This document discusses strategic intent and strategic thinking. It addresses key questions around a business' long-term direction, markets, competitive advantages, and resources. Strategic intent is described as being ambitious, compelling, and providing emotional and intellectual energy to guide a business towards its future vision. Effective strategic thinking is driven by bridging the gap between today's reality and tomorrow's vision. Characteristics of strategic intent include having the essence of winning, being stable over time, and requiring personal effort and commitment. The document also discusses various approaches to competitive innovation, common challenges, and factors to consider when evaluating strategic choices.

1. Strategic
Intent

2. What is Strategy?
• Where is the business trying to get to in the long-
Direction term?
• Which markets should a business compete in and what
Markets and Scope kind of activities are involved in such markets?
• How can the business perform better than the
Advantage competition?
• What resources are required in order to be able to
Resources compete?
• What external, environmental factors affect the
Environment businesses' ability to compete?
• What are the values and expectations of those who
Stakeholders have power in and around the business?

3. Strategic Intent
Ambitious Emotional
and and Journey to
Compelling Intellectual the Future
Dream Energy

4. Strategic Mindsets
STRATEGIC FIT STRATEGIC INTENT
MODEL MODEL
Strategic thinking is driven by Strategic thinking is driven by
the match between current bridging gap between today’s reality
capabilities and existing and tomorrow’s vision
opportunities Finding ways to leverage resources
Searching for sustainable Outpacing competitors in building
advantages new advantages
Finding protected niches Making new industry rules

5. Competitor Analysis
• “A company’s strategic orthodoxies are more
dangerous than its well financed rivals”
Imitate
Short-
Sightedness

6. Characteristics of Strategic Intent
Essence of
Winning
Within “arm’s reach “ of every
consumer in the world
Stable over
Time
Increased quality, reduced costs,
cultivated export markets and then
developed a new product

7. Characteristics of Strategic Intent
Personal
effort and
Commitment
Enormous
Creativity

8. Strategic Planning
• Planners and Winners

9. • Strategic Planning doesn’t focus on
tomorrow’s opportunities
• Strategic intent required to fold the future
back into the present

10. Corporate Challenges
Sense of Urgency
Competitive focus at every level
• Ford & GM
Skill Development
Give time between challenges
Clear milestones and review mechanisms

11. Building compt advtg komatsu
• Image…

12. Reciprocal Responsibility
• Shared Gain – Shared Pain

13. Approaches to Competitive Innovation
• Building layers of advantage
– Wider a company’s portfolio of advantages, the less risk it faces in
competitive battles
– Aim for differentiation + cost reduction
– Sources of competitive advantage are mutually desirable layers, not
mutually exclusive choices

14. Approaches to Competitive Innovation
• Searching for loose breaks
– Required to break into a market or challenge a
competitor
• Attack outside existing
market
• Remain unnoticed

15. Approaches to Competitive Innovation
• Changing the terms of engagement
– Barriers to Entry v/s Barriers to Imitation
• Standardized machine
components reduced cost
• Distribution through
office product dealers
• Create a national service
network

16. Approaches to Competitive Innovation
• Competing through collaboration
– Win without fighting
– “Enemy’s enemy is your friend”
• Calibrate competitor’s strength
• Assessed the progress US
rivals had made in cost
reduction, quality and
technology

17. Wrong approach to strategic intent
• Heuristics and typologies limit the options
• Strategy seen as a positioning exercise
• Goal to find a niche in existing industry space
• Concepts like “mature” and “declining” are misunderstood
• Tools of strategic analysis are focussed internally

18. Evaluation Parameter
• Evaluation on “numbers” basis
• Unable to develop deep business knowledge
due to “career development”

19. The No.1 Race
• Integration problem during Acquisition
• Overloaded with initiatives
• Incompatible collaborative ventures

20. GOALS
Guide
Employees
fail to Strategies
understand
Guide
Tactics

21. “Career Development”

22. Four Related Questions that Guide Strategic Choices
WHAT CAN WHAT MIGHT
WE DO? WE DO?we
How do
What new
(strengths and (externalnew
create opportunities
capabilities do we
weaknesses)
want to develop? possibilities
and threat) ?
STRATEGY
What do we How do we partner
WHAT DO WE
need to to build shared
WHAT DO OTHERS
WANT TO DO?
learn to care expectanciesUS TO DO?
EXPECT ?
(organizational and
about? (stakeholder
individual values)
expectancies)

23. Four Questions that Guide Strategic Choices
WHAT CAN WHAT MIGHT
WE DO? WE DO?
(strengths and (external opportunities
weaknesses) and threats)
STRATEGY
WHAT DO WE WHAT DO OTHERS
WANT TO DO? EXPECT US TO DO?
(organizational and (stakeholder
individual values) expectancies)

24. Means to Achieve SI
Enormous
Creativity