THIS IS IT

There are a number of businesses emerging in the market nowadays. A lot of people are now capable to become entrepreneurs rather than become employees. Several questions are given consideration such as who are those who become successful and when does realization strike them that they really are one? But it seems like there is a bigger question being imposed here and that is, “Why do some succeed and some fail?”. What do these emerged businesses do that affect their fate in their chosen path? The answer is strategy. Strategy as defined by Helmuth von Moltke is ‘’applied common sense and cannot be taught”. He explains that strategy is about going beyond what you learn in school which is basically just about the common culture. There is no definite formula. Strategies are not only planned but can also be unexpected. In the business world, there are unexpected circumstances that come up that can be adapted into the existing strategy. It is important for a strategist to be able to see these opportunities that is usually otherwise buried under normal existing conditions and not visible to the eye of a normal human being. They must be able to recognize the patterns that emerges from opportunities.

Although strategies should not always be deliberate, there are guidelines that a strategist may follow. Kenichi Ohmae explains that it is important for a businessman to be creative, have endurance and have good intuition. As explained previously, it is important that he/she must be attuned to the external environment and be aware of how it could affect your company and how it could affect the society. Aside from looking for opportunities, a strategist must also be cautious especially when it comes to the readiness of the market. It is also important that he/she is strong willed and must be able to keep his vision despite of discouragements from people who opposes his/her idea. An example of a businessman who persevered despite of opposition from people is Cecilio K. Pedro, owner of Happee toothpaste. People thought he wouldn’t succeed but he still worked hard and went against multinational firms.

In order to become successful, an entrepreneur must also be a strategist not just a manager. A strategist must be able to coordinate the corporate culture with the strategies to be implemented. He/She must be creative to come up with a good company’s vision, mission and goals which in turn should be instilled to the company’s interest. Mintzberg supports this idea. He likens a strategist to a craftsman wherein in order to be a good strategist, he/she must bring to work equally intimate knowledge of the materials at hand. A business must know its operations well not just for the purpose of bringing better products but also to be aware of its limitations before branching out on different products. A strategist promotes employee empowerment through giving directives instead of detailed information. Through this, employees are being motivated, feel more appreciated and thus, do better in their work for they think that they are really part of the organization. In the Philippine setting, there is the idea of colonial mentality as where Filipinos are used to having hierarchy and is mostly driven to working abroad. Also, Filipino managers are more inclined to financial matters as compared to people empowerment. Another is that Filipinos are used to the tradition of managers planning instead of crafting it from the grassroots level where sources support the company’s capacity.

Change is contextual, a strategist must be able to assess if the company needs to conform with changes in the environment or maintain stability. Mintzberg contradicts the conventional view of strategic management that the company must continuously adapt to change since companies strategize to manage stability. Strategies should reconcile change and stability in order to be effective and efficient. A strategist should be adept in developing a master plan. He/She should have a sharp mind in touch with the situation; must be sharp enough to identify opportunities. Also, he/she should recognize the patterns from the past to be able to rectify the situation if there were any shortcomings. Just like in the SWOT analysis, the article put much emphasis on the importance of internal and external environment. It also shows how important it is to learn from the mistakes of other businesses.

A manager himself is a strategist. He/She as a manager must have the ability to strategize but what Hinterhuber was claiming is that strategies must be formed only by the strategists. Strategists are not like craftsmen that are in full control of his/her pottery. In the real world settings, there are many minds that are working together to come up with a certain strategy. It’s like many hands making one pottery. Ideas are clashing and it’s harder to come up with a strategy. Though the resulting strategy might be better, there are just many persons involved that makes it harder to always keep the hands and minds in tandem.

A strategist should not only be profit-oriented but also enhances the growth of society. The company must also consider the impact of its operations to the society. The articles should have discussed the ethical implications of it.

Though, there is no definite formula in making a good strategy, there are guidelines that must be followed. The directions that were followed will lead to a harmonious relationship between the people and the goals of the organization. The companies must be wary of adapting too much to changes, strategist should balance change and stability that is appropriate to the nature of the company. To add, the strategist must be attuned to the internal and external environment and the welfare of the people working for the company to achieve its goals.