What is Strategy?
A company’s strategy is a plan to gain and sustain competitive advantage. This plan reflects how company leaders think about what it takes to succeed in their market. At its core, strategy is the idea that successful companies will figure out how to offer to customers unique value that cannot be imitated by competitors.
What Do Business Strategists Do?
Strategists help a company achieve competitive advantage by developing plans that allow the company to offer unique value to their customers. Strategists collect and analyze information about competitors, customers, and the resources and capabilities of the company. Strategists use this analysis to make recommendations about where to invest and what actions to take, over time, in order to achieve superior firm performance. Recommendations may address revenue growth, competitive positioning, acquisitions, building internal processes and capabilities, structuring existing assets or resources, entering new markets, product launches, or any other aspects that can result in higher performance for the company or ensure that competitors will find it difficult to imitate a company’s moves.
Strategists work in several interesting roles such as business managers, business analysts, consultants, and corporate strategists.