Tracy and Wierseman’s three value disciplines are briefly defined below:
1. Operational Excellence-Strategy is predicated on the production and delivery of products and services. The objective is to lead the industry in terms of price and convenience.
2. Customer Intimacy-Strategy is predicated on tailoring and shaping products and services to fit an increasingly fine definition of the customer. The objective is long-term customer loyalty and long-term profitability.
3. Product Leadership-Strategy is predicated on producing a continuous stream of state-of· the-art products and services. The objective is the quick commercialization of new ideas.
Each of the three value disciplines suggests different requirements. Operational excellence implies world-class marketing, manufacturing and distribution processes. Customer intimacy suggests staying close to the customer and entails long-term relationships. Product leadership clearly hinges on market-focused R & D, as well as on organisational nimbleness and agility. What, then, is strategy? Is it a plan? Is it a method of doing business? Is it a position taken? Strategy is all these – it is perspective, position, plan and pattern. Strategy is the bridge between policy or high-order goals on the one hand and tactics or concrete actions on the other Strategy and tactics together bridge the gap between ends and means. Strategy is a general framework that provides guidance for actions to be taken and, at the same time, is shaped by the actions taken. This means that the necessary precondition for formulating strategy is a clear and widespread understanding of the ends to be obtained.
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