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Tigran Harutyunyan

What do you do with the strategy? Guide strategic development companies

Book Reviews

This is a much needed and desired book. I was among those who, over the years, urged the author, a brilliant practitioner and teacher, to write it. And it happened! A detailed, step-by-step and practical guide to developing a company strategy has been created. And at the same time on competent strategic consulting. Moreover, it is written in simple and figurative language, with examples and humor.

How is this book different from other strategy books? In short, everyone. Russian books on strategy with such a level of consistency, vivid imagery, taking into account Russian practice and features of Russian thinking, today there is simply no more on the market. It is necessary for innovative business. Students of the top IBDA programs of the Presidential Academy and other business schools of the country are waiting for it.

...

Sergey Pavlovich Myasoedov, Vice-Rector of the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation,Dean of the IBDA RANEPA, President of the Russian Associationbusiness education, doctor of social sciences. sciences, professor

While studying at the IBDA on the Executive MBA program, I read a lot of literature on strategic management. In my opinion, this book is the best I have ever read on the subject, especially in terms of its complexity and practical presentation.

I communicate with many managers. And I can say that leaders are often intimidated by the need for strategic sessions and group work in general. The book makes a very convincing case for this. I also noticed that managers do not see the challenges and trends of the context in which we are. The value of the book is that it explains that the entire process of working on a strategy is built in constant relation to the challenges of the external environment. And the challenges must be answered!

I also liked the fact that this is not a retelling of foreign sources, but first-hand information reflecting the experience of Russian companies.

I am sure that the book will be a great help for many entrepreneurs and managers.

...

Viktor Nikolaevich Baranov, General DirectorMoscow International Commodity and Energy Exchange,President of the Union of Independent Gas Producers

This book is a real guide for Champions! Accessible, stylish, succinct and deep about the difficult issues of change management in an organization. There is no "academic naphthalene" in the book, it is filled with the spirit of practices from real consulting life, creative seminars with real organizations, teamwork of real people. Everything is practical, well structured, interconnected and supported by the best concepts modern management. Yes, this is the product that you want to consume.

And this book is about Harmony, about how to strive for it.

In his work as CEO I happened to use the strategic hexagon of Tigran Harutyunyan at the refinery. I can say that it works - it transforms the organization and improves its results.

I'm sure for many business people, entrepreneurs and company executives in Russia book "What do you do with the strategy?" will become a real guide in business.

...

Igor Gennadyevich Kuzmin, Deputy DirectorDepartment for Development of Joint Oil Refining Projectsand petrochemical industry NK Rosneft, managing director of JV ROG NK Rosneft (Germany)

To my teachers - listeners and clients

This book is about success. Success associated with the constant development of your business and yourself. I `m teaching successful businessmen, top managers and have been working with the best companies from various industries as a management consultant. All these years, I often heard the same question: “Why haven't you written a book yet? You explain everything very well. Your material is well structured. You do not have any secrets, you tell us everything you know yourself, give examples from life. Why?!"

Any serious product must "ripen". And I started writing only after this feeling came. And do you know where I started? I collected and structured all the questions on the strategic development of the company that I was asked over the years. Is a strategy even necessary given how quickly the business environment is changing? Who is involved in the strategic process? For what period to develop a strategy? What is the founder/owner's role in strategy development? How do you know that the chosen strategy is the right one? What tools to use? How is the algorithm for working on a strategy built? How to implement it? Why doesn't it work? In the book, I answer these questions and reproduce the process of company development based on strategy. The way it happens in real Russian life with real organizations.

This book is not "for everyone". First of all, it should be read by the founders / owners of businesses; leaders, especially top-level; students of MBA and Executive MBA programs; management consultants. Moreover, if the book is of interest to teachers or students of economic universities and business schools, or readers who want to understand the practical issues of management, I will only be happy!

I am not a researcher, not a scientist. I am a practitioner! And practice is hardly possible without those for whom I live. These are my respected and beloved listeners and clients. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who kindly agreed to act as a reviewer at the stage of creating the manuscript and made valuable comments on the content, composition and style of the book.

They are Yury Anisimov, Artem Arutyunyan, Lusine Arutyunyan, Yuri Vasin, Alexander Dubinkin, Oleg Dutko, Maxim Zolotov, Armen Kazarov, Natalia Kovaltseva, Xenia Kosousova, Sergey Kostromin, Leonid Krongauz, Vadim Mamontov, Irada Mehdieva, Sergey Myasoedov, Ekaterina Rumyantseva, Samokhina Olga, Ishii Seitaro, Seferyan Ashot, Franco Oleg.

Special thanks to Kosousova Marina. Without her support and participation, this book would not have been possible.

Good luck to you!

...

Tigran Harutyunyan

Never talk to consultants

One day in the spring, at the hour of an unprecedentedly hot sunset, two citizens appeared in Moscow, at the Patriarch's Ponds. The first of them, dressed in a summer gray suit, was tall, trim, gray-haired, and elegant gold-rimmed glasses were placed on his well-shaven face. The other, a broad-shouldered, reddish, swirling young man, wore a polo shirt, white trousers, and white moccasins.

