Strategy is a set of open for adaptation long-term courses of action, formulated by top executives and devised to reach a specific goal. Strategy is sometimes confused with tactics, plans, vision and others due to the fact those concepts share certain similarities. By including ‘Long-term courses of action’ in our definition we differentiate strategy from tactics. Tactics are very short-term and they are based on existing strategy to address specific situation. ‘Open for adaptation’ specifies that strategy can be modified with time. This is in contrast with plans which are dropped if, for instance, circumstances change and plans cannot be executed. With regard to vision, which is a goal in the ‘far’ future it should be remembered that strategy directly refers to it but it consists of more than a goal. Strategy also provides certain ideas on how to reach the point where vision becomes reality. Our definition also fits well with the importance of flexibility in strategy as mentioned by Kanter (2002). That is, strategy should adapt to changing conditions much like improvisational theater.
Defining whether an organisation has a strategy or not might prove difficult as the applicability of perceived strategies is subjective. One way to test the presence of the strategy is to ask a number of questions regarding crucial characteristics of the construct to different executives in the company.
For instance, the following questions should be, if possible, answered by at least 3 top executives in the organization:
1. Does your company have a long-term (6 months or longer) general ‘plan’ of action?
Yes/No
2. Does your company have a long-term goal (6 months or longer) it wants to achieve that is included in that ‘plan’? (e.g. be number one on the market, have 20% market share, launch 3 new product lines, create some specific product that will change the industry, etc.)?