Strategy: How to Make Yours Powerfully Simple (HBR Article Collection)

HBR OnPoint collections save you time by synthesizing and distilling the essence of three Harvard Business Review articles that, together, help you meet a specific management challenge. One-page overviews draw out the main points. Annotated bibliographies point you to related resources. Original HBR articles included. It's easy to throw the word strategy around in business. But what does the word really mean? More importantly, how do you create a powerful strategy? This Harvard Business Review OnPoint collection delineates one possible, three-part process for strategy creation and communication--a process that will keep all your employees working toward the same corporate end and empower them to experiment. The bedrock of this process is your company's vision--one that's "built to last," enduring even as your more specific strategies and practices change. Vision includes the values and purposes for which your company will always stand. The second step is articulating and communicating your company's strategic principle--a pithy, action-oriented phrase that provides a sense of direction while also encouraging innovation and risk-taking. Step three, creating simple rules to guide your company's unique set of strategic processes, lets you nimbly and flexibly respond to unpredictable, complicated markets--and grab the hottest opportunities. The three Harvard Business Review articles in this collection: "Building Your Company's Vision" by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Poras (HBR reprint 96501); "Transforming Corner-Office Strategy into Frontline Action" by Orit Gadiesh and James L. Gilbert (HBR reprint R0105D); and "Strategy as Simple Rules" by Kathleen M. Eisenhardt and Donald N. Sull (HBR reprint R0101G).