The document discusses key concepts for companies to understand when planning for growth. It emphasizes the importance of: 1) Developing a clear market plan and agreeing on how to measure growth. 2) Establishing benchmarks that are critical to the success of the growth strategy and long-term survival of the company. 3) Linking any growth strategy to the company's core business and value proposition to customers. The document provides advice on understanding capacity and utilization, developing a business model for growth, monitoring the business environment, and emphasizing measurement and adjustment of the growth plan based on results. The overall message is that effective growth requires insight, clear goals and metrics, and responsiveness to changes.

1. Growth and Survival
The Expansion / Contraction Challenge
Bruce DeLashmit

2. Understand your market before you grow
Product value
$$
Industry Time to market
Sales
Customized Service
Chart Industry Growth Define your Market Determine Competition
Strength and Weakness
Market Sales Force
Penetration
$$ Penetration
Equipment
Company
Sales
Project Sales Chart Market Strategy Identify Investments
And Capital Requirements

3. Come to an agreement of how to express growth
• Number of clients?
• Number of projects?
• Number of sales?
• Number of employees?
Insight: The purpose of growth can be to increase revenue, preserve market share, control
competition and / or establish future capabilities
– Regardless of why you grow, the key is to manage growth
Bruce DeLashmit

4. Establish benchmarks that are critical to success of your
strategy and survival of the company
• Assets under management
3
• Customers per employee
2
1
• Capability and Utilization
Insight: Establishing benchmarks as part of your growth strategy is critical
– Expense per dollar earned is always a good indicator of successful expansion
and contraction
Bruce DeLashmit

5. Link growth to your value proposition
Price Product
Customer
Value Proposition
Service /
Access
Experience
Insight: Your value proposition is the foundation for your relationship with your customer
– Growth not aligned with either your primary or secondary value proposition
can cause a financial drain
Bruce DeLashmit

6. Link your growth strategy to your core
business
Growth unrelated
To Core Business
0%
Growth Adjacent
To Core Business
35%
Growth within
Core Business
65%
Source
Harvard Business Review
December 2003

7. Link your growth strategy to your core
business
Core Growth : Leveraging existing customers, channels and geographies without
significant changes.
Adjacent Growth: Implementing significant changes to channels, geography or
offerings to existing or new customers.
Unrelated Growth: Radical Changes to offering mix and / or entering industry
spaces completely unrelated to existing business.
Maximize your returns
1. Overcome the Status Quo
• Identify underserved customer segments or develop new value propositions
2. Redefine Execution Models
• Seek opportunities to accelerate results through all possible routes and options
3. Identify Opportunities in unfamiliar Business Areas
• Use diligence in examining fresh ventures but avoid false starts and missteps
7. Maintain the long view on investments and resources
• Avoid missing long term goals to address short term performance demands

8. Link your growth to the customer experience
Customer
Customer Customer Customer Customer Customer
Receives
Perceives Completes Makes Requests Engages
Product
A Need Research Selection Product or Declines
Offer
Awareness Interest Purchase Retention
Customer Request
Service
Request Satisfied
Provides
Services or not
Customer Customer Customer Customer Customer
Enticed by Re-defines Compares Selects Loss
Alternatives Needs Products or Renews or retains
Insight: Link your growth strategy to your market strategy
– Customer acquisition, servicing and retention are solid anchors for a healthy
growth strategy Bruce DeLashmit

9. Develop an understanding of capacity and
utilization
Capacity
30 labor cost
Growth
Excess Reasonable performance
Utilization
20
Reasonable performance
Productivity
10 Reasonable performance
0 ------ 1 ----- 2 ----- 3 ----- 4
Number of Employees
Insight: Balance in utilization and capacity is important but difficult in growth
– Consider fulfilling needed capacity through other means or marketing excess
capacity to control costs Bruce DeLashmit

10. View capacity requirements as alternatives
Add Capacity
Demand Outsource Capacity
Sub-Contract Function
Add Capacity
Capacity Outsource Capacity
Demand
Shortfall
Sub-Contract Function
Add Capacity
Demand Outsource Capacity
Sub-Contract Function
Insight: Appropriate balance of sources of capacity can lessen the impact of expansion and
contraction
– Consider cooperative agreements with other companies. It may unlock new
customer contacts Bruce DeLashmit

11. Develop a straight edge for strategy and
growth
-Growth requires insight into your environment and reaction to shifting
and frequently contradicting priorities
- Many business authors and
consulting firms provide a
guideline for strategic growth
-Adopt a strategy you can easily
understand or develop a coaching
relationship with a management / strategy
consulting group
Insight: Approaches to growth may have to evolve over time and as circumstances change
– Develop a reliable and manageable philosophy for growth that will allow you to
evolve with your market without losing focus on the results Bruce DeLashmit

