The rise and subsequent fall of strategic planning brings us to the definition of strategy put forth by Henry Mintzberg3. According to Henry Mintzberg, people use “strategy” in several different ways, the most common being these four:
1. Strategy is a plan, a “how,” a means of getting from here to there.
2. Strategy is a pattern in actions over time; for example, a company that regularly
markets very expensive products is using a “high end” strategy.
3. Strategy is position; that is, it reflects decisions to offer particular products or services
in particular markets.
4. Strategy is perspective, that is, vision and direction.
In Top Management Strategy, Benjamin Tregoe and John Zimmerman5 define strategy as “the framework which guides those choices that determine the nature and direction of an organisation”, This can be interpreted as selecting products (or services) to offer and the markets in which to alter them.
The notion of restricting the basis on which strategy might be formulated has been carried one step farther by Michael Treacy and Fred Wierseman, authors of The Discipline of Market Leaders6, Treacy and Wierseman assert that companies achieve leadership positions by narrowing, not
broadening their business focus. Treacy and Wierseman identify three “value-disciplines” that can serve as the basis for strategy: operational excellence, customer intimacy and product leadership. As with driving forces, only one of these value disciplines can serve as the basis for strategy.
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