The role of strategic analysis in developing strategy in an organization. Conducting strategic analysis

29.09.2019

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Gap Analysis

Gap analysis is a simple but effective method of analysis. Its purpose is to determine whether there is a gap between the firm's goals and its capabilities and, if so, to determine how to “fill” it.

Gap analysis algorithm:

Determination of the company's main interest, expressed in terms of strategic planning (for example, in increasing the number of sales);

Finding out the real capabilities of the company in terms of the current state of the environment and the expected future state (in 3, 5 years);

Determination of specific indicators of the strategic plan that correspond to the main interest of the company;

Establishing the difference between the indicators of the strategic plan and the opportunities dictated by the real situation of the company;

Development of special programs and methods of action necessary to fill the gap.

Another way to use gap analysis is to determine the difference between the highest expectations and the most modest forecasts. For example, if senior management expects a realistic rate of return on invested capital of 20%, but analysis shows that 15% is the most realistic figure, discussion and action is required to close the 5% gap.

Filling can be done in several ways, for example:

Due to productivity growth and achieving the desired 20%;

By abandoning more ambitious plans in favor of 15%;

The following methods of strategic analysis are usually used to identify strategic alternatives, possible options for a strategic plan.

Cost Analysis and Experience Curve

One of the classic strategy models was developed in 1926. It links strategy definition to achieving cost advantage.

Reducing costs while increasing production volume is due to a combination of the following factors:

1. advantages in technology that arise with the expansion of production;

2. learning by experience is the most effective way organization of production;

3. the effect of economies of scale.

According to the experience curve, the main focus of a firm's strategy should be to gain the largest market share, since it is the largest competitor that has the opportunity to achieve the lowest unit costs and, therefore, the highest profits.

The application of the experience curve is possible in industries of material production.

IN modern conditions Achieving cost leadership is not necessarily associated with increasing production scale. The current high-tech equipment is designed not only for large productions, but also for small ones. Today, even a small company can use computers, modular equipment that provide high performance and customization capabilities to solve various specific problems. The main disadvantage of the model is that it takes into account only one of the internal problems organization and inattention to the external environment (primarily to the needs of customers).

Market dynamics analysis, life cycle model

The analysis of the market dynamics of this product is based on a well-known model life cycle product, which is an analogy of the life cycle of a biological being.

The life of a product on the market is divided into several main stages, each of which has its own level of sales and other marketing characteristics:

birth and market introduction - small distribution and growth-oriented strategy;
growth stage - significant increase in sales and rapid growth strategy;
maturity stage - sustainable sales and stability-oriented strategy;
stage of market saturation and decline - sales decline and reduction strategy.

The purpose of the life cycle model is to correctly determine the business strategy for each stage of a product’s life on the market. Exists a large number of life cycle modifications depending on product types. However, strategy should not be tied too closely to the life cycle model.

The "experience curve" and "life cycle" models are the most simple methods strategic analysis, since they connect the development of strategy with only one of the factors of the company’s activity. The methods described below are more comprehensive in nature and follow the path of linking various components of the internal and external environment of the organization.

Product-market model

Suggested by A.J. Steiner in 1975. It is a matrix that includes a classification of markets and a classification of products into existing, new but related to existing, and completely new products.

Rice. 1. Market-product matrix

The matrix shows the levels of risk and, accordingly, the degree of probability of success for various market-product combinations. The model is used for:

1. determining the probability of successful activity when choosing a particular type of business;

2. choice between different types of business, including when determining the ratio of investments for different business units, that is, when forming a company’s securities portfolio.

Portfolio models of strategy analysis

Portfolio models determine the present and future position of a business in terms of the attractiveness of the market and the ability of the business to compete within it. The original, classic portfolio model is the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix.

The matrix indicates four main business positions:

1. highly competitive business in fast-growing markets - an ideal “star” position;

2. highly competitive business in mature, saturated, stagnant markets ("cash cows" or "money bags" that bring sustainable profits) is a good source of cash for the company;

3. do not have good competitive positions, but are “question marks” operating in promising markets, whose future is uncertain;

The combination of weak competitive positions with markets in a state of stagnation - the “dogs” are the outcasts of the business world.

The BCG model is used:

To determine interrelated conclusions about the position of the business unit (business) included in the organization and its strategic prospects;

Using the BCG matrix, the company forms the composition of its portfolio (that is, it determines the combination of capital investments in various industries, various business units).

