Operationalizing Business Strategy by Questioning

Business strategies often only skim the surface of the matter at hand, presenting general and vague descriptions of the direction of development without providing specifics or hinting at their essence. Strategies must be operationalized to effectively drive concrete actions and results, i.e., presented with a higher degree of specificity. Avoiding streamlined formulations and providing clear and objective language can aid in creating an engaging and mobilizing strategy. Questioning techniques can be employed as an initial phase in operationalizing business strategy. The inquiries used to construct the business strategy are founded on the fundamental questions applicable to any economy – “For whom?”, “What?”, and “How?”. These questions point to the market-product-technology trinity, which constitutes the essential components of any business and, consequently, any business strategy. In addition,, it is important to ask further questions that clarify the relationships between different elements of the business to formulate a strong business strategy. A fair assessment of the developed strategy’s efficacy can be made by providing specific answers to these questions.