The first one was none other than Viktor Nikolaevich Skryabin, a well-known businessman and chairman of an industry professional association. And his young companion is Vadim Yuryevich Morozov, an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of the leading IT company BCM Technologies. Scriabin was the founder of Vadim's company.

Yes, the first oddity of this May evening should be noted. There was not a single person in the entire alley parallel to Malaya Bronnaya Street. At that hour, when, it seemed, there was no strength to breathe, when the sun, having heated Moscow, was falling in a dry fog somewhere behind the Garden Ring, no one came under the lindens, no one sat on the bench, the alley was empty.

The companions sat down on a bench and started talking. This, as it turned out later, was about strategic management. The fact is that Viktor Nikolaevich instructed Vadim to prepare proposals for business development. Vadim prepared proposals. Viktor Nikolaevich did not like them. According to Scriabin, the proposals had to be written anew. And now the businessman was giving something like a lecture on management in order to highlight the basic mistake of the manager.

It should be noted that the businessman was a well-read man and very skillfully pointed in his speech to the works of the classics of management, while abundantly seasoning his speech with not quite normative vocabulary. The manager listened attentively to Viktor Nikolaevich, fixing his brown eyes on him.

Scriabin's baritone was carried along the deserted alley, and as Viktor Nikolayevich climbed into the jungle, into which he could climb without risking breaking his neck, only a very educated person, the manager learned more and more interesting and useful things about SWOT analysis, and about the models of Porter and Ansoff, and even about the lesser-known Tracy and Wissem.

And just at the time when Viktor Nikolayevich was telling the manager about the strategic architecture of Khamel and Prahalad, commenting in the spirit that “this is complete bullshit”, a man appeared on the alley.

He was taller than average. Dressed in a T-shirt with a huge image of a tiger, torn jeans and red loafers. Unshaven. Brunette. On the shoulder is a laptop bag. “Surfer,” Vadim thought, looking at the stranger's bag.

Passing by the bench on which both partners were seated, the stranger glanced sideways at them, stopped and suddenly sat down on a nearby bench, two steps away from his friends.

“You, Vadim,” Scriabin said, “you write very well and beautifully about the strategic vision. But the point is that all this is the invention of business school professors. They also need to earn money ... And also these consultants ... - Scriabin again switched to profanity.

And it was at this moment that Scriabin had to interrupt his speech, because the stranger suddenly got up and went to the businessmen.

They looked at him in surprise.

“Excuse me, please,” the approacher spoke up, “that I, not being familiar, allow myself ... but the subject of your learned conversation is so interesting that ...

It must be added that the stranger made a disgusting impression on Vadim from the very first words, but Scriabin rather liked it, that is, not exactly liked it, but ... how to put it ... interested, or something.

- May I sit down? the stranger asked politely, and the friends somehow involuntarily parted; the stranger deftly settled himself between them and immediately entered into conversation.

If I didn't misunderstand, you said that strategic management company in FIG is not needed? the foreigner asked, turning his left eye to Scriabin.

“No, you heard right,” Scriabin answered courteously, “that's exactly what I said.

You have no idea how many times I have heard this phrase! exclaimed the stranger.

"What the hell does he want?" Morozov thought and frowned.

- Did you agree with this? the unknown inquired, turning to the right to Morozov.

“It does,” he confirmed.

– Super! - the uninvited interlocutor exclaimed and, for some reason, looking around and muffling his low voice, said: - Forgive my obsession, but I understand that, among other things, you don’t believe in strategic management at all? - he made big eyes and added: - I swear, I won't tell anyone.

“Yes, we don't believe in strategic management,” Scriabin replied, slightly smiling at the surprise of the stranger.

Meanwhile, the stranger continued:

– But this is the question that worries me: if there is no strategic management, there are no patterns, then, one asks, who manages human life and the whole routine on earth?

“The man himself manages,” Morozov hastened to angrily answer this, admittedly, not very clear question.

- I'm sorry, - the unknown responded softly, - in order to manage, you need, after all, to have an exact plan for at least some decent time. Let me ask you: how can a person manage if he is not only deprived of the opportunity to draw up any plan even for a ridiculously short period, well, let's say a thousand years, but he cannot even vouch for his own tomorrow? And in fact, - here the unknown turned to Scriabin, - imagine that you, for example, begin to manage, dispose of both others and yourself, in general, so to speak, get a taste, and suddenly ... kheh ... kheh ... crisis ... - here the stranger smiled sweetly, as if the thought of the crisis gave him pleasure, “yes, the crisis,” he repeated the sonorous word, squinting like a cat, “and now your management is over!” Nobody's fate, except your own, no longer interests you. Employees begin to lie to you, you, sensing something is wrong, rush to a business school, then to consultants, and sometimes even to so-called trainers. Both the first and second, and the third are completely meaningless, you yourself understand. And all this ends tragically... Can you really say that it was you who ruled this way yourself? Isn't it more correct to think that someone completely different has dealt with you? - and here the stranger laughed a strange laugh.

