There are three distinct levels of strategy within an organization. It is important that these be properly inter-related.
Corporate Strategy
Questions:
What set of businesses should we be in?
What should be the emphasis among these businesses?
Primary Focus:
Scope of the business.
Resource deployments among businesses.
Business Strategy
Questions:
How do we compete in a particular industry?
Primary Focus:
Distinctive competencies and competitive advantages.
Product/market segmentation.
Stage of product/market evolution.
Functional Area Strategy
Questions:
How do we maximize resource productivity?
Primary focus:
Coordination and integration of activities within a single function.
See Functional Strategy for more information
Source: Hofer, C. W. & Schendel, D. (1978). Strategy formulation: Analytical concepts. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing.
See Miles and Snow for a specific theory regarding this.
- Revised 07/04/00 -