This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
by John Kay
Yin and yang. Back to yin—or is it yang? John Kay, respected columnist and reputable economist, has trouble with the strategy buzzwords too.
No self-respecting business today would be without a strategy. But what is a strategy? The modern student is often confused by the many different uses of the words strategy and strategic.
Probably the commonest sense in which the word strategy is used today is as a synonym for expensive. You can always be sure that this meaning is intended when the term strategy is used in a context which involves advice. Here are some examples of strategy meaning costly. "We are strategy consultants," "Can we help you with your strategy?" "I advise company x on its strategy." These can be interpreted respectively as "our fees are very high," "we hope to send you a large bill," and "company x pays me a lot of money." Another useful term is "strategy weekend," which means a lot of people eating good food and fine wine at a country house hotel.
"Strategy means expensive" is also the key to understanding phrases like "strategic investment" and "strategic acquisition." This is a "strategic investment" should be translated as "we are going to lose a lot of money on this project." "This is a strategic acquisition" means "we are paying more for this company than it is worth."
The word strategy is also often used to mean important. You can recognize this in the phrase "I’m in strategy," which means "I have a large office, large salary, and the ear of the chief executive." "An interesting proposal, but does it have strategic significance?" can be translated as "I am not going to waste my time with things like this." And when the accountants, the human resources department, and the public relations people explain how they need to be involved in the firm’s strategic planning, what they are saying is that they don’t receive enough attention.
This interpretation of the word strategy has crept into everyday usage. When I picked up a leaflet the other day which described an English language gospel ministry as a truly strategic enterprise, I think what they meant was that they were engaged in an important activity.
"Strategy means important" is closely related, but not identical to, another meaning of strategy. In this, strategy is what the chief executive does. Thus, "Mr. A deals with the strategic issues while Ms. B is concerned with operations" means "Mr. A has a much larger salary and many more share options than Ms. B." Importance is, of course, a relative concept, specific to the environment of the firm. What is important is, by definition, what the important people do. Running the business is not necessarily important.
This kind of usage is exemplified in another meaning of strategy: Strategy is about acquisitions and disposals. This interpretation is virtually universal in the City (the financial district of London). "We don’t understand company x’s strategy" means "we haven’t heard about (or aren’t hired for) any deals involving company x." "Firm y has no strategy" means it hasn’t bought or sold any other companies recently. This concept is reflected in the common financial market term "corporate activity," which covers financial restructuring and acquisitions. The opposite of "corporate activity" is "corporate inactivity," which describes the rest of a company’s operations—making things and encouraging customers to buy them . . . .
There is more vacuity about strategy than about any other topic in business today. (I wrote that down but I’m not sure I believe it—there is a lot of vacuity about.) But there is a real issue and a real subject of strategy for the corporation. And because strategy is based on distinctive capabilities, there are no generic strategies. There really are many interpretations of strategy. Strategy is what is right for you.
Source: Financial Times, August 5, 1998.