- You, colleagues, as I understand it, do not smoke? - suddenly turned to his friends unknown, - do you mind if I smoke?

The stranger's cigarette case somehow did not fit with his casual outfit. It was big and metal. A large letter T, stylized as the Tyr rune, flashed on the lid. “A shaman, or what?” Morozov thought...

Then the stranger spoke again:

- Yes, there are problems in business, but it's not so bad. The bad thing is that sometimes problems happen suddenly, that's the trick! Sometimes you don't know what's going to happen even tonight.

"Some kind of absurd posing of the question ..." - thought Scriabin and objected:

Well, that's an exaggeration. Tonight I know more or less exactly. It goes without saying that if a brick falls on my head on Bronnaya...

“A brick for no reason,” the stranger interrupted impressively, “will never fall on anyone's head. In particular, I assure you, he does not threaten you in any way. Your business is in danger of something completely different.

“Perhaps you know what it is and can tell me?” Scriabin inquired with perfectly natural irony, getting involved in this really absurd conversation.

“Willingly,” said the stranger. He looked at Scriabin as if he was going to make him a suit, muttered something through his teeth: “Business is old ... Employees ... One, two ... Expansion, most likely ... three, four ... A bunch of symptoms of aging ... No strategy ... five, six ... evening - seven ..." - and loudly and joyfully announced: - In the near future, a competitor will unexpectedly overtake you!

Morozov widened his eyes at the stranger, and Scriabin asked with a wry smile:

– And who exactly? Americans? Or maybe the Chinese?

- No, it will. Russian company. Annushka LLC.

- What these? Scriabin was indignant. - They're in the garage. And they are not our competitors at all.

“What other competitors,” the stranger objected firmly.

- Why?

“Because,” the foreigner answered, and narrowing his eyes, he looked up at the sky, where, anticipating the coolness of the evening, black birds were drawing silently, “that Annushka LLC has almost finished writing new software. And not only to write, but also to test. So that…

Here, as one would expect, silence reigned under the lindens. The silence was broken by a stranger.

“Excuse me for forgetting to introduce myself in the heat of our argument. Here is my card, passport and an invitation to come to Moscow for a consultation,” the stranger said, looking shrewdly at both businessmen. Morozov managed to make out the printed word "professor" and the initial letter of the name - "T" on the card.

- Are you invited to us as a consultant, Professor? Scriabin asked.

Yes, a consultant.

- What is your specialty? Scriabin asked.

“I am a specialist in magic.

"On you!" - knocked in the head of Viktor Nikolaevich.

- And ... and you were invited to us for this specialty? he asked, stuttering.

“No, it’s a joke,” the Professor laughed and explained: “There’s one famous company a new impetus for development is required. So they want me to help them. I am one of the few specialists in the world.

And again, both the businessman and the manager were extremely surprised, and the Professor beckoned both to him and, when they leaned towards him, whispered:

– Keep in mind that strategic management works.

“You see, Professor,” Scriabin replied with a forced smile, “we respect your great knowledge, but we ourselves adhere to a different point of view on this issue.

“You don’t need any points of view! replied the strange Professor. It just works and nothing else.

“But what the hell is needed is some kind of proof…” Scriabin began.

“And no evidence is required,” the Professor answered and spoke softly: “It’s simple: you just have to take it and try it…”

Strategy: pros and cons, why, for what?

What is the organization's strategy for?

What arguments can be given "for" and "against"?

What is justified strategic management in terms of the internal and external environment of the organization?

Project start

“It's simple: you just have to take it and try it,” said the Consultant. Together with Scriabin and Morozov, they were sitting in the office of BCM Technologies. It should be noted that there have been dramatic changes in the Consultant's appearance. He was clean-shaven, dressed in a suit and tie, even cufflinks. Thank you for taking the time to continue our conversation. What will we discuss?

“Professor, you are talking about strategic management,” Scriabin began. – You see, I have an excellent business education, I have read a lot of books on strategic management. We even tried to do some things with some success. At the same time, the feeling that all this is terribly far from life does not leave me. Especially ours, Russian. And right here I can give you a lot of arguments against the need for serious strategic management.

- I, too! exclaimed the Consultant. He had a tablet in his hands. - A little later, I will provide you, colleagues, with a large structured list of all kinds of arguments against strategic management. Now, let me give you a snippet. So, let's begin! – and the Consultant began to speak and show.

Does an organization need a strategy? Arguments against"

"Devil's Advocate" - in modern parlance, this term is often used to refer to people who defend a position that they themselves do not necessarily adhere to. Sometimes they do it just to argue, sometimes in order to identify possible logical flaws in their own position or try to prove their case “by the contrary”.

So does an organization need a strategy or not? Sometimes it's very helpful to become the devil's advocate and look at the issue from the opposite point of view. I tried to systematize the key questions and doubts related to strategic management. And that's what happened.

Strategic management of the organization is not needed. And that's why:

1. The external business environment is changing too fast. It has become commonplace to talk about its unpredictability and "turbulence". Under such conditions, planning for any long period loses its meaning. Life will simply move forward while we think about the future.

