Michael Porter is one of the best known strategic thinkers alive, and in this two-minute clip, he explains what strategy is and the number one mistake people make when thinking about strategy.
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A collection of the videos that accompany all Berrett-Koehler newsletters
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No comments? Really? Like no one would dare challenge some exercise in semantics that Michael Porter has to pontificate...
So I disagree. What Porter seems to be implying that the "end" is the strategy, and the "means" are simply steps in the the process. I think the "end" can best be described as the "strategic goal" while the steps may indeed be the specific "strategy" en route to that goal, while "tactics" are a still-more-refined set of elemental activities--an incremental progression if you will--that achieve the strategic steps toward the strategic goal. Ironically, Porter calls out "internationalization" as a "step", when in fact, that actually sounds like a strategic goal or an "end". For example, if my strategic goal is "internationalization for my company", then I might employ a set of strategies to achieve that goal. I might take a compartmentalized approach and employ an international operations strategy (to include supply, inventory, distribution, and HR sub-strategies), an international sales & marketing strategy (to include channel partner development, market research, and advertising sub-strategies), and an international finance strategy, etc. Finally, our team would arrive at a set of tactical activities (which should also be strategized at a more granular level) that incrementally progress toward the achievement of each sub-strategy. ... an altogether pedantic but highly recommended exercise in strategic planning.
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