Linking megatrends to corporate strategy execution

The major aim of this blog is to show how companies can take long-term, over-arching trends (megatrends) into account in their corporate strategy. While many companies do this already, they often take only these trends into consideration that have an obvious link with their business. My claim is that they should look at all megatrends, since one way or another they will affect their future prospects. (You can find a short overview of the why’s and how’s in the presentation at the top right of this page)

This process provides valuable input when determining a corporate strategy. But sometimes I’m being asked: ‘what about strategy execution?’. My response is that this is a completely different expertise. But I probably say this to mask my complete lack of knowledge on the subject.

Time to go through a good introductory book about Strategy Execution, which I found in Jeroen De Flander’s “Strategy Execution Heroes: Business Strategy Implementation and Strategic Management Demystified ”

I couldn’t have done much better I think. This book offers a no-nonsense, crystal clear overview of the processes behind strategy execution, and is loaded with tips and tricks to have the job done. For once, a business book that lives up to the expectations it creates through its cover summary!

But did it sharpen my views on how to use megatrends in strategy execution?

Yes, it did. The process explained in the book is visualized by the ‘8’ beneath. The megatrend exercise I propose fit very well in the three actions on the top of the 8:

• Compare and Learn: monitoring how competitors and sector peers adapt to and benefit from megatrends, will provide companies with greater insights to sharpen their own strategy;
• Update Strategy: megatrends need regular monitoring in order to assess their impact on the company (and its customers). Doing this will provide a company with invaluable input to update their strategy.
• Communicate and Cascade: this is an interesting one. If your strategy fits into megatrends –by responding to specific challenges linked to them, for instance- this offers a tremendous opportunity to build a strong story behind your strategic decisions. Due to the link with megatrends, the strategy will resonate much stronger with employees and other stakeholders. Siemens did a very good job at doing this, of you search for ‘Siemens’ and ‘megatrends’ on Youtube, you will find a corporate video explaining how each division within Siemens responds to a specific challenge created by a megatrends. It certainly offers a compelling message.

So yes, I definitely learned that my megatrend exercise does fit in corporate strategy execution as well. Another chapter to include in the book I’m writing about this topic…

(picture copied from Jeroen De Flander)

Click to buy on Amazon.com: