I have just worked through the
essentials of the Strategic Business Forum with Harris. A Strategic Business
Forum (SBF) is not a board, a stakeholders meeting or a think tank. Though it
may appear to have similarities to all those institutions, the SBF has a core
focus and specific purpose – to chart out a strategic path for businesses
within a market. Those businesses may a) be facing a specific challenge within
a market, b) wish to benefit from perspectives of other businesses under the
same market conditions. c) SBFs can also be used to create industry direction
and focus for the greater good (i.e. corporate success and survival rather than
individual success). The motivation for participating in an SBF is in engineering
the greater good rather than financial success.
FORM
The SBF is made up of
entrepreneurs in the same market, but not the same industry who gather together
to analyze and interpret global and macro environmental trends that affect and
impact the operations of their individual
business(sectors) and try to determine a strategic framework that will ensure
the survival and success of the (represented businesses) into the future.
KEY QUESTIONS
SBFs ask themselves several key
questions that result in a strategic development framework for a business to
craft a plan for its future survival and success;
1. How have we survived so far? What have we done
right in our businesses, what have we learned to do, what systems structures
have we put in place that have enabled us to survive. (Do we have good products;
do we have competitive systems, people, or just opportunities? Or are we just favored
by fate?...)
2. What are the global trends that could lead to
the butterfly effect and impact us directly as a market?
3. What are the current macro Social, Economic and
Environmental (SEE) conditions that have immediate short or medium term impact
on our operations as a business in this market?
4. Given the global trends and macro market
conditions, what are the best and worst case scenarios that could emerge the
medium term given these conditions.
5. Given all the above; how can we position our
businesses for survival and success in the prevailing environment and future
environment. How can we proactively influence that future environment by
creating models, designs and concepts that will mitigate the adverse effects of
that future and advance positive survival in that environment.
6. Finally, what strategic operational framework
will enable businesses represented in the SBF to succeed and excel in future,
by implementing those principles today?
From the outcomes of the six
discussion guidelines above it should be clear that this forum cannot go on
forever, unless it turns into a think tank with an unlimited range. It should
also be clear that this discussion can be held without individual businesses
fearing loss of their trade secrets to competitors and simply draws on the
master mind that drives business in the market. Neither does the SBF guarantee
specific outcomes. All the SBF does is to benefit from the multiple
perspectives of common challenges faced by entrepreneurs within a market,
industry, sub-sector, street or building. Nevertheless, it does give
instrumental direction to (business) communities within a market, industry or
social interest groups.
DISRUPTION
The objectives of an SBF can be
achieved in one meeting or in three or four meetings spread out over a few
months. SBF members need to maintain the flexibility to engage and pursue their
own business interest in order to generate value at the forum. However, since SBFs
are not boards they can be “banded” and “disbanded” without any feelings of
disloyalty. Indeed. If SBFs stay together for too long or meet too frequently
they will begin to develop “constructive” rather than “disruptive” thinking and
become convergent thinkers that will no longer benefit from divergence of their
experience.
The SBFs harness concrete business
sense and because the wisdom generated at the forum is from real players
(entrepreneurs) and not market observers. Nonetheless, SBFs can benefit from
perceptive consultants who can trigger insight on wider and “bigger” picture
issues and complex considerations - You cannot see the full picture when you
are in the frame.
The SBF does not develop micro-operational
plans for businesses, but it does provide food for individual business boards
and senior managers to create specific action plans and policy framework to
ensure the future survival of the business in the short to medium term. This
means boards and senior management teams must ask themselves the
transformational 7th question – How does all of this apply to us and
what are we going to do about it?
CONCLUSION
The SBF is a powerful market
intelligence instrument and can serve to raise the success levels of businesses
present by enabling entrepreneurs and senior managers to take strategic
decisions with respect to market trends. Indeed effective SBFs in a given
market can also influence the short and medium term direction of that market. The
other benefits of SBFs include the development of strategic and problem solving
industry skills and market mechanisms.
Finally, the selection of persons
making up an SBF is of great import in terms of the nature, quality and
outcomes of the forum. The selection should be careful to harness diversity of
thought experience, exposure, education and expertise. Nonetheless, this forum
will benefit more from entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial mindset than seasoned
leaders, managers or administrators. The process skill sets of an SBF are more
or less the same as those of an effective brainstorming exercise documenting
specific outcomes under each key question. An SBF can create a sound foundation
for transformative action, a movement, community action or social commitment
program.
Allan Bukusi is a leadership consultant and the author of the following
eBooks
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