2. Here you can add the notorious "Russian specifics." The political, economic and legal situation in Russia is changing even faster than in the global environment. So there is no strategy here...

3. And yet everything is decided by the administrative resource. So it is necessary not to deal with the strategy, but to “bring in” correctly.

4. Strategic management is based on market forecasts, on understanding trends... At the same time, all forecasts are not worth a penny - a few months before the last crisis, analysts cheerfully predicted the growth of indices of leading exchanges, etc.

5. What is the strategy in a crisis?! You have to spin here!

6. Strategic management is the lot of top management. No need to involve strategic process cleaners! However, top management can develop any kind of beautiful strategies. They are not implemented later, because the middle management (lazy parasites) should implement the strategy. And middle management is only interested in solving short-term problems (bonuses are paid for the result) and in drinking on Friday nights. Not only that, when you involve them in working on a strategy, they turn up their noses and begin to demand more for themselves.

7. Also, the strategy can be opposed by “old-timers”, carriers of technological competencies who are afraid of change.

8. The level of development of our managers is too low to seriously engage in strategic management.

9. Attempts to build a company's strategy often end in a scandal and showdown among the owners or between the owners and top managers.

10. External consultants are often involved in the development of strategic plans. Consultants do their job and leave, and the strategy is shelved. After all, an external specialist is not interested in the implementation of this strategy in any way and is not responsible for the results of his work.

11. Our businesses are still too young (both in time of existence and in terms of phase life cycle) to engage in strategic management seriously.

12. Our businesses are very leader-centered. What the hell is the strategy, if everything in the company is decided by one person - the Founder (he is also the General Director, President, Leader and, in general, All Russia). And the Founder's plans change every day and in general a bunny dances in his head ...

13. Perhaps a multi-volume strategy is needed for large public companies to splurge on minority shareholders. Medium-sized businesses, and even more so small ones, do not need a strategy at all - we will sit down with the owners and decide everything.

14. My employees complain that they do not know the priorities of the company: as a founder, you see, I did not show the future of the company at least five years ahead. Bullshit! They know everything, they just do not want to work, so they are looking for excuses. And hide behind the strategy.

15. And we are generally monopolists in our market and have a good administrative resource. Why do we marketing strategy?! So and so all our clients ...

16. To build a good strategy, you need to involve employees. To engage employees, you need to train them. We don't have the time or money for that. Yes, and I don’t really want to teach them - they will learn and go to competitors. Or they need more money.

17. In nature, there are a lot of companies that have no strategy, but meanwhile they are successfully developing.

18. A lot of books have been written on the topic of strategic management, and all of them are very thick, but there are practically no examples of successfully implemented strategies ...

So, colleagues ... This list, as you understand, can be continued indefinitely. I have brought here only the main objections. Try to refute these theses yourself!

Tigran Harutyunyan

What do you do with the strategy? Guide to the strategic development of the company

Book Reviews

This is a much needed and desired book. I was among those who, over the years, urged the author, a brilliant practitioner and teacher, to write it. And it happened! A detailed, step-by-step and practical guide to developing a company strategy has been created. And at the same time on competent strategic consulting. Moreover, it is written in simple and figurative language, with examples and humor.

How is this book different from other strategy books? In short, everyone. Russian books on strategy with such a level of consistency, vivid imagery, taking into account Russian practice and the peculiarities of Russian thinking to such an extent, simply no longer exist on the market today. It is necessary for innovative business. Students of the top IBDA programs of the Presidential Academy and other business schools of the country are waiting for it.

Sergey Pavlovich Myasoedov, Vice-Rector of the RANEPA under the President of the Russian Federation,Dean of the IBDA RANEPA, President of the Russian Associationbusiness education, doctor of social sciences. sciences, professor

While studying at the IBDA on the Executive MBA program, I read a lot of literature on strategic management. In my opinion, this book is the best I have ever read on the subject, especially in terms of its complexity and practical presentation.

I communicate with many managers. And I can say that leaders are often intimidated by the need for strategic sessions and group work in general. The book makes a very convincing case for this. I also noticed that managers do not see the challenges and trends of the context in which we are. The value of the book is that it explains that the entire process of working on a strategy is built in constant relation to the challenges of the external environment. And the challenges must be answered!

I also liked the fact that this is not a retelling of foreign sources, but first-hand information reflecting the experience of Russian companies.

I am sure that the book will be a great help for many entrepreneurs and managers.

Viktor Nikolaevich Baranov, General DirectorMoscow International Commodity and Energy Exchange,President of the Union of Independent Gas Producers

This book is a real guide for Champions! Accessible, stylish, succinct and deep about the difficult issues of change management in an organization. There is no "academic naphthalene" in the book, it is filled with the spirit of practices from real consulting life, creative seminars with real organizations, teamwork of real people. Everything is practical, well structured, interconnected and supported by the best concepts of modern management. Yes, this is the product that you want to consume.

And this book is about Harmony, about how to strive for it.

