Conducting a regular Business Strategy Review and Audit is essential to ensure that the strategies in use in your business are the best they can be. Businesses in today’s competitive and unpredictable world, must continually deal with change. As a result, this needs to be done on a timely and regular basis. Competition drives your competitors to continuously innovate and improve. Consequently, unless you do the same, your business is likely to decline.
The Imperfect Nature of Strategy Development
Business Strategy is a set of coherent decisions designed to ensure that the business achieves its long term objectives. In formulating these, we rely on our understanding of market circumstances and how these are expected to develop over a period of time. Furthermore, we invariably make assumptions at the time of strategy formulation, where accurate information is absent or unavailable. Also, each person involved in formulating strategy has their own beliefs, understandings and bias. These will inevitably affect the strategies that are adopted. Hence it is by its very nature an imperfect process particularly if is not done with the help of a professional.
Over time, market understanding improves and additional information becomes available. As such, it is very likely that the original strategy formulation may at best become outdated, or at worst be totally invalidated.
Most businesses have a structure for monitoring operational performance. Typically this takes the form of monthly financial and operational performance reviews and sales forecasts. All of these are short-term focussed. The monthly review, is for most organisations the only management meeting that takes place. As it is operational in its agenda, there is little or no time devoted to strategy. As such and over time, there is a real risk that without realising, business outcomes could become compromised due to the use of inappropriate and unsuitable strategies.
Internal vs External Business Strategy Review
It is never good practise to have the same body that formulates a strategy, review it. There is simply insufficient objectivity, There is also a strong likelihood that the same beliefs, inaccurate interpretations and faulty logic could taint the result of the review.
If the strategy is inadequate, then business effectiveness is reduced. Pressure on people, resources and capital is increased. On the other hand, good strategy keeps the business’s offerings and practises relevant. It also keeps people motivated, uses resources effectively and makes it a lot easier to produce the desired results.
A Business Strategy Review is about having your business’s practices examined by an unbiased expert with a view to improving the way your business creates sustainable value within your chosen market.
A Strategy Audit measures your business performance against your Business Strategy. If the business is not performing against the strategy then either
- the strategy is wrong or
- the strategy execution is lacking.
Either way, change and action is required.
The Business Strategy Review and Strategy Audit provides a detailed analysis and will allow you to resolve the actions that are necessary for you to maximise your business’s position and the value it can bring to the market. This in turn will lead to improved profits and return on investment.
The Process
The process requires the completion of a survey, and an in-depth interview. Initial client time commitment is approximately 4-5 hours. The findings are then compiled into a report with recommendations and the client is then debriefed.
