Chapter 3 Strategic Direction
What is Strategic Direction?
The strategic direction framework is made up of four key components illustrated below:
Strategic Intent
Strategic intent can be described as the obsession of winning at all levels of the
organisation.
Gary Hamel & CK Prahalad introduced the concept of strategic intent in 1989 to
address different notions of competitive strategy expressed and practiced by Western
and Far Eastern organizations.
They argued that Western organizations focused on trimming their ambitions to match
their resources and, as a result, searched only for those advantages they could sustain.
They called this strategic fit.
By contrast, Japanese organizations leveraged resources by accelerating the pace of
organizational learning & tried to attain seemingly impossible goals.
In the quest to understand which approach, i.e. Western or Eastern, was the most
successful, Hamel and Prahalad studied organizations across the world that had risen to
global leadership.
They observed that these organizations invariably began with ambitions that were out of
all proportion to their resources and capabilities.
, The Vision Content
The attainment of a vision requires a certain level of unreasonable confidence and
commitment.
This is called strategic stretch.
Useful guidelines pertaining to attributes associated with and the proposed content of
visions include:
Brevity (Conciseness), abstractness, understandable to all employees, the ability to
inspire.
The organization’s core ideology or philosophy as well as the organization’s values are
key ingredients for vision statements.
The Vision Statement
In some organizations, a vision statement might grace the walls of the boardroom, or
appear on websites and in marketing material, but fails to capture the hearts and minds
of employees.
‘As is true for any plan, if vision does not take on meaning for individuals and the
organization, it isn’t worth the time spent crafting it’.
Vision Implementation
Visions are expected to be achieved, and by the time they are achieved, the next vision
should have been timeously set.
A vision is not a magic potion.
All it does is provide the context for awakening the dynamism that exists in any
organization.
Building a visionary organization requires 1% vision and 99% alignment.
What is Strategic Direction?
The strategic direction framework is made up of four key components illustrated below:
Strategic Intent
Strategic intent can be described as the obsession of winning at all levels of the
organisation.
Gary Hamel & CK Prahalad introduced the concept of strategic intent in 1989 to
address different notions of competitive strategy expressed and practiced by Western
and Far Eastern organizations.
They argued that Western organizations focused on trimming their ambitions to match
their resources and, as a result, searched only for those advantages they could sustain.
They called this strategic fit.
By contrast, Japanese organizations leveraged resources by accelerating the pace of
organizational learning & tried to attain seemingly impossible goals.
In the quest to understand which approach, i.e. Western or Eastern, was the most
successful, Hamel and Prahalad studied organizations across the world that had risen to
global leadership.
They observed that these organizations invariably began with ambitions that were out of
all proportion to their resources and capabilities.
, The Vision Content
The attainment of a vision requires a certain level of unreasonable confidence and
commitment.
This is called strategic stretch.
Useful guidelines pertaining to attributes associated with and the proposed content of
visions include:
Brevity (Conciseness), abstractness, understandable to all employees, the ability to
inspire.
The organization’s core ideology or philosophy as well as the organization’s values are
key ingredients for vision statements.
The Vision Statement
In some organizations, a vision statement might grace the walls of the boardroom, or
appear on websites and in marketing material, but fails to capture the hearts and minds
of employees.
‘As is true for any plan, if vision does not take on meaning for individuals and the
organization, it isn’t worth the time spent crafting it’.
Vision Implementation
Visions are expected to be achieved, and by the time they are achieved, the next vision
should have been timeously set.
A vision is not a magic potion.
All it does is provide the context for awakening the dynamism that exists in any
organization.
Building a visionary organization requires 1% vision and 99% alignment.
