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Five secrets to success in business strategy
Article Type: Reaching for value From: Journal of Business Strategy, Volume 33, Issue 2
Stuart E. JacksonPresident of L.E.K. Consulting LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Purpose – The author aims to sum up his 27 years’ experience as a consultant in business strategy with five pieces of advice that can help uncover new sources of value. Simply stated, these involve: how to be aggressive in seeking out new ideas and sources of inspiration; using forecasting techniques that go beyond simple trend analysis and look future inflection points; carefully separating short-term operational issues from long-term strategic considerations when evaluating company performance; evaluating market timing as well as opportunity attractiveness when evaluating transactions; distilling recommendations into an easy-to-follow story.Design/methodology/approach – In this article, the author discusses some of the common mistakes made by those with responsibility for business strategy and how these can be avoided. He cites several case examples of how these lessons can be applied to real-life business situations.Findings – The key message proposed by the author is that there are few simple considerations that those with responsibilities for business strategy should always keep in mind to help maximize opportunities for long-term value creation.Originality/value – This article sheds light on techniques for developing successful business strategy learned from the author’s long personal experience. These techniques are summed up in five simple messages.
Keywords: Forecasting, Timing, Strategy, Analogs, Communication, Valuation
This will be my last column in this journal as I take on a new role as President of L.E.K. Consulting LLC, starting in January. By way of farewell, I thought I would use this last note to try to answer the most the mostly commonly asked question of new recruits and young professionals in the field: “what does it take to be successful in business strategy?”
My first answer is the same as I would give to someone in any career: find an area that you love working in and learning about. As anyone who knows me will confirm, I think I have a fantastic job. I work on some of the toughest and most interesting business problems. And I get to do it with really smart colleagues and for clients who often feel more...