Within the framework of the BCG matrix, the following strategy options can be proposed:

1. Growth and increase in market share - turning a question mark into a star (aggressive question marks are sometimes called wild cats).

2. Maintaining market share is a strategy for “cash cows” whose income is important for growing businesses and financial innovation.

3. “Harvesting”, that is, obtaining a short-term share of profit in the maximum possible size, even at the expense of reducing market share, is a strategy for weak “cows”, deprived of a future, unlucky “question marks” and “dogs”.

4. Liquidation of a business or abandonment of it and the use of the resulting funds in other industries is a strategy for “dogs” and “question marks” who no longer have the opportunity to invest to improve their positions.

The BCG model has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

The model is used to examine the relationship between the business units within an organization as well as their long-term goals;

The model can be the basis for analyzing different stages of development of a business unit (business);

It is a simple, easy-to-understand approach to organizing an organization’s business portfolio (securities portfolio).

Flaws:

Does not always correctly assess business opportunities. A unit identified as a "dog" may recommend exiting the market, while external and internal changes may change the position of the business. Yes, small farming, which supplies vegetable products, in the 70s could be rated as a “dog”, but by the 90s the deteriorating environmental situation and a special attitude towards “clean” products created new prospects for this business;

Overly focused on cash flow when the organization's focus is on investment performance. It is aimed at super growth and ignores the possibilities of improving the business and applying the best management methods.

A more complex version of the portfolio model is the multifactor McKinsey matrix of the company, which is developing it for General Electric.

Evaluation of a multi-industry portfolio model:

Its advantage over the simple portfolio model is that it takes into account the largest number significant factors of the internal and external environment of the company;

There are limitations in the application of this model, which include the lack of specific recommendations for behavior in a particular market, as well as the possibility of a subjective, distorted assessment by the company of its position.

Source - I.A.PODELINSKAYA, M.V. BYANKIN STRATEGIC PLANNING Textbook. – Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of the All-Russian State Technical University, 2005. - 55 p.

Function	Description of functions, processes
1. Development of a marketing strategy based on research	Determining the development strategy for existing businesses and developing strategies for promising businesses using:
1.1. SWOT analysis (identification of the Company's Strengths and Weaknesses [microenvironment]; opportunities and threats from the market [macroenvironment])
1.2. STEP analysis (analysis of the external environment - social, technological, economic, political factors influencing the Company’s activities)
1.3. Strategic gap analysis (GAP analysis)
1.4. Identification of the Company’s strategic goals Development of goals at the level of each business
2. Portfolio analysis	Company portfolio- relative market share in various business segments or areas of expansion of the company’s activities (small businesses have a portfolio of products or clients, large businesses have a portfolio of activities). Portfolio analysis- identifying which portfolios to keep, which to dispose of, and which to dispose of. Use matrices, for example: BCG (market growth rate / relative market share) T&S (market growth rate / competitive position firms) Ansoff (old and new market/product)
3. Market segmentation	The process of identifying groups with common characteristics and qualities from a heterogeneous composition of consumers in order to determine the most promising segments
3.1. Segmentation of new markets (potential clients) in the process of assessing new businesses
3.2. Segmentation of all clients for existing businesses
3.3. Identification of target segments on which we focus our efforts
3.4. Assessing the attractiveness of each segment: · Size · Growth opportunities · Profitability · Competition (actual and potential) · The Company's capabilities in working with the segment
3.5. Study of differences between segments and customers within segments in different regions
4. Positioning	Consolidating the image of the Company we need in the minds of buyers, consumers and the public
4.1. Consumer research (development and compilation of psychographic characteristics)
4.2. Analysis, assessment and selection of sustainable competitive advantages on which our business strategy is based (activities, resources superior to competitors, costs, technical, personnel, production and other capabilities)
4.3. Determination of competition areas (who are our direct and indirect competitors [in individual businesses, range of services offered], why they are dangerous for us, in what ways we are superior to them)
4.4. Development of positioning ideas and image
4.5. Communicating the desired image of the company to the target audience through advertising, PR and personal communications
4.6. PR, creating the image of the Company as an expert, specialist, connoisseur whose opinion can be trusted

Strategic priorities

In the course of marketing research, information should be obtained that allows identifying key areas of development of the company. Firm management usually focuses on strategic priorities ( Peter Doyle):

· Speed(reduced development-delivery cycle)

· Adaptation goods to the individual needs of consumers (demand differentiation)

· Quality(a necessary condition for competitiveness)

· Information(source competitive advantage)

· Focus on real possibilities organizations (UKP, growth resources, etc.)

