Choosing a Tangible Strategic Focus Rather Than Building Upon an Abstract Vision

A key challenge faced by many strategy development and review initiatives, whether conducted internally or supported by external consultants or experts, is where to start. Traditional strategy research suggests starting by formulating a vision and a mission, describing the core ideology and envisioned future. Others recommend taking a resource-based approach, focusing on capabilities as the foundation for competitive advantage. More recently, authors such as Christensen, argue that the design of any strategy should start with questions related to customer needs or jobs-to-be-done. The novel concept of strategic focus as the primary dimension along which to compete and differentiate is introduced. Any strategy development should start by identifying the firm’s strategic focus, that is, whether the firm wants to compete and excel by being customer centric, by focusing on product and service innovation, by leveraging core capabilities, or by differentiating around financials. Successful firms primarily compete by being different or superior along exactly one of those dimensions and industry average along the three other ones. The target strategic focus is determined based on the chosen target industry, the environment analysis outcome, and the expected desirability and uniqueness.