Innovation Management Topic: can a strategic intent be too ambitious ? Team members: - 阮善全 M981Y208 - 陳一靈 M981A209

Defined Strategic intent is a high-level statement of the means by which your organization will achieve its vision. It is a statement of design for creating a desirable future (stated in present terms). Simply, a strategic intent is a company's vision of what it wants to achieve in the long term.vision “An ambitious and compelling dream which provides emotional and intellectual energy for the company and defines the journey to the future.”( Gary Hamel)

Purpose of Strategic Intent The logic, uniqueness and discovery that make your strategic intent come to life are vitally important for employees. They have to understand, believe and live according to it. Expression of strategic intent is to help individuals and organizations share the common intention to survive and continue or extend themselves through time and space.

Defining Strategic Intent Sense of Direction includes an understanding about the long-term market or competitive position that a firm aims to build over the next decade. Your sense of direction should be a view of the future that conveys a unifying and personalizing sense of direction.

Defining Strategic Intent Sense of Discovery. Your strategic intent should retain a sense of discovery and excitement about the future. This helps create a competitively unique outlook and gives employees the opportunity to explore new competitive territory.

Defining Strategic Intent Sense of Destiny. Strategic intent has an emotional edge to it and it should be a goal that both you and your employees perceive as inherently worthwhile.

Can strategic intent be too ambitious? Having a sense of the possible means taking the blinders off. To those constrained by traditional corporate thinking, strategic intent may appear reminiscent of tools like strategic positioning or SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) Nothing could be further from the truth. Companies deploying such approaches seek only to attack markets with products/services their existing competencies and functional capabilities have to offer.

Can strategic intent be too ambitious? "given the athletic condition of our current corporate body, what sport are we able to play best?"

Can strategic intent be too ambitious?

Kingsly Gillette, inventor of the safety razor, founded the Gillette Company in Over the next 85 years, it grew to $2.7 billion in sales, with a market capitalization in 1986 of $2.9 billion—or about 1x of sales. Over the last 8 years (ending in 1994), its sales have more then doubled to $6.1 billion. More amazing, its market capitalization shot up to $16 billion—or nearly 3x of sales. Fighting for its life in the "corporate takeover" 80's— once in 1986 against Revlon, a second against Konison and Partners in 1988—Gillette decided to hone in at what it did best: razors. While shedding itself of 16 non-core companies, Gillette once again re-focused on the rallying cry within its strategic intent, "There is always a better way to shave."

Emulating highly successful high-tech firms, Gillette first identified the technologies need to deliver the next generation shaving system. Those technologies were plastics, metal-forming know how, and high speed assembly. The first two are competencies, the latter is a capability. Then the company began a list of "did you knows" to identify and communicate the R&D investments to master those competencies. Did you know spring- loaded blades can overcome facial bumps and valleys? Did you know that lasers weld metal with little (blade-defected induced, nick-causing, blood-flowing) distortion?

Gillette did not possess the laser technology that it had identified as a core competency. It went to the outside market to find it. None existed there either. So, the company decided to develop the competency itself. Combining all the (some new) competencies yielded the revolutionary product "Sensor Razor System." This technically superior product still commands a premium price. Gillette has sold over 200 million Sensor systems since its 1990 launch.

Question and Answer