Developing Strategy Statements - an easy DIY framework

Exploring Strategy Concepts:
Developing a Strategy Statement
March 2018
W. Henry Yaeger
Managing Principal
Banner Group LLC
717-723-9488
henry@bannergroupllc.com
With “DIY” Template for Leadership Teams to Drive Alignment

Exploring Strategy Concepts | Developing a Strategy Statement 2© Banner Group LLC. All rights reserved.
● Most organizations don’t have a coherent strategy: they fail to articulate
what they want to achieve, the domain in which they will operate, and the
factors that will contribute to their success
● The following introduces and builds on the concept of a Strategy Statement
as presented in an Harvard Business Review article titled “Can You Say
What Your Strategy Is?” by D.J. Collis and M.G. Rukstad
● Banner Group and our consultants have used this simple framework to help
dozens of leaders to define and communicate their strategies
● Included in this deck is a “do it yourself” template and instructions for
engaging teams to align the critical elements necessary for a coherent
strategy at the organizational, business unit or department level
● If you find this document useful, please share it freely and send any
suggestions or comments: henry@bannergroupllc.com
Introduction

“Most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope,
and advantage of their business in a simple statement.
If they can’t, neither can anyone else.”
Companies without a simple and clear statement of strategy are likely
to fail to execute their strategy (or worse: don’t have a strategy).
● “I try for months to get an initiative off the ground, and then it is shut
down because ‘it doesn’t fit the strategy.’ Why didn’t anyone tell me
that at the beginning?”
● “I don’t know whether I should be pursuing this market opportunity. I
get mixed signals from the powers that be.”
Source: “Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?”, HBR 2008/04, David J. Collis and Michael G. Rukstad
Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?

A good Strategy Statement has three critical components:
● Objective – the ends that the strategy is designed to achieve
● Scope – the domain, or part of the landscape, where the firm will operate
● Drivers – the means for achieving the objective, as in what the firm will do
differently from or better than others (also referred to as “Advantages”)
… a simple yet sufficient list for any strategy.
Defining these elements requires trade-offs
● For example: If the advantage comes from scale economies, the firm
will not be able to accommodate idiosyncratic customer needs
● Firms must make choices that necessarily exclude other options
Companies, business units, and functional teams can drive and
maintain alignment by creating an explicit Strategy Statement

ACTUAL EXAMPLES *
“Grow sales by 20% per year by serving customers in distinct market segments with
value-added, end-to-end solutions.”
“Achieve $35 million in annual sales by 2020 by solving the most challenging
[technical] problems with remarkable customer service, investing to build efficiency,
and selectively expanding globally.”
“Grow 50% per year by retaining people that embrace our values, adapting capacity
to meet fluctuating demand, and tailoring messages to [specialized] markets.”
“Grow sales 10% per year while increasing cash flows, by leveraging existing
manufacturing assets, focusing sales efforts in areas of known capabilities, and
maintaining high levels of customer responsiveness.”
To be most useful Strategy Statements should be brief enough
to remember and must include all three strategy elements
* Examples are from actual Banner Group clients with annual sales of $5m to $60m; some statement goals and other
elements have been altered or obscured to ensure confidentiality.

“DO IT YOURSELF” INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Invite your leadership team to a 45-minute meeting to align your strategy.
This exercise works best with 4 to 7 people; they could be senior leaders of a company, business unit, functional group,
special project team or any team without an explicit strategy.
2. Send participants this presentation and ask them to work independently (before the meeting)
to write down two or three responses for each of the three strategy elements.
It’s important that each person actually write down their responses, but they don’t have to use the template.
3. At the start of the meeting, review the Strategy Statement concepts in this presentation.
4. Ask each participant to share their views on each of the three strategy elements.
This works best when you solicit inputs in a “round robin” format, in which each person in turn provides one input, as
you go around the group, person by person. Write the inputs on a whiteboard or flip chart. After you have been around
the group once, start at the beginning and repeat the process until each person has exhausted their list. Focus on
getting all the inputs on one of the three elements before moving on to the next.
5. Through discussion, develop a shared list of no more than three points under each element.
Iterate as necessary to ensure coherence across the elements.
6. Assemble responses into a draft Strategy Statement.
Work with your team to create a Strategy Statement by using
the template on the following page and these instructions

