Business Strategy: Incremental steps, Continuous Improvement

The thought that business strategy is finite could lead an entity to reduced impact of the strategy developed. Indeed, the development of a strategy for optimum business performance is based on the premise that the actual implementation of the strategy is reviewed against key performance indicators and then tweaked to ensure required results over a given period of time.

A business strategy is built on the understanding that each indication of the performance of the strategy can be improved on within a certain period of time. This therefore leads to a continuous improvement of the implementation plan of the strategy to ensure that the desired results are achieved.

An entity will find that a strategy that will provide optimum results will not do so immediately and at the level of the desired results. It is indeed incremental and over a given period. This provides that the development of a strategy therefore follows incremental steps over a given period with the opportunity to improve on any given implementation plan and hence the KPIs.

The most effective strategists will provide for measurement of KPIs in a manner that takes into consideration that the strategy will provide results over a period of time and in measurable metrics that will also provide insight on the performance of the strategy. As the performance of the strategy is measured, this allows for a change of the strategy within the plan, do, check and act model of continuous improvement.

In fact, this model allows for a test of the strategy prior to actual implementation to take in any risks associated with implementation of the said strategy. Hence the continuous improvement does not only measure over a period of time but allows for mitigation against any associated risks.

To be able to develop and implement a solid strategy for an entity, strategists should take into consideration:

1. Testing the strategy in a smaller scope prior to large scale implementation considers any risks that will need to be mitigated against
2. The development of a strategy should allow for a change in tact once the KPIs have been measured against desired results
3. The lack of allowing a strategy to perform over a given period of time does not allow the implementation to take place
4. Incremental steps in implementing a strategy should be deployed following the noting of the performance in order to provide for a scale of the strategy if positive results are noted

Indeed, for a strategy to provide desired results, it has to be given consideration over a period of time and provided an allowance for continuous improvement of the said strategy. This will ultimately unfold in the required KPIs being achieved by the implementing entity.