· Globalization(distribution of risk and costs across different markets)

· Differentiation provision (reinforcement of goods with additional services)

· Partnership with buyers and distributors

· Innovation(continuous updating of products and processes)

· Confession firms with numerous interested audiences. Before drawing up a research plan, find out what work is needed to implement each point and assess its relevance (necessity, costs, possible results)

Strategic analysis uses many methods - statistical, economic-mathematical, expert, system analysis, marketing research and many others. Here, further in topic 4, we will look at specific methods used primarily for the purposes of strategic analysis.

Questions for self-control:

1. Give clear definitions of the concepts of “marketing research” and “marketing information system”?

2. What types of information are more important for marketing research?

3. What is the purpose of marketing research?

4. What does analysis of the competitive environment provide in marketing research?

5. Why fill out the table for analyzing the company’s problems?

6. What are marketing research plans based on?

7. What methods are used to conduct strategic analysis?

Literature

Bagiev L.G., Tarasevich V.M., Ann H. Marketing: Textbook for universities / Ed. ed. G.L. Bagieva. 3rd edition. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008. - 736 pages.

2. Volkova L.A., Idrisov Marketing: Theory and practice in the Russian perspective. – Makhachkala: IPC DSU, 1997.

Volkova L.A. Key terms and concepts // www.m-arket.narod.ru/
"Classics of Marketing: Collection of works that had the greatest influence on marketing" /Trans. from English edited by Yu.N.Kapturevsky. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001.
Kotler F. Marketing management. Express course. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2006.
Kotler F. Marketing management. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2005.
Kotler F. Fundamentals of Marketing. - M.: Progress, 1990.
Lambin J.-J. Strategic Marketing. European perspective / Transl. from French – St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1996. 589 p.
Lambin J.-J. Market-oriented management: Strategic and operational marketing / Transl. from English edited by V.B.Kolchanov. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008. – 720 p.
Maslova T. D., Bozhuk S. G., Kovalik L. N. Marketing. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008. - 304 p.
Pankrukhin A.P. Marketing: textbook for students studying in specialty 088111 – “Marketing” / A.P. Pankrukhin. – 5th ed., erased. Moscow: Omega-L, 2007. – 656 p.

Topic 4. Marketing methods
research

Methods marketing research

Marketing intelligence and benchmarking

Methods of strategic analysis

Situational analysis

Situation analysis methods good because they are quite simple. The main difficulty (as, indeed, with any other research methods) lies in the correct formulation of the problem. The essence of situational analysis: the external and internal environment of the company is examined using special questionnaires. In most cases, you can do it with the help of the company’s employees, which is especially important when conducting ongoing monitoring of the situation in order to develop corrective measures to strategic plans. The main methods used in situation analysis are individual survey, expert assessment method, group interviews, brainstorming method.

KJ analysis

Another method - anthropological studies (KJ)- usually used in marketing to identify “forgotten” areas of activity. Its convenience for strategic needs predetermined its adoption into the group of methods of strategic analysis. The method itself is quite simple, but very effective. Clients and employees of the company are asked to write wishes for improvements, additional services ah, the quality of the offer and other positions that are interesting to the company and important to clients. All wishes are collected and analyzed, which makes it possible to draw well-founded conclusions about possible directions development of the company. Then the second stage of analysis is carried out, in which the desired (highlighted areas) is compared with the possible (i.e., with the company’s existing assets, resources, competencies and their growth potential).

STEP analysis

Step-by-step analysis of the company's macroenvironment (STEP analysis) is carried out with varying degrees of detail depending on the importance of the tasks facing the company and the general erudition of the company (newcomers to the market should undertake a more in-depth analysis, and “old-timers” usually include it in the current monitoring and track only the changes that occur).

This type of analysis also includes whole line various methods of economic analysis: socio-demographic, engineering and technology, economic dynamics of society, environmental, ethical, political, legal (internal and external legislation of the country). In the process of preliminary analysis of the macroenvironment, an overview of the state of the environment is compiled and trends in its development are identified, with current analysis changes must be identified and those that may be significant for the company must be identified.

Social factors:· Demographic factors, · Changes in basic values, · Changes in level and lifestyle, · Attitudes towards work and leisure, · Changes in income structure, · Changes in attitudes towards the industry.

