Tools for effective strategy formulation

[Varsha Chitale]

Most companies undertake annual strategy planning exercises (STRAP) to lay down the plan for the coming year. They undertake market/business research and competitive intelligence to support their planning.

Some of this research is backward looking – How much did the market grow last year? What did my competitors do? Some research is forward looking – How much is the market likely to grow next year? What plans have my competitors announced? and so on. Excel spreadsheets then used for putting down sales targets, investments, expenses and so on.

Is this the best way to go about strategising and planning in the current environment ? The business environment in India (and indeed in most other geographies) today is highly competitive as economic recession has reduced the size of the global market pie that companies are fighting for.

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