Differentiating Value is a concept that allows you to determine and articulate what you sell that is either unique or demonstrably better than your competitors. Knowing your Differentiating Value or (D.V.) will allow you to increase your margins and sales volume while keeping your profitable customer relationships for a longer period of time.
Thinking strategically involves the generation and articulation of business insights for competitive advantage. Strategic Planning simply advances goals and objectives based on previous insights. This accomplishes only parity with your direct competitors. If you truly want to change the game or tilt the playing field in your favor you must learn how to think strategically.
Excerpts from Mark's recent presentation on business strategy. Key takeaways: Hope is not a strategy. Strategy has both inspiration and analytical sides. Companies get hung up on their "sacred cows" -- the way they've always done things. Every company has a driving force. Mark shares the 10 driving forces behind all companies.
What do Intel, Home Depot, Microsoft, Dell, Apple, Oracle, CNN, Schwab, E-Trade, Amazon, Federal Express, Caterpillar, IBM, Priceline, SONY, Nokia, Progressive Insurance, and Southwest Airlines all have in common? Let’s try to answer this question by process of elimination by looking first at what is different about them: they are in different industries they have different products they serve [...]
I have spent years working with corporations helping them learn techniques to make their companies more competitive. I have used techniques such as Strategic Thinking, New Product Creation, and Competitive Analysis. Most companies are so operationally focused that they miss major changes and trends that may bring them huge new strategic opportunities. Instead, changes and [...]
While few mergers|acquisitions actually add shareholder value for the acquirer, those where the value of the acquisition tends to reside largely in its people and their client relationship are especially perilous. Some companies have beaten the odds and achieved notably successful mergers|acquisitions. So what does it take to integrate organizations to make sure the deal creates value?
There are 10 deadly sins that an organization can commit that will inevitably lead to these two conditions that might well spell corporate extinction. Some say it is easy to develop a strategy and that it is the implementation that is difficult. My own experience is that exact opposite is true. If a CEO [...]
Strategic Vision is about the future. How much time does your organization think about the future versus the day to day? In every industry there is a revolution of sorts going on and defining how the future in that industry will play out. For example in the energy industry it is fracking, a process of drilling into [...]