Technological factors:· Government policy regarding technology, · Significant trends in scientific and technological progress, · The speed of change and adaptation of new technologies in the industry, · Technological changes that are important for the development of the industry, · Trends in the emergence of new goods and services in the industry...

Economic forces:

· general characteristics situation in the country's economy and in the industry(rise, stability, decline);

· Dynamics of financial condition(ruble exchange rate, inflation, state of the banking system, refinancing rates, etc.);

· Changes in the main external costs in the industry(electricity, water, gas, etc.).

Political factors:· Changes in legislation affecting the industry, · Relations with national and regional authorities, · Level of political stability in the country/region, · Approaching elections of state and local authorities(President, Duma, People's Assembly, etc.).

Matrix methods

For visualization of data obtained during the study It is convenient to use different matrices. Below are some example matrices.

BCG Matrix. For analysis of the assortment and market share we occupy Effectively use the matrix developed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG):

1. Cash cow: Low growth rate - high market share. The direction brings in a lot of money without requiring any special investments (bestseller). It makes sense to keep milk cows for the development of other directions, but the direction itself is unpromising. Fame will pass, income will go away: support in the event of a drop in sales can turn into collapse.

2. Dog: Growth rates are low - market share is small. The direction makes sense if such dogs a lot and they do not require special expenses for their maintenance, or if the market is resegmented and dog becomes cash cow. Maneuvers are difficult. If you don’t want to close the direction, try to make friends with the consumer and become indispensable for him (going into a niche).

3. Questions: Growth rates are high - market share is small. An unstable position that will soon move to another quadrant. It depends on your efforts whether it will turn into star, dog or cash cow. Typical questions - new fashionable topics. A company can create such a market on its own, but success requires great efforts to promote it.

4. Star: High growth rates - large market share. Requires large expenses, but in the future it may become cash cow. Failure can only happen if the direction is not given enough attention. If you have successfully brought to market question, it will turn into star- don’t stop, followers will soon rush into this niche, and you may lose the market.

In addition to standard matrices, you can create your own. For example:

Portfolio analysis

Company portfolio- relative market share in various business segments (BCG matrix) or areas of expansion of the company’s activities /Richard Koch/. Small business has product or customer portfolio, large - portfolio of activities/Charles Handy/. Typically, portfolio management is based on assortment management.

To determine in which direction the company should change, it is carried out portfolio analysis- identifying portfolios that should be kept, which ones to get rid of, and which ones to keep. The simplest way to conduct such an analysis is to ask yourself the question: “if we had not been involved in this area, would we have started to open it now?” If the answer is no, get rid of this business and invest in maintaining or developing the rest. A more objective analysis scheme is SWOT analysis (see Methods of strategic analysis).

The portfolio method is convenient when planning work in different markets or with different groups of goods (circles). The situation is analyzed in the “Advantages-attractiveness” matrix:

Each market/product should have its own marketing programs, since working according to unified schemes inevitably entails extra costs or underestimation of some “local” factors. The following are recommendations for various groups factors to consider when developing plans to operate in each market according to market/product position.

Strategies and current plans for various product and market conditions

Main stream	Investing in Growth	Make profit, maintain share	Analyze where it will shift	Maximize profit	IN good conditions develop
Market share	Maintain/build leadership	Maintaining share, withdraw funds	Segment	Reduce market share for profit	Targeted investment in market share growth
Goods		Differentiate by cutting less successful products	Differentiate, Special attention quality	Aggressive reduction	Differentiation, expansion of assortment
Price		Stabilize / Increase	Save or raise	Lift up	Aggressive pricing policy to increase market share
Promotion	Aggressive Marketing	Limit effort	Support selectively	Minimize	Aggressive Marketing
Distribution	Expand distribution	Maintain a wide distribution network	Segment	Gradually narrow the distribution network	Limited coverage
Cost control	Tight control, economies of scale	Focus on reducing costs, especially variables	Tight control	Drastically reduce all costs	Tough, but not to the detriment of the case
Production	Expand, invest in mergers	Maximize capacity utilization	Increase productivity	Free up power	Invest
Research and development	Investment in expansion	Focus on key projects	Invest selectively	Do not carry out	Invest
Staff	Improving management in the main SBUs	Strengthen the organization, encourage effective work	Appoint key managers	Reduce administrative costs	Invest in staff
Investments	In capital growth	Limitation of capital investments	Spot	Minimize	In capital growth
Working capital	Reduce production, increase credit funds	Reduce debt (increase in turnover, control over payment of bills)	Reduce	Aggressively reduce	Invest in growth

One of the interesting methods brought into strategic analysis from marketing is the so-called gap analysis (GAP analysis, from English gap - hole, gap, gap). The point of the method is to identify “gaps” that certainly exist in any business environment. The most popular are four types of GAP analysis:

1. Gap Analysis - strategic gaps. Allows you to determine the discrepancy between the actual and desired position of the company (for example, why the company failed to meet the budget or fulfill the plan).