In my work as the general director of an oil refinery, I happened to use the strategic hexagon of Tigran Harutyunyan in practice. I can say that it works - it transforms the organization and improves its results.

I am sure that for many business people, entrepreneurs and company leaders in Russia, the book "What do you do with the strategy?" will become a real guide in business.

Igor Gennadyevich Kuzmin, Deputy DirectorDepartment for Development of Joint Oil Refining Projectsand petrochemical industry NK Rosneft, managing director of JV ROG NK Rosneft (Germany)

To my teachers - listeners and clients

This book is about success. Success associated with the constant development of your business and yourself. I teach successful businessmen, top managers and for many years I have worked with the best companies from different industries as a management consultant. All these years, I often heard the same question: “Why haven't you written a book yet? You explain everything very well. Your material is well structured. You do not have any secrets, you tell us everything you know yourself, give examples from life. Why?!"

Any serious product must "ripen". And I started writing only after this feeling came. And do you know where I started? I collected and structured all the questions on the strategic development of the company that I was asked over the years. Is a strategy even necessary given how quickly the business environment is changing? Who is involved in the strategic process? For what period to develop a strategy? What is the founder/owner's role in strategy development? How do you know that the chosen strategy is the right one? What tools to use? How is the algorithm for working on a strategy built? How to implement it? Why doesn't it work? In the book, I answer these questions and reproduce the process of company development based on strategy. The way it happens in real Russian life with real organizations.

What do you do with the strategy? Guide to the strategic development of the company

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Title: What do you do with the strategy? Guide to the strategic development of the company

About the book Tigran Harutyunyan “What do you do with the strategy? Guidelines for the strategic development of the company"

You have in your hands a detailed practical guide to strategic management. Based on many years of consulting experience, the author offers own algorithm building and implementing strategy in an organization, as well as answers the most common questions of business owners.

For what period to develop a strategy? Who is involved in the strategic process and what is the founder's role in it? What tools to use and how to implement the strategy?

The book is aimed at business founders and owners, top managers, and will also be useful to management consultants and students studying marketing and management.

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7. “Old-timers” with technological competencies can bring a lot of useful things to the strategy development process. Yes, they are afraid of change. But it is the responsibility of top management to show the need for change, as well as the benefits that a normal strategic process can bring to all groups of goal bearers in the company.
8. The normal strategic process is a great tool for improving the skills of managers, a great option for “learning by doing”.
9. If you do not engage in strategy, the likelihood of scandals and showdowns between owners or owners and top managers increases dramatically. Moreover, if you miss the moment when it needs to be done urgently, it may be too late. In general, a clear picture of the future, which shows the interests of all groups, primarily owners and tops, is an excellent foundation for reaching mutual agreements.
10. The strategic process, like a number of other organizational development processes, is a kind of marital duty. It cannot be outsourced! Yes, it is possible and necessary to involve external consultants. But it is important that the company develops and implements the strategy itself! A good consultant only provides the process methodologically and technologically, and also, which is very important, introduces the position of an external, unbiased observer.
11. Of course, Russian business is still too young (both in time of existence and in terms of the phase of the life cycle). Of course, not all companies need an institutional, serious strategic process. At the same time, mastering the methods of strategic management gives management the opportunity to choose tools that correspond to the stage of development of the organization.
12. Yes, our businesses are very leader-centered. Yes, the founders (tops) have a bunny dancing in their heads (otherwise, by the way, they would not have become the founders of the business, and we should not forget about that). good strategy allows you to bring much-needed order, bring together the positions, points of view, vision of the founder with the ideas of employees and managers.
13. Multi-volume strategies are not needed by anyone - neither public companies, nor even small and medium-sized businesses. Life really changes very quickly! And "strategic development" departments are often bureaucratic structures that eat away the organization's money. And again, we touch on the topic of what and to what extent each particular company needs. As for “sit down as owners and decide everything”, it is still better to do this using tools and technologies, and not “on your knee”. Although sometimes it can.
14. Of course, the word "strategy" is worn out. Of course, employees often mean something completely different when they say the word “strategy”. Moreover - a good reason to sit down and figure it out! As Rene Descartes said, “Define words correctly and you will free the world from half the misunderstandings.” And there are indeed misunderstandings! Employees pronounce the word “strategy”, the founder starts to get angry, polemics begin ... Rather than argue, it’s better to agree on terms, and then systematically implement everything!
15. If clients come to you solely due to administrative resources or if you are a monopolist, it is not clear why you are still reading this text. But consider: do you really have no competitors? Who is your client anyway? And what does he buy from you? And what can replace it? And what is your market? And what happens if you and your business are gone?
16. In the nineties was ads, in which one of the characters said: “You need to feed better, then they won’t fly away.” I'm not talking about paying more trained employees. If a company teaches employees and at the same time does not learn, does not develop itself, disharmony will naturally arise. Once again, the question is not to pay trained workers more! But they need to feel comfortable in an organizational context. This is a complex issue. It is very important to follow the principle “do what you preach” here. To have a system of values, not just declared, but acting. As far as employee training funds are concerned, I repeat, the strategic process is a great opportunity for “learning by doing”. A normal business will always find funds for adequate investment in the development of employees and managers.
17. Are you sure that successful companies no strategies? Why did you decide so? And what do you mean by "strategy"? Multi-volume work? Read the biographies of great entrepreneurs and managers and you will see! Everyone had a strategy, at least at the level of vision and values!
18. Books on strategic management are a separate story. Indeed, most of them are unreadable. At the same time, the science of strategic management (forgive the reader for such a pretentious turn) provides an extensive toolkit of concepts, methods and approaches. Just use it. Nobody will do this for you.

