Strategy and innovation

In this week’s lecture we looked at strategy vs. a strategic plan and vision.

We analysed strategic management and the notion that a vision may stay constant, but strategies can change, particularly as the world in which publishers operate is experiencing massive social and economic change.

In turbulent times plans must be adjustable in order to create value and as a result, in our own business plans it will be essential to devise a flexible plan and consider built-in review points. This will enable us to make adjustments to the strategy and the plan if necessary.

Different levels of strategy were examined from a wider enterprise level that could be stakeholder oriented, to a potentially individual operation level. When analysing these levels we looked at areas where disconnection might occur, for example when an individual’s function differs to a corporate or business strategy leading to ‘office politics’.

We also looked at the extent to which ‘priority publics’ such as customers, consumers etc. are considered within a strategy. As Peter Drucker states, “The only function of business is to create customer value and to innovate.” Publics are extremely important, since to create value for them, a company must first be able to understand what they value, and this directly influences their ability to innovate.