{"id":4930,"date":"2021-04-20T06:49:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-20T11:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=4930"},"modified":"2021-02-20T17:13:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T22:13:20","slug":"strategy-execution-would-the-executives-in-your-firm-qualify-the-10-strategy-tests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/strategy-execution-would-the-executives-in-your-firm-qualify-the-10-strategy-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategy Execution: Would the Executives in Your Firm Qualify the 10 Strategy Tests?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Developing a winning strategy<\/a> is an uphill task for leadership at most organizations.\u00a0 One of the reason is not digging enough to answer the right questions. \u00a0\u00a0The mainstay of a successful strategy is creation of Competitive Advantage<\/a>.\u00a0 However, for most organizations Competitive Advantage is a moving target, which is hard to pin down.<\/p>\n

A global study by McKinsey pinpoints a possible cause: just 53% of executives characterized their companies\u2019 strategies as underscoring the development of differential advantage over rivals.\u00a0 The rest declared their strategies as merely matching industry best practices and delivering operational imperatives.<\/p>\n

The research encompassed online survey of executives from across the world who went through a series of questions to test if their companies\u2019 business unit strategies pass 10 tests that constitute a good strategy.\u00a0 The overall sample size was 2,135 executives from various parts of the world, representing a range of industries, regions, tenures, functions, and company sizes.<\/p>\n

The 10 tests in the strategy survey inquired the executives to rank their companies\u2019 strategies in creating a wining market position, the basis of their companies\u2019 strategy formulation, and their implementation planning.\u00a0\u00a0The main test questioned the potential of a company strategy to overcome rivals by creating a Competitive Advantage.\u00a0 The rest of the 9 tests validated the efficacy of their strategy, assessing how the strategy positions the company in the market, the insights and data incorporated to develop the strategy, and the robustness of their implementation plans.<\/p>\n

The 10 Strategy tests<\/a> included:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Our strategy balances some major commitments with flexibility to make future choices.<\/li>\n
  2. Our strategy highlights creating relative advantage over competitors.<\/li>\n
  3. Our strategy incorporates a detailed understanding of our Competitive Advantages.<\/li>\n
  4. Our strategy defines opportunities based on detailed market segments.<\/li>\n
  5. Our strategy results in a concrete set of actions to reallocate resources.<\/li>\n
  6. Our strategy consists of decisions based on vigorous debate about alternatives.<\/li>\n
  7. Our strategy arises from management\u2019s strong belief in basic assumptions that underpin it.<\/li>\n
  8. Our strategy is mainly built to win in future market conditions based on major trends.<\/li>\n
  9. Our strategy takes into account unavoidable uncertainties about the future.<\/li>\n
  10. Our strategy relies on novel data and insights not available to competitors.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Although a company\u2019s strategy can succeed even though it fails most of these tests, but leaders can stress-test their strategies through these tests.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Insights from the Tests\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The results from the respondents\u2019 assessment of whether their company\u2019s typical business unit strategies can pass these 10 tests revealed:<\/p>\n