A recent article in Forbes listed the greatest challenges that every company is facing in 2023:
- Inflation and the economic downturn
- Supply chain security
- Increasing customer expectations
- Accelerated Digital Transformation
- Intensifying war for talent
- Data and device security
- Sustainability
A company’s stability and profitability depend upon their ability to respond to changes in the external environment. This capability must be evident outside of traditional strategic planning, it must be imbedded into the fabric of the organization.
The TIDES acronym (developed by former Microsoft exec Brad Chase) helps businesses identify five important external factors that it must continuously track:
| Technology | Technology catapults markets and industries forward. |
| Institutional | Teams must pay attention to policy in areas like labor, anti-trust, taxes, trade, and tariffs. These legal and political policies can affect business goals and outcomes. |
| Demographic | Human populations are continually changing. Responding to them will strengthen a company’s position. When there is a high alignment between customer needs and business products and services, companies are more likely to succeed. |
| Economic / Environmental | Companies must be prepared to amend strategies in response to trends in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, as well as in response to ecological and epidemiological impacts. |
| Social | Social factors can include customers’ comfort with technology, advertising preferences, attitudes towards products and more. The key to incorporating social factors into a company strategy is understanding target customers and their |
Once an organization has identified how it relates to these strategic challenges, a focus on implementation helps to ensure success through strong execution. After a company’s top bets have been formulated, top level goals can be formed. From there priorities and aligning efforts towards tracking activities can commence. Creating plans and then coordinating teams to attain a focused set of goals is the essence of effective leadership and business strategy.
Transition Designs helps executives develop and execute an effective strategy to align their resources, accomplish their goals and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.