Dear colleagues! I'm sure you have a lot of questions. The topics that we touched on are very deep. So let's start breaking them down...

The need for a strategy through the eyes of a consultant

- Eighteen points "against" and the same number "for" - a lot. And yet, as a consultant practitioner, can you briefly justify the need to develop a strategy? Very short? asked Vadim Morozov.
- With great pleasure! the Consultant replied. - And just as a practitioner, I will say the following.

There are at least two serious arguments. One concerns the internal environment of the company, the second - the external one. From the point of view of the internal environment of company management, strategy is one of the best integrators of the target structure of the organization. From the point of view of the company's activity in the market, engaging in strategy stems from the need to be proactive, to move forward all the time, not to wait for changes, but to anticipate them. In other words, strategy is an impulse, an impetus to development.
Let's take a closer look at both arguments.
What is an organization? There are many definitions, models of organization - serious and not so. For example, an organization can be viewed as a collection of carriers of different goals. I emphasize different. Why, then, the carriers of different goals unite in an organization? Because they can achieve their goals only together. Moreover, as a rule, the achievement of the goals of each group directly depends on the achievement of the corporate goal.
You can, for example, draw such a picture.

Here are the main groups of goal bearers in the organization: business as such, shareholders, employees and management. Naturally, the target structure of any real, especially large, organization is much more complicated. But even this simple model will allow us to see the role of strategy in terms of the company's internal environment.
What does your company need? What is its main goal? Often the answer is "profit". This is the wrong answer! What if the organization is non-profit? Church? Political Party? Or a family, for example? What will be the common goal for all these organizations? As Peter Drucker said, "The purpose of a business is to create customers." The client is what matters. This is equally important for business, and for the church, and for the party, and for the family. Clients, many clients happy clients. And the key issue here is returning customers, or repeat sales. This problem is relevant for an organization at any stage of development, from a startup to a giant corporation. What will the resale mean, for example, for a family? Dad comes home in the evening, although he has alternatives. This means that the family as an organization is doing its main function well. Having alternatives is very important. If you are a monopolist, customers are actually your hostages and will simply be forced to come to you again and again. But if you have competitors, and the client still comes to you, then your business is wealthy.
Business thinks about today's customers, about having customers tomorrow too. But what about profit? But profit is primarily of interest to another group of goal carriers - shareholders (investors). Investments are investments of any value in order to obtain greater value, or profit. Otherwise, this is not investment, but spillikins. The next group of goal carriers is employees. Here, in general, everything is simple. Remember Arkady Raikin? “What will the state benefit from me if I don’t go to work at all! But on the fifth and twentieth, let them bring everything home to me” (if anyone has forgotten, the “fifth” and “twentieth” were the days of advance payments and salaries). So the main goal of an employee is to earn more and work less. And I also want a social package and guarantees of the future (I remind you, I exaggerate).
And finally, management... Color, the elite, the most enlightened and motivated group of goal bearers. What is the main goal of managers? First of all, they have a main internal client - a shareholder who has hired managers as managers. At the same time, managers must take care of the business as such - about its customers, about development, about internal systems and processes. Managers also work with employees and supervise them. It can be said that, in fact, management balances the interests of other large groups of goal-bearers - business, shareholders and employees. And these interests do not coincide! It is no coincidence that a swan, a pike and a crayfish appeared in that picture. Everyone pulls in their own direction, and this is natural. Once again: each group has its own interests, and they do not coincide. They are in conflict! This is dialectic. We will invest more in business development - there will be less profit for the investor. We will pay more employees and invest less in business development and marketing - we will begin to lose customers. And then - the most interesting. Will management be able to balance this very conflicting construction? It is not for nothing that the term “limited optimization” has become fashionable in the last decade, implying the achievement of a balance of interests of all “interest groups” of the organization. Why limited? Because achieving the maximum satisfaction of all "interested groups" is impossible in principle.
A high-quality, well-designed strategy that takes into account the interests of all interested groups (or groups of goal-bearers) unites the organization. With a strategy, the business sees its future customers, the shareholder sees its future profits, employees see guarantees of stable income and social benefits, and managers see it all together. Therefore, we say that the strategy is an integrator of the target structure of the organization.
Now about the external environment. Strategic development as an ongoing process makes the organization proactive. The prefix "pro" means "before", "before", "in advance". There are three levels of activity here. The first is non-active. Inaction. The second is reactive. After-action is a reaction to changes that have already occurred. The third is pro-active. Pre-action. You can use the following metaphor to illustrate different levels activity. Imagine that you are in a mountain river, in a turbulent stream. Non-active - you just don't do anything. You can cling to the nearest rock or snag and hang from there. A stream rushes past you, everything changes, and you are frozen. You can let go of your hands and swim with the stream, helping yourself a little so as not to run into the stones. This is the second level - reactive. Already better! You have started moving. But your speed is limited by the flow rate. And finally, the third level is proactive. You can row harder, or you can get out of the river altogether and go the other way.
So, from my point of view, constant engagement in strategy gives the company a constant impetus, proactivity, which encourages action, and proactive ones at that. I think the managerial value of being proactive is hard to overestimate.