2. Detection technique « empty market niches" Here the so-called “holes” or “white spots” in the consumer basket are analyzed. For example, in terms of prices (there are very expensive beauty salons and cheap hairdressers, the middle segment turns out to be unoccupied), directions (there are extreme tourism, there is rest, between them there is an unoccupied niche), etc.

3. Finding gaps in the company's product lines. As a rule, it is carried out by analyzing the assortment of competitors, as a result of which the company adds to its work those goods and services that it lacks. For example, expanding the work of a photo studio can follow the path of expanding the range of goods and services provided: the sale of photographic products and accessories, photos for documents, portraits, “digital” photographs, transferring frames from regular film to digital, etc.

4. Breakthrough Opportunity Analysis- if a company sets a growth goal (for example, to double its income), this method can help it discover the “gaps” through which this growth will be achieved:

Sample table to identify cracks

Depending on the situation in which the company is located, the “gaps” may include an increase in labor productivity, a change in corporate culture, updating the assortment, concentrating on profitable segments, expanding supply and sales markets, technological innovations, introducing additional services, increasing consumer loyalty, business expansion, etc. The “gaps” themselves can be seen on the graph.

Time

It involves assessing the strategic state of the company taking into account the following factors:

Internal microenvironment, a fully controlled firm and including divisions of the firm.
External microenvironment(business environment), regulated by the management of the company and including: suppliers, competitors, intermediaries (trading companies, transport companies, specialized firms (advertising, consulting), financial institutions), clientele and contact audiences (mass media, government agencies and authorities , general public).
Macroenvironments(background environment), absolutely beyond the control of the company’s management and including:
- political environment;
- economic environment;
- social environment;
- technological environment.

The essence of external environment analysis is the systematic study and assessment of controllable and uncontrollable factors (objects and events) related to the enterprise. The main goal of such an analysis is to obtain the necessary planning and forecast information, and an additional goal is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise itself, as well as the opportunities and risks associated with its external environment.

A manager, while analyzing the state of the external environment, must analyze markets, levels of competition and technology. The analysis of the work of competing enterprises is based on the same scheme as the IT analysis of the work of one’s own enterprise.

Are used different kinds analysis and their combinations:

analysis conducted solely on the basis of past factual information - factual analysis, or factual analysis;
analysis carried out on the basis of information oriented to the past and future - analysis of events and deviations. Variance analysis is part of control processes;
analysis carried out on the basis of future information - analysis of planned indicators. Serves to evaluate plans and select planning alternatives.

In addition to analyzing the external and internal environment, a good manager must be able to analyze and evaluate the business environment in which his enterprise operates. Depending on the results of such an analysis, many decisions must be made. management decisions, influencing the strategy of the enterprise’s behavior in the market.

Business environment- the entire set of elements of the external and internal environment that have a significant impact on the achievement of strategic goals in the activities of the enterprise in the market.

The main areas of the business environment largely coincide: political, economic, socio-political, legal, criminal spheres.

It is very important for managers to be able to identify and predict the business environment. Not only the growth or decline of economic indicators of doing business, but also the safety of the company’s activities in certain conditions depends on this. Western companies have been working on assessing the business situation and forecasting it for a long time. Russian companies often neglect this, and they pay for it. This kind of work should be done on scientific level and entrusted only to a competent specialist. The meaning of such activity should be reduced to three main areas: firstly, to the classification of the safety level; secondly, to assessments of external and internal influences to the company; thirdly, to develop countermeasures.

Assessing the state of the business environment includes several parameters.

External influences can be classified as follows: unfair competition; dishonest relationships; disputes; dangers; threats; confrontation.

Internal influences can be classified as follows: interpersonal, personnel; technogenic and technological.

The state of the business environment is determined by the following levels: favorable or normal; unfavorable, or complicating; complex; tense, or pre-conflict; conflict; catastrophic.

Ranking the situation according to the above levels allows directors and managers of enterprises to determine the degree of tension in the security system, the need to seek support from government agencies and companies operating in the non-state security system.

Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise- a very important direction in the activity of the enterprise. The SWOT analysis method can effectively help with this and is widely used by businesses all over the world. A modern manager must be fluent in this method.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

SWOT analysis helps develop an understanding of the circumstances in which a business operates. This method helps you balance your internal strengths and weaknesses with the opportunities and threats that the enterprise will have to face. This analysis helps to determine not only the capabilities of the enterprise, but also all available advantages over competitors. Below are sample groups of questions for conducting a SWOT analysis. The first two groups concern internal factors. Strengths and weaknesses are analyzed. The second group of questions concerns external factors and includes opportunities and threats.

So, at the first stage you need to analyze the following factors.

Internal factors

Strengths:

competence;
availability of sufficient financial resources;
having good competitive skills;
good reputation among consumers;
recognized leadership of the enterprise in the market;
the company has well-thought-out strategies in this area of activity;
Availability of our own high quality technologies; availability of cost advantages for products and services; having advantages over competitors; Ability to innovate, etc.

Weak sides:

lack of strategic direction;
marginal position in the market;
presence of outdated equipment;
low level of profitability;
unsatisfactory level of management;
poor control;
weakness compared to competitors;
backwardness in innovation processes;
narrow range of products;
unsatisfactory image in the market;
low marketing skills among staff;
lack of sufficient funding for projects, etc.

External factors

Favorable opportunities:

work with additional groups consumers;
introduction into new markets or market segments;
expanding the range of products to satisfy a wider range of consumers;
product differentiation;
the ability of the enterprise to quickly move to more profitable strategic groups;
confidence in relation to rival firms;
rapid market growth, etc.

Threat factors:

arrival of new competitors;
increasing sales of similar products;
slow market growth;
unfavorable tax policy of the state;
changes in the needs and tastes of customers, etc.

Summarizing the above, a manager must be able to determine what strengths his enterprise has, and not only see, but also admit its weaknesses. He must recognize what opportunities exist for the enterprise and take into account those threats that may prevent it from capitalizing on opportunities.

Managing threats and taking advantage of existing opportunities requires more than just being aware of them. If a business is aware of a threat but does not confront it, it may fail in the marketplace. On the other hand, an enterprise may have information about new opportunities, but not have the resources to implement them.

The manager must also be aware that opportunities and threats can turn into their opposites. Thus, unused opportunities of an enterprise can become a threat if a competitor uses them in time. On the other hand, a successfully prevented threat can provide a company with a strong position if competitors have not eliminated the same threat.

Strategic planning defines the entire foundation of an organization, including determining where the organization is going and what it does.

Analysis of the enterprise's activities is a stage of planned research.

A thorough product analysis makes it possible to win the competition, which is why it is important as part of drawing up a business plan.

Research and analysis of the sales market is one of the most important stages preparation of business plans, which should provide answers to the questions: who, why and in what quantities buys or will buy the company’s products.

Strategic analysis is needed to provide managers with the necessary information to develop a company's strategy. Everything seems clear and logical, but, in fact, in practice, companies are faced with one of the fundamental problems of strategic management.

When a company tries to conduct a strategic analysis, the question immediately arises of what, exactly, a strategic analysis should include, what information should be the output of this analysis, and what information managers need to develop a strategy. Many attempts have been made to somehow formalize this process, that is, to define standard formats for strategic analysis, following which the company is guaranteed to provide itself with the necessary information to develop a strategy.

But the problem is that there are quite a lot of strategic analysis tools, and at the same time there is no guarantee that if you use them all, the company will be able to develop some kind of correct strategy. The process of developing a strategic plan, in in this case, like making any other decision, in principle we cannot completely formalize it. Strategic analysis techniques can only help systematize information for decision making, but the decision itself remains with managers. This article will discuss the most common methods of strategic analysis.

So, when a company comes to understand the need to implement strategic management and begins to take the first steps in this direction, then we can say that it has managed to solve the first fundamental problem of strategic management.

Although sometimes there are situations when the owners and management of a company realize the need for strategic analysis, the strategic choice has to be made blindly. For example, once at a seminar one of the participants ( CEO small company, engaged in wholesale and retail sales hours) told me interesting story. Even at the very beginning of her business, she had to make a very important strategic decision, namely to choose a foreign supplier. Moreover, I immediately wanted to conclude a dealer agreement with exclusive sales in Russia.

