in the marketplace of the future, how to go about securing
those resources or building them now, etc. In short, Strategic Architecture has the following attributes:
1. Has a long-term view of shaping an industry.
2. Uses leverage to achieve corporate aspirations.
3. Integrates the idea of stretching to grow.
4. Encourages consistency and constancy of effort.

Insert headline
Approach to Competing for the Future -- TEMPLATE
Present Future
PHASE 1
Compete for
Intellectual Leadership
PHASE 2
Compete for Manage
the Migration Path
PHASE 3
Compete for Market
Share and Leadership
• Filler text, filler text, filler text • Filler text, filler text, filler text • Filler text, filler text, filler text
Insert bumper.

Insert headline
Expeditionary Marketing -- TEMPLATE
A pre-existing brand
name awareness.
1
A strong channel of
distribution.
2
The capacity to roll-our
products quickly and
efficiently
3
Insert bumper.
• Filler text, filler text, filler text

Insert headline
Industry Leadership Changes in Perspective -- TEMPLATE
Competitiveness
1
Business Strategy
2
3
Insert bumper.

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