In association with

Business strategy at a glance

Business strategy at a glance

Your business strategy is how you make sure you understand your business and your market, and respond with a plan for success. How will you make the most of your strengths? How will you stand out from competitors? How will you change your business to become more successful?

Our quick self-assessment tool will help you reflect on your understanding of business strategy and point you to the right content to continue building your skills.

Check out the topics and the interactive tools available in this section. Use the links or the navigation pane to browse through the pages and tools.

A good business strategy can take you from just about surviving to thriving. Find out what you’re already doing well and where you could improve your approach to business strategy.

At the end of this assessment you’ll get:

  • a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses
  • practical tips and tools
  • links to expert advice.

5-10 minutes

Self-assessment: Strategy

The role of strategy

Tool man at desk

Did you know...

Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. — Michael Porter, strategy expert

I am working on my business strategy when:

The role of strategy

woman business planning

Did you know...

If you want certainty and clarity, wait for others to take a position and see how they do. Then you’ll know what works, but it will be too late to profit from the knowledge. — Richard Rumelt, strategy consultant

A strategy is important because:

Understanding your market

group of people

Did you know...

Business is not about winning or losing, according to Harvard Business Review. Businesses can succeed without needing others to fail, so they should think about both cooperative and competitive opportunities.

I can understand the competition in my market by:

Understanding your market

builder and businessman

Did you know...

Many businesses concentrate so hard on their direct competitors that they don’t realize they’re also competing with their customers and their suppliers, according to Michael Porter, strategy expert. They also don’t watch for new businesses entering the market and don’t recognize the threat of substitute products.

I keep a close eye on changes to competition.

Understanding your success factors

people at desk

Did you know...

Your value chain needs to highlight the activities or processes that the firm does differently from competitors, including what it doesn’t do that competitors might, according to Pankaj Ghemawat and Jan W. Rivkin .

To identify the most important factors for my success, I:

Understanding your success factors

workers with digger

Did you know...

You can either do what everyone else is doing (but spend less money doing it), or do something no one else can do. — Harvard Business Review

To compete in the market as a small business it’s better to:

Standing out from competition

business woman

Did you know...

A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve. — Michael Porter , strategy expert

To create my own space in my market, I need to:

Standing out from competition

Tool woman with paper

Did you know...

Strategic positioning means performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways. — Michael Porter, strategy expert

To stand out from the competition I need to:

Putting strategy into action

Tool workers talking

Did you know...

A strategy’s success hinges on three things, according to Harvard Business Review. Value that attracts buyers. Ability to make profit from that value. And motivated people who will put the strategy into place.

The best way to make strategy work is to:

Putting strategy into action

constructionworkers

Did you know...

What gets measured gets improved. — Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author

I measure strategic progress by:

Business strategy resources

Content and tools to help you plan and implement strategy

Rating form

How helpful did you find this?

Rate this

"Rate this" is required

Loading…