Is it possible to start the strategy right away?

“Well, Professor, you have practically convinced us,” Scriabin said thoughtfully. - Tell me, do you promote strategic management in this way, because you teach it and sell it as a consultant?
The consultant smiled.
- Well, let's start with the fact that strategic management is far from the only technology in my arsenal, which has been developing for many years. And as for the reasons why I promote the strategy, the causal relationship is built exactly the opposite. I teach a strategic management course and use it in my work because I sincerely believe in it. Otherwise I would not have led, rest assured!
- Okay, I understand. Vadim, what do you think? Viktor Nikolaevich asked.
- What is there to think about, what to do! Vadim readily answered. - Let the Professor tell you how much it will cost, who needs to be involved, how long it will all last, and we will think.
- So, colleagues, you have decided to start building your company's strategy and want me to help you with this? the Consultant asked.
“Well, yes,” the partners answered almost in unison.
- Alas, it will not work! I don't think that your company is ready like this, right away, to start setting up serious strategic management.
- But why? Vadim was genuinely surprised. - We have enough successful business, hundreds of employees, we are more than ten years old, and all this time we have been growing, despite the crises and everything that is happening around. Yes, and we have experience in training, teamwork. Why do you think we can't do it? Surprise and resentment sounded in Vadim's voice.
- Tell us a little about your business. What are its directions, the management structure, how many employees do you have, what have you already tried to do in terms of the development of the company. Anything you consider important, the Consultant asked.
And Vadim began to talk. From time to time he was interrupted by Viktor Nikolayevich, making remarks concerning mainly business development. And he did it very emotionally. Sometimes the Consultant also asked questions, as if in a fluent conversation. Vadim's story took about an hour ...
- Well, colleagues ... Everything is about as I expected. Remember, then, at the Patriarchs? The consultant smiled enigmatically. - Let me tell you a little about the concept and philosophy in which I have been working lately, and then together we will decide what to do, okay?

Getting ready for the strategic process

How to develop an organization?

Most people spend their lives in captivity because they live only in the future or the past. They deny the present, although the present is where it all begins.

Carlos Santana, musician

Why do attempts at deep organizational change fail?
What is deep organizational transformation?
What happens during a deep transformation?
What is the role of strategy in organizational transformation?
– Why do many attempts at organizational change fail, including attempts to introduce strategic management in the company? the Consultant began. – One of the most serious reasons is the lack of a clear understanding of where the organization and its managers are now. It's like treating a person without a diagnosis. Imagine you are visiting a doctor. The doctor begins by asking: “What are we complaining about?”. What follows is a long and serious conversation. The symptoms are clarified, the patient's feelings, perhaps tests are done. And only after the diagnosis is made, treatment begins. Often it turns out that the patient, for example, complained about the stomach, but in reality he has problems in a completely different place. Already in the process of treatment, diagnoses are made again, there are conversations on the topic “patient, how do you feel?”.

It's the same with organizations. The organization is not a mechanism, but an organism in which everything is very closely intertwined. And the symptoms observed in organizations do not always point to the immediate cause of problems. For example, employee complaints about a lack of strategy can actually mean anything from “non-transparent decision-making”, “little teamwork”, “poor quality management decisions” up to the banal “they pay little”.
Therefore, if we want to change something, including initiating the process of strategic development in the company, we need a diagnosis. Detailed. Accurate. Actual. As objective as possible. Then it will be possible to make a plan of "treatment".
There are many approaches to developing organizations and managers. I will draw on the theory, methodology and tools of IIOSS.
IIOSS is an international consulting company headquartered in Tokyo. The company offers methods and tools for diagnostics and development of organizations and managers. In short, IIOSS helps organizations achieve maximum "performance", or get the most out of organizations and employees.
When creating the theory, methods and products of IIOSS, we proceeded from the “signals” that we constantly receive from leaders:
Everything should be simple and fast.
We want real change, not just consulting or training or education.
No time for long strategic plans.
There is no time to read thick books.
Everything should be intuitive to managers.

Let's take a look at the organization development algorithm as a whole (we will also call it the "organizational transformation algorithm"), and then we will describe all its stages.
As already mentioned, when working with an organization, it is best to use a “medical” approach - first the diagnosis, then the treatment. It all starts with Deep Diagnosis. Ideally, both the organization as a whole and the “Management” component should be diagnosed (organizational components are described below in the “Organizational Model” paragraph). After that, team work begins with the symptoms identified during the diagnosis (“Pre-transformation”). This work can take up to a year. During this time, the company's management develops, the level of teamwork grows, and the organizational culture changes.