Strategy Statement Template
Objective
i.e.,the ends that the strategy is
designed to achieve
e.g., growth rate, market position, size
of business, profitability rate
Scope
i.e., the domain, or part of the
landscape, where we will operate
e.g., geography, product category,
market channel, value chain role
Drivers
i.e., the means: what we will do
differently or better than others
e.g., intellectual property, strong
brand, new capability investment
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● Banner Group Client Testimonials
● About Banner Group LLC
● About W. Henry Yaeger
Appendix - Banner Group Information

Banner Group provides full-service strategy management,
ensuring discipline and focus on the right strategic issues
Here is what our clients have been say about our work …
“Henry has an uncanny skill of unifying people and
achieving collaboration, unity and consensus – in the
face of disparate views.”
Ned Wehler, President at Keystone
Clearwater Solutions, LLC
“Henry effectively helped our organization
develop a multi-year strategic plan which brought
together diverse personalities and interests.”
Bill Guyton, President at the World Cocoa
Foundation
“[Banner Group] helped us focus on the top three
[priorities] that are critical to our organization. ...
helped us understand the key areas that create
value …”
Leslie Slough, VP at Shank’s Extracts
“We’ve been engaged in the strategic
planning process for more than ten years
… [W]e engaged Henry to help us take it
to the next level. Rather than diving right
into the planning process as we had
done in each of the previous years, we
spent a few weeks accessing and
improving our strategic alignment as an
organization. The ROI on improved
alignment is already becoming evident in
the clear, concise message that is now
cascading down through our entire
organization. It’s exciting to see how
effective we can be when alignment
paves the way.”
Michael Walmer, President at Electron
Energy Corporation

GROUP FACILITATION
Our facilitators engage teams to
quickly build understanding and focus
on their most important decisions
using proven methodologies.
Typically 3 to 6 weeks.
STRATEGY PROJECTS
Our team helps companies grow,
increase value and adapt to changing
environments by leading customized
strategy engagements.
Typically 3 to 6 months.
OUTSOURCED STRATEGY TEAM
We complement existing capabilities
without the expense, time and
commitment of recruiting, hiring and
paying a team of full-time employees.
Minimum 12 month commitment.
We help leaders align people and strategy to accelerate results.
We work with teams to quickly build the understanding, focus and
commitment necessary to effectively move toward shared objectives.
We enable groups to tap into their own knowledge, develop new skills
and build the confidence necessary to sustain exceptional results.
We augment executive teams to elevate strategic thinking on their
most important decisions and action plans.
Our clients go faster, save management time, and achieve more
than they could on their own.
Banner Group LLC | 717-723-9488 | bannergroupllc.com

About W. Henry Yaeger
W. Henry Yaeger is the Managing Principal of Banner Group LLC, a strategy
advisory firm he founded in 2012. He works with executive teams and boards to
accelerate results through better alignment of people and strategies.
Previously Henry led the six-person Corporate Strategy team at The Hershey
Company, a $7 billion global snack company. His broad finance and strategy
experience includes roles at Unilever with responsibility for planning,
forecasting and controls of $1.5 billion in marketing expenses and at a startup
enterprise software company where he helped secure $25 million in venture
capital funding. Henry lived for several years in Prague, Czech Republic, where
he worked at a boutique investment bank engaged in mergers and acquisitions
and government privatizations.
Henry received a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University and holds an
MBA in Strategy and Finance from the Yale School of Management. He was
born in Peru and speaks Spanish fluently.
Henry is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has recently worked with
several mid-sized family-owned firms based in Pennsylvania. He has served on
the boards of several non-profit organizations including the North Museum of
Nature and Science and The New School of Lancaster (a Montessori school).
W. Henry Yaeger
Managing Principal
Banner Group LLC
henry@bannergroupllc.com
717-723-9488
http://bannergroupllc.com/
Available as a speaker,
facilitator, advisor and
board member.

Developing Strategy Statements - an easy DIY framework

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