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Chess games involve moves and counter moves as well as the search for alternative moves. It is estimated that the number of legal positions in a chess game is 1043. A chess player is subject to a wide range of possibilities depending on skill level. The game requires a dynamic mindset about change which is applicable to business strategy. Indeed, corporate strategy in these times must be responsive to the different forms of change. In the tenth part of the series on metaphors of strategy, this article provides five perspectives on Strategy as Change.
Renovation
Strategic change could be focused on renovation in turnaround or reorganization scenarios. As a builder would do when renovating, walls may be removed and sections of the building altered in purpose or design. New spaces will also be added and old materials taken off. Strategy frequently induces a renovation of company culture, processes, vision, people and services. It might also entail reviewing ownership and organizational structures, locations and customers. Products may also be renovated as was considered vital for the iconic Mini and Volkswagen Beetle motor cars.
Consequently, a renovation is not necessarily the result of significant weaknesses. Companies that are doing well can also undertake renovations which are either obvious or behind the scenes. In fact, a strategy of consistent renovation is always in place for companies to sustain themselves in the market. Certain industries constrain players to keep renovating products and services. Renovation strategies are more frequent for electronic devices and pharmaceuticals and less frequent say among airplane manufacturers. Companies should design strategies for renovation.
Disruption
Strategy as change can be expressed in the disruption of markets, products or services. Disruption is a contemporary term but mankind has a long history of disruption. All the inventions of centuries past are aftermaths of disruption. The airplane, railways, the telephone, radio, the light bulb, vaccines, the steam engine and the automobile were even more disruptive in their contexts than is experienced in this age. These inventions changed the face of the earth in amazing ways and largely propelled the Industrial Revolution.
Revolutions and evolutions will never cease. Disruptions will continue to redefine industries and the way we live. Uber created a major disruption in the meaning of taxi services globally. The expert prediction is that the motor car industry as we know it now is on the verge of a total alteration as electric and remotely driven cars become cheaper to produce. While not every entity will initiate a disruption, strategies should accept and reflect the constant possibility of industry disruptions.
Extension
Extension strategies are seen through existing products which are extended with value-adds. For example, coffee is a beverage like any other but Starbucks, Costa and other coffee sellers have extended it with images of fun, youthfulness, flexibility and community through their outlets. Customers are not always interested in just buying a product or service. They also want to buy its intangible attachments. These attachments include status, sense of belonging, convenience or other emotional or feel-good benefits.
Personal computers can be applied to diverse uses beyond mere word and number processing. Cars have entertainment systems and plug-ins for devices which make them not only means of transportation. Fragrances are added to soaps even though they do not possess any cleaning capabilities. In practice, a customer might purchase a cleaning product because of the extension of its fragrance. Strategies of extension can also be used in extending the life cycle of a product. Strategists should frequently be thinking about how they can extend what their businesses are offering to customers.
Exclusion
Products and services have life-cycles which are often determined by inevitable and uncontrollable changes in technology or usage. Once upon a time, the manual typewriter was a technological marvel. Then came the electronic typewriter and it also seemed so wonderful. My father collected his music in vinyl records while I collected mine in cassette tapes and later on in compact discs. My son does not use any physical formats with everything currently being stored on devices. Typewriters, vinyl records and cassette tapes are now museum items having been swept into the graveyard of history by new ways of doing things. If the waves of change do not exclude a product or service, results might indicate that it is time for an exclusion strategy. Strategy as change enables an understanding of when a product or service needs to be rested.
Expansion
Expansion is relevant when markets have become crowded and companies have to find new spaces to sustain or increase profitability. An expansion strategy might also imply deepening existing relationships with customers to build almost addictive purchasing. However, expansion tends to be entry into new markets as multinationals are so adept with. What they refer to as emerging markets today were once not thought of as markets. Within a country, business expansion strategies will be designed to install additional physical or web-based channels to reach customers.
Closing notes
Strategy is enhanced by thinking about it as change using the perspectives of renovation, disruption, extension, exclusion and expansion.
Weyinmi Jemide