To select a supplier, it was decided to visit a specialized industry exhibition. The calculation was made that all major watch manufacturers would be represented at the exhibition, so that it would be possible to collect information from them and make a strategic choice. But it turned out that not everything is so simple. Representatives of all companies were ready to talk for a very long time about what wonderful products they have, but at the same time they did not give practically any figures.

That is, we are not even talking about the fact that they did not provide information about sales of their products in other countries, so they could not even provide a clear price list at which they were ready to supply products to their dealers. Therefore, I had to make a choice based only on intuition. They did not cooperate with companies producing premium products. We immediately focused on the middle segment and ended up guessing right. The products began to be sold in Moscow and in the regions. But it was possible not to guess, but in this case, according to the general director, there was no other option.

Methodologies of strategic analysis

If you open books on strategy, you will find in them a wide variety of all kinds of strategic matrices, which are precisely intended to conduct standard strategic analysis in its various aspects. But, as a rule, in practice (at least in Russian practice) literally several techniques are used. In addition, these books do not say how to use the results of such a large amount of analysis.

The most common strategic analysis techniques include the following:

SWOT analysis;

PEST+M analysis;

analysis of the company's product portfolio (BCG matrix or McKinsey matrix);

analysis of the company's problem field.

Here you need to be clearly aware that in order to develop a strategy, on the one hand, there should not be little information, but, on the other hand, there should not be a lot of it. In addition, the time factor is also important. Sometimes in practice it is more important to make a decision that may not be entirely correct and precise, but now, than to make a more reasonable and correct one tomorrow. Since either the information on the basis of which was developed correct solution, may become outdated, or, as they say, “the train has already left” and the right solution will not save the situation.

The simplest (in terms of perception of results) and most common strategic analysis tool is SWOT analysis. The main idea of a strategic SWOT analysis is that when developing a strategy, you need to take into account the main factors affecting the company's business. Moreover, these factors are considered in two aspects (see. Rice. 1):

external and internal;

positive and negative.

Fig.1. Strategic SWOT Analysis

Accordingly, when it comes to external environmental factors, they include favorable opportunities and threats for the company. The same factors can affect the business of other companies, incl. competitors, however, this influence can be assessed differently. Among the factors of the internal environment, the strengths and weaknesses of the company are distinguished.

Here it should immediately be noted that the strengths and weaknesses of a company are not an absolute concept, but a relative one. That is, factors of the internal environment are mainly analyzed in comparison with competitors. It is clear that the company does not have complete information about the state of affairs of their competitors. Companies sometimes don’t even know everything about themselves that they would like, but here you need to know the same about your competitors. But, nevertheless, when determining the factors of the internal environment that significantly affect the business, it is necessary to classify them into strengths and weaknesses, comparing your company with its competitors.

Naturally, to collect information about competitors you will have to spend certain time and financial resources. Therefore, if the company really intends to implement a full-fledged strategic management system, then it will have to be done. Of course, you still need to understand how detailed information about competitors the company really needs; moreover, some of the information may be quite accessible and open. In any case, monitoring information about competitors is one of the functions of the development directorate.

It should be noted that in practice it happens that the same environmental factor is a favorable opportunity for one company, and a threat in the external environment for another. When our team of consultants carried out a consulting project together with working group The customer carried out a strategic SWOT analysis at a dairy plant, then, among other environmental factors, such a factor as “bad collective farms” was also considered.

This meant that the enterprise was surrounded by a large number of small farms that were in very poor condition. On the one hand, this factor should be considered as a threat in the external environment, but for of this enterprise– it was a good opportunity. The fact is that if, instead of this large number of ineffective collective farms, there were several large farms, then they would be bought up by a very large competitor (one of the leaders in the dairy industry in Russia), and in such a situation it was unprofitable for him.

For this dairy plant, this state of the raw material base, on the contrary, was seen as an opportunity to gain control over them, and then to consolidate and develop these collective farms. Thus, it turns out that the same environmental factor can be a threat for one company, and an opportunity for another.

Using even such a simple tool as SWOT analysis helps a company focus on strategically important issues. The CEO of one company in my strategic management seminar directly said that using a tool such as strategic SWOT analysis helped them increase profits. They constantly monitored factors affecting the company’s business and focused on the most significant ones, that is, they worked according to priorities.

What to do with the results of strategic analysis?

