It’s the end of the semester, so I will be grading 50+ final strategy papers. Unlike previous write-ups, the students have the freedom to choose their company and use any resources they want.  This sounds deceptively simple: choose a company, do the research, and make smart recommendations. Here is a sample of the companies that I’ll be reviewing over the next two weeks.  Look forward to seeing strategy applied to these companies. . .

Yes, get smart on the company and industry.

• What is the company’s core competency? What do they do better than anyone else?
• What are the industry dynamics, economic levers, and the ways to drive value?
• Where do they sit in the value chain? What vertical vs. horizontal integration have they done? Successful?
• What is their corporate strategy vs. business-unit level strategies?
• Who are their mainline vs. niche competitors? What’s their strategic position in the market?
• How are they positioned in the minds of their customers?

Yes, identify the key complications and challenges.

• How’s business? Growth, profitability, cash flow, leverage?
• What’s their economic moat? Robust as ever, or weakening?
• How is the industry changing because of technology, new entrants, government regulation?
• What’s the story with the company? What are “they” saying? What are “analysts” saying?
• We’ve been in a low/no interest rate environment, what happens to the company when that changes?
• Is there new entrants, technology, or disruptive innovation nipping at their heels?
• What is the problem that you (as a consultant) might be solving for?

Yes, ask good questions.

• As a business executive, what questions do you have? Follow your curiosity.
• What sources of research, industry analysis, primary research, and lateral thinking is needed?
• If I were their competitor, what is their weak point I would attack?

Yes, put things into buckets. Analyze. Prioritize.

• What are smart ways to think about this business? What are the buckets?
• What’s the company’s weight class? Big incumbent or a smaller start-up?
• What’s the income statement tell you?  Revenue issues? Growth or pricing or mix?
• Where are the fault lines in the strategy?  Product, customer segments, channels, positioning?
• Are we optimizing for a 1 year (need to survive), or 5 year+ (strategy design and implementation)?
• What is the data telling us? Was our original hypothesis right or wrong?
• What does their innovation strategy look like? continuous vs. disruptive ? technology vs. business model?
• Do they need to get “back to the core” business or time for a “strategic inflection point” in their business?

Yes, persuade with logic and data

• What’s the storyboard, and did you start with an executive summary?
• Can you explain it to your 10 yr old cousin?
• Are your arguments clear, defensible, (almost) obvious?
• Do the appendix and graphs support the story?

Yes, answer the “so what” question

• Are the recommendations specific to this company (good) or generic for all competitors (bad)?
• If the company was paying you a $1M consulting fee, would your recommendation be worth it?
• If your first recommendation were taken, then what?
• How do the recommendations work together?  How realistic is the implementation?
• What’s the potential financial impact $$ of the recommendations is things go well?
• How does this position the company for success going forward?

Yes, make it easy to say “yes”

• What makes good and persuasive writing?  Use numbers.
• Does your paper make the reader say “oh, that makes sense, let’s do it.”
• Convince the reader that you are the mini-expert and you’ve thought everything through.

No, strategy is not formulaic.

• The goal of a presentation, paper, or discussion is not to “check all the boxes.” There are 45+ questions listed above, and it is literally impossible to answer all these in a 6 page, double-spaced, 12 font paper.  Don’t try.
• From the strategic frameworks (yes, they are many): what are the patterns, business judgment, research, analysis, ideas, creativity, and arguments that are most relevant?
• Is there 1 silver bullet answer?  No.

No, it should not be boring.

• On some level this is storytelling. What story needs to be told?  Tell it well.
• Think + Write + Communicate + Revise
• Ideally, the authors show a point of view, and takes the reader on persuasive journey.
• It should feed the curiosity of the authors and the readers.

No, don’t take my advice, take your own.

• Work as a team to put the best ideas forward. Test your own ideas.
• Writing is school is practice.  Think about your thinking. Develop your voice.
• Wisdom is taking your own advice.  What advice are you giving yourself?