Both Nike and Reebok had a strategy to get their brands to the everyday American and sport lovers worldwide when they decided to sponsor the Olympics. Nike guided by this strategy adopted a tactics of cherrypicking and sponsoring the top and best players only.
Reebok as brilliant as its strategy was, adopted a no tactical approach by sponsoring the entire tournament. That was cost intensive and inefficient since athletics lovers indeed patronized what the top stars associate. Both strategy and tactics are critically important in delivering the success of any business.
Sun Tzu in his book, which I tout as the ‘Military Bible’ “The Art of War ” sheds more light on how its almost impossible to succeed in any sphere of life without a strategy braced by a good tactical approach. A strategy could be defensive or offensive in character. It is sometimes argued that even quitting, retreating or surrendering could be strategic in itself.
Biochemists selling their innovative foods to Nestle has always not been literally quitting but strategizing for sustainability and income since stubbornly refusing may only challenge them to come up with something better than what you have. And you may perhaps not earn a penny.
Strategy comes from the greek word, startos: important, comprehensive or superior. Business people need to be map-out strategy because of the competitive nature of business. Your strategy is the large scale blueprint to achieving the business vision whereas the tactics is the everyday, short term approach to this vision. Tactics could easily be changed by the political, environmental, scientific and technological factors but strategy is almost always kept intact.
Being strategic suggests embracing the art of being different. Strategy can be said to be the step by step approach to achieving a competitive advantage through being different and having clear and enactable view of how to position yourself. Porter 1990. Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
One may have available, a good vision, even personnel to achieve an objective, but without a good tactics and strategy this will yield no results which translates victory.
Nora Roberts once said,”If you don’t go after what you want, you will never have it, if you don’t ask, the answer will always be no, if you don’t step forward, you are always at the same place. The need for short term calculated action which is tactics in this context, guided by proper strategy Nora Roberts quote.
To have a successful business you need to spell out your strategy clearly and have a well thought-through approach – tactics to succeed.
Author: Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey