Sep 2009
You Need a Strategy
Sep/04/09 11:07 AM Filed in: Development, Marketing, Strategy
By Barry McLeish
Does every organization need a competitive marketing strategy? Can an organization afford not to have one? According to Michael E. Porter in his book, Competitive Strategy, you have a strategy whether you define it or not:
"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit. This strategy may have been developed explicitly through a planning process or it may have evolved implicitly through the activities of the various functional departments of the firm. Left to its own devices, each functional department will inevitably pursue approaches dictated by its professional orientation and the incentives of those in charge. However, the sum of these departmental approaches rarely equals the best strategy."
Unless an organization defines and enacts a strategy and thereby tries to control its outcome, one operates for it that it does not control. While most nonprofit executives agree with the Porter quote and its intent that organizations have a strategy whether they participate in the process or not, the typical executive's agreement with the statement does not go much further than talk. Many nonprofit directors do not have a formally stated strategy. Ask them for it and they can't give it to you. For some, this is because they have had no training in developing such a strategy. They just don't know how to undertake such a task. For others, the problem is not getting them to agree they need some type of strategy; the problem is getting them to agree to take control of the competitive situation and all that this implies. And sadly, there is still a whole school of nonprofit thinking that says no such plan is needed; that marketing is "wrong" and therefore nonexistent. Given today's environment, this seems to be a naive assumption. In fact, this attitude often means the director doesn't care if he or she reaches the organization's corporate goals, (or more likely, they have no measurable objectives to serve as guides in reaching these goals).
Why the need for a marketing strategy? Perhaps the answer is no more difficult than a strategy helps enables an organization to go where it has decided it wants to. Without a conscious plan in place, competitive direction is ultimately the sum total of those operating decisions managers make every day:
Good luck in the days ahead.
Does every organization need a competitive marketing strategy? Can an organization afford not to have one? According to Michael E. Porter in his book, Competitive Strategy, you have a strategy whether you define it or not:
"Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether explicit or implicit. This strategy may have been developed explicitly through a planning process or it may have evolved implicitly through the activities of the various functional departments of the firm. Left to its own devices, each functional department will inevitably pursue approaches dictated by its professional orientation and the incentives of those in charge. However, the sum of these departmental approaches rarely equals the best strategy."
Unless an organization defines and enacts a strategy and thereby tries to control its outcome, one operates for it that it does not control. While most nonprofit executives agree with the Porter quote and its intent that organizations have a strategy whether they participate in the process or not, the typical executive's agreement with the statement does not go much further than talk. Many nonprofit directors do not have a formally stated strategy. Ask them for it and they can't give it to you. For some, this is because they have had no training in developing such a strategy. They just don't know how to undertake such a task. For others, the problem is not getting them to agree they need some type of strategy; the problem is getting them to agree to take control of the competitive situation and all that this implies. And sadly, there is still a whole school of nonprofit thinking that says no such plan is needed; that marketing is "wrong" and therefore nonexistent. Given today's environment, this seems to be a naive assumption. In fact, this attitude often means the director doesn't care if he or she reaches the organization's corporate goals, (or more likely, they have no measurable objectives to serve as guides in reaching these goals).
Why the need for a marketing strategy? Perhaps the answer is no more difficult than a strategy helps enables an organization to go where it has decided it wants to. Without a conscious plan in place, competitive direction is ultimately the sum total of those operating decisions managers make every day:
- Someone asks for your organizational help and you help.
- Your company is asked to jointly sponsor an event and you do so.
- The nonprofit down the road has an annual report so you print one, too.
Good luck in the days ahead.
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