Happy New Year to you all!
At the end of another year - where does the time go - I took time to reflect on the most popular posts on the Strategic Coffee blog during 2018.
Here they are:
10. What is a SWOT Analysis
Love it or loathe it, the humble SWOT analysis remains one of the most popular frameworks in the book, coming in in a respectable 10th place. See also 11 techniques to help you do a better SWOT analysis and The consistently popular SWOT analysis.
9. McKinsey 7S Case Study
This is the only case study we've ever blogged. Client confidentiality usually prevents us from writing case studies, but this one was kindly submitted by a reader. Perhaps you have another you'd like to share with us?
8. The BCG Matrix
The BCG Matrix is a portfolio analysis tool which can help you decide which subsidiary business, product or service lines you should invest in, hold or dispose of.
7. Harvey Balls Font
Harvey Balls, sometimes called Booz Balls, are those little circles with 1, 2, 3, 4 or no segments coloured in. They are useful for indicating high/medium/low, or degrees of strength without being as specific as using numbers would suggest. This post provides a link to a font you can install to make them incredibly easy to use in, say, Word, Powerpoint or even Excel.
6. How to use Porter's Value Chain Analysis
At one time, I thought Porter's Value Chain had fallen from favour, replaced by more modern alternatives such as the Business Model Canvas. This post's position on this list suggests otherwise.
5. How to use a RAID log
A RAID log is a staple tool in project management. Here, we adapt it for use as a strategic management tool.
4. Using the McKinsey 7S Framework to assess strategic alignment, strengths and weaknesses
The McKinsey 7S analysis makes a second appearance on this list in position 4. This time, it is a more conventional post explaining how to use it.
3. How to draw a Strategy Canvas in 4 easy steps
The Strategy Canvas, popularised in Blue Ocean Strategy, is a visual tool for differentiating your proposition to set it aside from the competition.
2. How to design a Target Operating Model (TOM)
In an environment where businesses must increasingly compete not just on what they deliver (products and services) but also on how they deliver, Target Operating Models are a key consideration for strategy execution.
1. 9 essential tools for Strategy Analysis
And finally, in the top stop, our ever-popular compendium of the 9 most essential tools for Strategy Analysis. This includes a number of those lower down on this list, plus several more.
In reviewing this list, it strikes me first of all that all of these articles are very practical guides on the basics of how to develop and execute strategy. I think this practical focus is heartening in a subject which can sometimes tend towards the theoretical on the one hand, and the hyperbolic on the other.
Secondly, I notice that many of these articles were written some years ago - albeit that many of them have been updated several times since they were first published.
That may point to the perennial nature of the subject - in a field which is constantly searching for the next big thing, many of the basics of how we do so have not changed terribly much.
But it may also point to the nature of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Most of our readers find the blog by searching on Google or Bing and search engines favour content which has been there for a longer time.
Do these posts reflect the kind of content you'd like to read on strategy development and execution? We're constantly looking for new content to keep the blog fresh, so why not let us know what type of content you'd like to see during 2019 by dropping us a note in the comments below? I'd love to hear what you think.
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