Strategy Maps

Synopsis

What if you could communicate your venture's overall strategy to every employee on one single page? Well, you can with our modifiable Strategy Maps deck. Create strategy maps that keep everyone in agreement about the business direction and enable the teams to see where they fit in and how their jobs affect the company's general strategic objectives.

Questions and answers

Can you name a company that could benefit from Strategy Maps and explain how?

View answer

Any company that has a complex strategy and multiple teams can benefit from Strategy Maps. For instance, a multinational corporation like Amazon could use Strategy Maps to clearly communicate its strategy across different teams and departments. This would ensure everyone understands the company's strategic objectives and how their individual roles contribute to achieving these objectives.

How can a retail company implement Strategy Maps in their operations?

View answer

A retail company can implement Strategy Maps in their operations by first identifying their strategic objectives. These could include improving customer satisfaction, increasing sales, or reducing costs. Once these objectives are clear, they can be mapped out on the Strategy Map, showing how each objective is connected and how they contribute to the overall business goal. The map should be communicated to all employees so everyone understands the company's strategic direction and their role in achieving it. Regular reviews and updates of the Strategy Map are also important to ensure it remains relevant and effective.

View all questions

Ask follow up

download Download this presentation in

English (US) expand_more

• English (US)
• English (UK)

Get 5 out of 15 slides

powerpoint Keynote Copy Google slides

View all formats chevron_right

Microsoft Powerpoint

View all formats chevron_right

Download and customize this and hundreds of business presentation templates for free

Sign up

OR

Start for free ⬇️

Voila! You can now download this presentation

Download

Slide highlights

This slide offers you to complete thefour steps on the way to creating your strategy map. These include specifying objectives, listing your financial and customer strategies and identifying your venture's value propositions.

Use this slide to communicate your strategy forfinancial value improvement. This can be achieved by talking to your customers, quantifying your value, finding different channels to offer value and sharing your success stories.

With this slide, demonstrate your completed strategy map to the team and stakeholders. One important thing to be mindful of is that the best practice is to keep your objectives number under 20 for clarity and easier strategy implementation.

Overview

Per Spider Strategies, a strategy map is a diagram that shows an organization's strategy[/link] on a single page, which helps to quickly communicate big-picture objectives to everyone in the company. A strategy map demonstrates strategic objectives in a balanced scorecard represented by a shape (typically, an oval) with arrows that show the objectives' cause and effect chain. Keep in mind that tracking too many objectives will complicate the delivery of your overall message by making your strategy difficult to follow and implement.

Questions and answers

How do Strategy Maps enhance business strategy and communication?

View answer

Strategy Maps enhance business strategy and communication by providing a visual representation of the organization's strategic objectives on a single page. This allows for quick and effective communication of the big-picture objectives to everyone in the company. The use of shapes and arrows to show the cause and effect chain of objectives makes it easier to understand the interdependencies and the overall strategic direction. However, it's important to avoid tracking too many objectives as it can complicate the delivery of the overall message by making the strategy difficult to follow and implement.

What are common challenges in applying Strategy Maps and how can they be overcome?

View answer

Common challenges in applying Strategy Maps include complexity in representation, difficulty in communication, and tracking too many objectives. These can be overcome by simplifying the representation, ensuring clear communication of objectives, and focusing on key strategic objectives.

View all questions

Ask follow up

Strategy maps have four areas of objectives: financial, customer-oriented, internal business processes and learning and growth. And according to Soren Kaplan, author of "The Invisible Advantage" and strategy consultant for Disney, Visa and Colgate, the following categories should be incorporated in a strategy map:

Questions and answers

What are common challenges in applying Strategy Maps and how can they be overcome?

View answer

Common challenges in applying Strategy Maps include: difficulty in identifying strategic objectives, aligning objectives across different departments, and measuring progress towards objectives. These challenges can be overcome by: clearly defining strategic objectives, ensuring alignment across all departments, and establishing clear metrics for measuring progress.

How does a Strategy Map align with digital transformation initiatives?

View answer

A Strategy Map aligns with digital transformation initiatives by providing a clear visual representation of the strategic objectives and goals that the digital transformation aims to achieve. It helps in identifying the key areas of focus such as financial, customer-oriented, internal business processes, and learning and growth. By mapping these objectives, organizations can ensure that their digital transformation initiatives are aligned with their overall business strategy, thereby ensuring a cohesive and coordinated approach towards achieving the desired outcomes.

View all questions

Ask follow up

• Vision – what's the world you want to create in the future?
• Strategic focus – how does your strategy need to shift over time?
• Strategic goals – what specific goals support your strategy?
• Target markets and customers – what markets or customers will you tackle over time?
• Solutions – what offerings will you provide and how will these change over time?
• Key risks and barriers – what risks or barriers might you encounter?
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) – how will you measure success?

Application

Cgma.org provides a detailed step-by-step guide for creating a strong and effective strategy map.

Step 1. Specify an overriding objective

Many mission and vision statements are often mistakenly portrayed as the ultimate objective to be achieved, for example, satisfied customers, service excellence, best-in-field, market leader, low-cost provider. These are, of course, critical outcomes and are highly desired by all organizations, but for profit-making organizations, the overriding objective must be economic, the experts say.

Ask follow up

Step 2. Identify the value proposition

The second step in strategy mapping is to choose the value proposition that will help the organization win the market. Choose one dominant value proposition and provide breakthrough customer value in it.

Step 3. List the financial strategies

After the value proposition is established, organizations next formalize their plans and strategies around revenues and costs. Financial strategies can be categorized into three key areas: revenue growth, productivity and resources and asset utilization.

Formalize your plans and strategies to win the marketplace. In other words, clearly establish and articulate your customer strategies. Customer strategies can be categorized into three key areas: customer retention and growth, revenue per customer growth and cost per customer reduction.

The internal perspective is all about choosing and executing the right processes to achieve the desired customer and financial goals the organization believes will lead to the accomplishment of the overriding objective. "Consequently, organizations must consciously choose internal business processes that link directly to the earlier steps," the experts say.

Ask follow up

Case study

Wikigear Inc.

WikiGear Inc. (WG) is a sportswear and casual apparel manufacturer and seller operating mainly in North America with a focus on hockey, baseball and running. To improve its operations and growth, WG hired a strategy consulting firm to study and provide insights on the company's strategic plans. The consultancy presented a comprehensive strategy map to the senior management team and highlighted two major areas that needed immediate action, namely, structure and communication. Taken together, the strategy map demonstrated both the resilient and adaptive drivers in the company's long-term strategy, which will enable WG to withstand and adapt to the disruptive and ever-changing demands of the marketplace.

Ask follow up

"The culture has always been very positive at WG. The plan is to exploit this through better communication of the strategy and, more specifically, of the seven strategic directives. The longer-term plan is to link bonuses to the Balanced Scorecard," the company's website states.