12. Regardless of how complex your philosophy,
keep in mind the basics of strategy
Plan
Act Do
Check
Insight: Approaches to growth should accomplish the desired results
– Avoid spending too much time, effort and resources on being strategic when
some simple principles with suffice Bruce DeLashmit

13. Your philosophy for growth should consider
the real world of business
Planning to
Plan
A
E
P
N
L
V Value Scan I
I
C
R
A
O
Mission T
N
I
M Formulation O
E
N
N
T
Strategic Business
Modeling
Performance Gap
Audit Analysis
C
O
Integrating L
M
I
P Action Plans M
E
I
T
T
I
Contingency A
T
T
I Planning I
O
O
N
N
Implementation
“Applied Strategic Planning”
Leonard Goodstein, Timothy Nolan, J. William Pfeiffer
McGraw Hill 1993
Bruce DeLashmit

14. Monitor the business environment and your
competition
Macro Environment: Becoming out of sync with the business
environment results in unplanned and uncontrolled contraction and expansion
E
N of the business. A
V P
I L
R
Industry / Competitive Relationship: The individual relationship between a I
O company and it’s industry is driven towards that companies competitive edge. C
N Cost – Quality – relationship – dependency A
M T
E I
N Internal Environment: The companies distinctive strength, weaknesses, O
T N
organization, technology, structure and the culture all play a major role in
effective strategy.
C L
O I
M Over expansion M
P I
E T
T Expansion A
I
T
Healthy T
I
I Contraction O
O N
N Survival
Insight: Some expansion and contraction is normal, the key is to be at or near the trend for
your industry – being cautious not to become a lemming
– Focus on your value proposition, your environment and your competition as a
single question
Bruce DeLashmit

15. Examine what values are most important to the
company
Planning to Plan
Value Scan
Mission Formulation
PEOPLE PERFORMANCE
COST QUALITY
CONSISTENCY CHANGE
RISK TAKING CONSERVATIVE
Insight: The growth and strategy process involves countless decisions. Each decision may
hold implications on what you and your company represent.
– In each growth decision ask how this action may change the company along
each of your value points
Bruce DeLashmit

16. Develop your Business Model for Growth
Strategic Business Modeling is the point that most companies rush towards.
It is the “dream” portion of planning.
It represents the organizations initial attempt to spell out the path by which the organization
dream of the future will be accomplished.
Planning to Plan
Value Scan
Mission Formulation
Strategic Business
Modeling
Insight: The development of strategic business models should become a regular part of
doing business
– Practicing planning even in a zero growth environment is a good way to
determine your knowledge of the industry and to develop your predictive abilities.
Bruce DeLashmit

17. Be clear in intent, measure your results, adjust your
plan
Strategic Business
Modeling
Performance Gap
Audit Analysis
The Performance Audit looks at the organization from two perspectives.
Future vision: Measuring the current organization against the metrics, processes and behaviors of
the desired business model.
Continual Improvement: The check points within the organization and processes that recognizes
balance in the cost and quality of providing services / products to your customers. Business model
met or failed to meet the minimum standards due to fail design, process or dependency.
The Gap Analysis looks at the audit results to understand options
Root Cause: Determine why the results occur and what actions could be taken to influence the
results.
Limitations and Adaptations: View each finding individually and in relations to the business
model. Where large scale options do not exist look for smaller incremental improvements that create
options. Bruce DeLashmit

18. Coordinate efforts, evaluate your results and always
have alternatives
Integrating
Action Plans
Contingency Planning
Integrating Action Plans aligns all company initiatives to the Strategic Plan.
The various staff units and departments develop detailed operational plans tied back to the overall
strategic plan.
Strategic alliances are evaluated for congruence and further alliances and acquisitions are completed
to support the plan.
Develop identified “trigger points” indicating either favorable or unfavorable
results are pending.
Treat information as levers to be manipulated each day. Assign specific people or parts of your day /
week to examine the indicators
Take action along preplanned routes and re-examine the data
Bruce DeLashmit

19. Twelve Key Concepts towards Understanding
Growth
• Develop your market plan and come to an agreement of how to express growth
• Establish benchmarks critical to the success of your strategy and survival
• Link your growth to your value proposition and core business
• Link your company growth strategy to your customer’s experience
• Understand capacity and utilization and explore creative solutions
• View capacity requirements as alternatives and new opportunities
• Develop a straight edge for strategy and growth
• Keep in mind the basics of strategy
• Monitor the business environment and your competition
• Examine what values are important to the company
• Develop a well documented business model for company growth
• Be clear in your intent, measure your results, adjust your plan
Bruce DeLashmit

20. Growth and Survival
The Expansion / Contraction Challenge
Questions?
Bruce DeLashmit