The results of a strategic SWOT analysis should be used as follows (see Rice. 2). Having analyzed the identified factors, it is necessary, firstly, to assess the degree of their influence on the company’s business, for example, based on a point system. That is, the influence of all positive factors (external and internal) on the company’s business is estimated from, say, one to three pluses, and the influence of negative ones - from one to three minuses, respectively.

If the influence of a factor is rated “0,” this means that now the influence of this factor is too weak to be taken into account when developing a strategy, so it should be excluded from further analysis. You can use a five-point or ten-point scale, but, as practice has shown, the wider the scale is used, the more difficult it will be to select and concentrate on key factors.

Secondly, the factors need to be ranked in descending order of the degree of their influence on the business (as is done in the examples).

Thirdly, you need to try to understand how you can strengthen the influence of opportunities in the external environment, how to avoid threats, how to use them more effectively strengths companies and what to do with the weak.

Fig.2. Main areas of use of strategic SWOT analysis

When assessing the degree of influence of factors on a company's business, of course, one must take into account the period for which the strategy is being developed. After all, some factor may be insignificant if a company is developing a strategic plan for the year, but at the same time the same factor may have an impact significant influence per company if we are talking about a period of three or five years. Therefore, by the way, some companies sometimes conduct several strategic SWOT analyzes to different periods strategic planning.

Such monitoring of factors must be carried out constantly. Some Russian companies, for example, conduct it once a quarter (or at least once a year). But here it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that quarterly monitoring is carried out as part of a regular procedure - the regulations for strategic analysis. In addition, you need to constantly monitor sudden changes in the situation.

Strategic SWOT analysis is the simplest and most understandable business screen of a company, which allows the company to navigate the current situation and determine strategic directions for development.

Of course, the information contained in a strategic SWOT analysis is actually the “tip of the iceberg,” so to speak. In addition to SWOT analysis, there are even more complex and meaningful methods of strategic analysis, but, nevertheless, while these methods have not yet been implemented, you can start with the use of SWOT analysis. Over time, of course, the set of strategic analysis tools needs to be expanded, but this must be done gradually, because if you try to use it right away big set tools, then none of them will actually work effectively.

It should be noted that there should not be very many factors in a strategic SWOT analysis. There must be, indeed, the most significant ones. There really shouldn't be very many of them. When we carried out a strategic analysis in one large energy company, when collecting information we went, as they say, from the bottom up in order to take into account as much information as possible and not miss out on essential information.

The work of collecting factors was distributed among departments, and as a result, the total number of factors numbered several hundred. Standing out from this total number the most significant factors were carried out first by the development directorate, and then by the strategic committee. As a result, a table was obtained, located on one page and containing a summary of all the collected information (the very “tip of the iceberg”).

After completing this work, the company compared the results of the strategic SWOT analysis that was carried out before and after such detailed work. It turned out that they were approximately 70% identical. But in this situation, the managers checked themselves, that is, how correctly they intuitively sense the situation in which the company is located.

It turns out that in practice, more detailed strategic analysis does not always provide newer, high-quality information. For the future, the company decided to act this way. She constantly monitored factors using the SWOT analysis business screen and when new significant factors emerged, she convened a strategy committee meeting and made a decision on how to respond to the changed situation. Naturally, before holding the strategic committee, the development directorate analyzed the situation and proposed several strategy options for discussion.

When a strategic SWOT analysis is carried out for the first time, it is better to act according to this simple principle. First, write down all the factors that come to mind. It doesn't matter that this may result in a very long list. The main thing is not to miss anything important. And then you need to evaluate each factor according to the accepted scale (for example, by the number of pros and cons).

Then rank all factors in descending order of importance and begin to cut off first those that received the lowest ratings. In addition, you need to remember that each factor recorded in the SWOT analysis must be further taken into account when developing a strategy. Therefore, if a factor either received a low assessment of the degree of influence, or it is not clear how it can be taken into account when developing a strategy, then this factor should be excluded from further analysis and strategy development.

It is necessary to pay attention to one more important point. Use strategic management in the company is impossible without the active participation of the company's CEO. And in order for the CEO to participate in this process, as practice has shown, the tools used must be simple and understandable to use. This especially applies to large companies.

CEOs are understandably very busy people, so it will be difficult for them to get their head around a large number of complex schemes at once. Naturally, everyone simple solutions There is a certain limit to efficiency, so you have to complicate decisions, but this needs to be done gradually.

First learn to use simple tools, and then gradually complicate them.

Note: the topic of this article is discussed in more detail at the workshop