Why do companies need to be effective in strategy development and implementation?

Markets, technologies, stakeholder expectations, and other dimensions are changing faster than ever, and strategies that worked in the past won’t necessarily work in the future. Companies who lack the capability to develop and implement strategy will not only lose their current advantages over time but will miss out on the many new opportunities to create value in today’s dynamic, global market.

What are the characteristics of ScottMadden’s strategy development and implementation?

Strategy should be action-oriented, and it should reflect a clear understanding of the current market context, the opportunities, and the company’s plans. It should also be constantly considered, often adjusted in smalls ways, and occasionally adjusted in large ways, even without a crisis.

Effective development and implementation of strategy will look different for different organizations, which can use varied frameworks, data, analytical tools, and organizational concepts. The approach must fit the company and the market situation, but an effective approach will always:

• Enhance the collective understanding of the company, describing the current environment and where the business really adds value
• Develop a shared perspective on the future, identifying the most important and likely scenarios that matter to the business and what to do about them
• Engage the board of directors, both to take advantage of their experience and expertise and to ensure their support
• Align senior management and the board on the strategic direction, capturing and sharing the leadership priorities
• Commit to the strategic initiatives that will bring the strategy to life, including resourcing, sequencing, and progress monitoring

How Does ScottMadden Help?

ScottMadden combines expertise in strategy development and implementation, corporate development, operational and functional excellence, enterprise-wide performance, and board governance to help companies create and sustain value. We listen carefully to our clients, and we deploy proven methodologies and proprietary tools at the right time and in the right way to help our clients to succeed. We support clients with strategy development and implementation through a suite of capabilities in Strategic Assessment, Strategic Planning, and Strategy Implementation.

Strategic Assessment

Developing a shared understanding of the company, the environment in which it operates, and the priorities of the leadership team.

ScottMadden capabilities include:

• Market research
• Financial analysis
• Performance benchmarking
• Leading practice assessments
• Executive and board interviews

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Strategic Planning

Aligning senior management and the board on the strategic direction for the company, capturing it, and sharing it.

ScottMadden capabilities include:

• Planning assumptions identification
• Customized leadership and board surveys
• Facilitated strategy sessions
• Future state scenario construction
• Strategic initiative development

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Strategy Implementation

Pursuing the strategic direction through a support framework and set of strategic initiatives that have been vetted, resourced, sequenced, and planned.

ScottMadden capabilities include:

• Dependency identification and sequencing
• Resource loading analysis
• Organization design
• Board scorecards
• Strategic program management

ScottMadden’s expertise in the implementation of strategy is supported by a unique ability to improve and integrate with company processes for planning, resource allocation, and execution.

Enterprise-Wide Integration

Linking the strategy with the business plan and budgets with an over-arching process that ensures integrated efforts and prioritized resource deployment for consistent, successful execution with performance monitoring and oversight.