Business Tactics: How to Incorporate New Strategies

[This article was written by Amy Sloane.]

The modern business focuses on adding value to an organization by harmonizing their strategies to their business structure. This is something that was seen as early as the late 19th century. Manufacturing and mass production took on a new level. Organizations tried to create enormous economies of scale by separating key functions, such as sales, operations, and finance.

Creating New Strategies to Meet Modern Challenges

As the modern business continued to advance, corporations started to base business units on the products they sold and geographic markets. Smaller organizations had their own unique strategies. Because of their relatively small size, they could not take advantage of economy of scale. However, they could take advantage of their flexibility and ability to adapt to meet local conditions.

The world of business is facing new conditions. These changing conditions are brought about by advances in technology and changes in work models resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that organizations have needed to adapt to new strategies.

Implementing and incorporating new strategies in an organization is not always easy. If it is not done correctly, it could disrupt the flow of business, leading to reduced productivity and profitability.

Steps to Implement Business Strategy

An organization’s success is linked to management, planning, and strategy. Every business must have a plan and a strategy.

That being said, an organization’s strategic plan will only be as effective as the goals created to implement the strategy. And the goals will only be effective if the individuals who have the responsibility for following through with them take that responsibility seriously.

Identifying Values, Vision, and Mission

Any business strategy must reflect the organization’s vision, mission, and values. These three things must be clearly understood. Employees, management, and owners need to know what the business is about, what the business is trying to achieve, and the role that the newly implemented strategy plays in making that a reality.

These three factors determine the guiding principles an organization will use when making business decisions. Without clarity into an organization’s vision, strategies will be poorly implemented and could lead to the entire business steering off course.

Create a Strategic Plan

Once the organization’s values and vision are clearly understood, a strategic plan must be created. This plan is going to identify what the organization needs to do to accomplish its mission. It also outlines what individuals within the organization need to do to make this strategy successful.

Strategic plans can be long-term or short-term. Some organizations write strategic plans as far out as one or two decades. However, since marketing conditions and technology transform, shorter-term strategies are becoming more common.

For example, many medical facilities have built strategies for additive manufacturing. These strategies allow the medical industry to create custom implants that can be used in the dental field and in orthopedic applications.

Adapting the strategy has meant changing marketing and technology. This technology means physicians are no longer thinking in terms of economy of scale when patients need implants or prosthetics. Their strategic plan is based on how to leverage this new form of technology to improve patient results while minimizing cost.

Create Goals for the Organization, Department, and Employees

Organizational goals are high-level goals. The entire organization works together to accomplish them. These high-level goals are usually what an executive manager or CEO is accountable for carrying out.

Department goals are objectives that are reached on a management level. Department managers would be accountable to executive managers for carrying out these goals.

Employee goals are delivered from management to employees. Employees and management would have a shared responsibility for accomplishing goals in harmony with the new strategy.

Successfully rolling out a new strategy means making as many people as possible feel accountable for accomplishing the goals behind the strategy. When this is done correctly, it streamlines the entire implementation process.

Reviewing the Strategy

For a strategy to be effective, it needs to be reviewed. Its performance has to be evaluated. There should be quantifiable goals an organization is trying to reach with its new strategy. Management and employees should be held accountable for reaching their goals during performance evaluations. This ensures timely goal completion.

Implementing a new strategy is never easy. However, organizations that have a clear vision, have developed a strategic plan, and are implementing goals at every level will have greater success in incorporating new strategies.