The next step is to build a new strategy for the organization, form a new structure to support the new strategy, and build a system of universal responsibility/accountability (“Transformation in SeiJuku”). On such a base, you can play the games so beloved by our managers: enter KPIs, build motivation systems tied to the result of the entire company, etc. Most likely, in new organization will be updated Information system.
Structurally, the transformation of the organization is as follows:
Diagnostics of the organization and diagnostics of management.
Pre-transformation (preliminary transformation) of the organization.
Development of management, changing the culture of the organization.
New strategy, strategic guidelines.
New organization structure.
Overall responsibility / accountability of management.
Reward system.
Information system.

In this way, we act on key areas of the organization with one main goal: to transform the organization and enable it to be at the highest level of "performance".
Now about the key steps of the algorithm in more detail. We will give great attention diagnostic phase, as it is the cornerstone of organizational development. And without it, we are unlikely to build a new strategy.

Diagnostics

What parts of the organization should be diagnosed?
What model do we use to describe the organization? How does the model relate to the strategic development of the organization?
What is a management code? How is -code related to strategy?
How are organizational life cycles described in the IIOSS model? What is SeiJuku (peak shape)? Why is strategy absolutely necessary at certain stages of a company's development?
How does the IIOSS methodology describe organizational behavior? How is management style related to strategic development?

Organization diagnostics

Where do we start?
- Where do we start anyway? - Scriabin and Morozov showed obvious impatience. - The general algorithm, the sequence that you described is more or less clear to us and looks quite logical. I would like to start already ... How long will all this last, how will we diagnose, who will be involved?
- I propose to start with the choice of an organizational model, - the Consultant replied. – Which model will be used in the diagnostics? To solve this, we need a little familiarity with the organizational model, the management code and the life cycle model.

Organizational Model

In nature, there are many models of organizations. Simple, complex… Why did you need another model? I remember once during an interview I was asked: what is the difference between your model? The question was somewhat unexpected… When you love something, use it, you don't always think about such questions. But I answered! I said that our model is consulting. It is not theoretical, not academic. We did not have a goal to surprise or amaze anyone. "Consulting model" means applied in nature. This is a model for those who actually work with change in organizations. Moreover (and we will see this later), such a model, in fact, contains an algorithm and a sequence of organizational transformations.
In the IIOSS organizational model, an organization is considered as a set of ten components:
Market/customers
Technology/Product
Employees
Money
▪ Management
– Environment/culture
– Goals/strategy
– Tasks/structure
– Rewards
– Information

We usually use the following picture to represent the organizational model. The picture symbolizes the dynamic interaction of the components.

A component is something that is inherent in any organization, regardless of size, industry, organizational culture. For example, any organization has customers, a market; technologies that create value for the client; employees who create this value; finance; tasks, tasks that are part of the structure, and so on. The components are related to each other. And they are changing! Changes occur under the influence of both internal and external factors. For example, changes in the market affect the "Market/Customers" component, and this can lead to changes, for example, in the "Technology/Product" or "Goals/Strategy" component.
The driving force behind the development of an organization is management. Development is the area of ​​direct responsibility of managers, leaders of the company. However, in many cases it is management that is main reason the decline of the organization. That is why it is given special attention in the IIOSS methodology. You saw that management is highlighted in the list of components - it is shown with an indent. It is like a gate from functional components (market, technology, people, money) to more high level– culture, strategy, etc.
Organizations are simply forced to constantly change as the Environment. Changes in the external environment cause changes in the internal components of the organization, giving rise to problems / disharmony, which simultaneously act as potential points of development. One of the main tasks of management is to identify all types of disharmony in the organizational components and actions to minimize them.
Management must do this all the time because organizations are constantly changing throughout their life cycle.

-management code

Let's talk about -code management. We will need it both at the diagnostic stage and at the stage of building and implementing a strategy.
Everything that management or a manager does can be described by answering four simple questions: what? as? why (when)? and who? In IIOSS they are called the four dimensions. Let's "breathe life" into each of the letters together.

Let's take a look at these four dimensions of management with a specific example. Take my favorite, a horse manure cleaning company from the streets. Let's imagine: you and I live at the beginning of the 20th century and you have a business of cleaning horse manure from the streets. Things are going great. You have a clientele, they love what you do. Not only do they constantly contact you, but they also recommend you to others, and new clients are also ready to order your services. This indicates that you are successfully coping with function [A]. By the way, this is very important point. One often hears the question: “What is the mark of a successful organization?” This is usually referred to as "profit". Not! Let's recall our conversation with you about groups of goal carriers. And if you non-profit organization and do not set yourself the goal of making a profit? For example, a church or public organization, or family ... Clients - that's what matters. I would put this parameter in the first place - the successful execution of the function [A]. Repeat sales, returning customers. This parameter is almost equally important for both a very young company and an established one.