Corporate Level Strategy: Measuring Its Effectiveness

Strategy

Jeff Bartel

Chairman and Managing Director

We often observe corporate leaders not investing their company resources, including time and money, into the development and implementation of a corporate-level strategy, citing that it is not considered a priority. Of course, building a perfect business strategy is impossible, but through careful planning and continuous evaluation, corporate strategies provide strong guideposts and can help forge long-term, effective practices for companies and firms. Accordingly, corporate-level strategy implementation and evaluation, together with maximizing the use of this powerful tool, is a crucial step in the process and must be considered as part of your plan.

The Importance of Corporate-level Strategy Evaluation

Evaluation is usually the final stage of the corporate-level strategy process, but it remains one of the most critical steps. Without this assessment, it is impossible to develop successful and agile business strategies and processes that are quickly adapted to meet new demands.

Your company reaps several additional benefits by implementing a solid evaluation process.

Assess Strategy Success

A comprehensive evaluation can help determine if the strategy is successful, needs adjustments, or requires revamping altogether. In addition, this step can help you avoid wasting valuable resources.

Set Performance Benchmarks

Setting performance benchmarks is a critical component of any successful corporate strategy. These benchmarks provide a way to gauge the success of future outcomes and identify if the strategy requires additional adjustments.

Analyze Outcomes

Evaluating results also ensures that strategy outcomes align with corporate goals, values, and objectives. This alignment is critical to the overall success of your business.

Identify Potential Risks

A close examination of strategy results can identify potential risk factors for the current and future outcomes. This analysis can help you mitigate these risks to avoid future issues.

The Metrics – Measuring Corporate-level Strategies

Measuring corporate-level strategies is not just about tracking basic metrics such as revenue but about assessing strategy outcomes, assuring alignment with corporate objectives, and forecasting success. Ideally, some metrics are set at the beginning of the project. First, however, it is essential to have a comprehensive measurement strategy in place.

Just as no two corporations are the same, no two measurement strategies are identical. Instead, it is crucial to tailor any measuring plan to meet the unique needs of your corporation. Additionally, the metrics chosen depend on the type of corporate-level strategy you want to assess.

For instance, tracking metrics, such as retention rates, employee satisfaction, safety rates, and absenteeism, is appropriate if you assess a workforce management strategy for the corporation. On the other hand, suppose you are evaluating a marketing strategy; KPIs, such as cost of customer acquisition, conversion rates, Net Promoter Score, website traffic, and clickthrough rates, are likely more ideal.

Other standard corporate metrics include:

  • Revenue growth
  • Net sales revenue
  • Churn rate
  • Return on investment
  • Customer retention
  • Website bounce rate
  • Net income
Business leaders analyzing data as part of their corporate-level strategy. It shows a board table with the business leaders' hands, computers, water glasses, and notepads.

Analyzing Data – Evaluating Corporate Strategy

Setting metrics is just the first step of the corporate strategy evaluation process. You must also take the time to transform this data into meaningful insights that drive improved outcomes. While this is not an inclusive list by any means, below is a look at some of the most common analysis strategies.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis carefully evaluates strategy outcomes’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This method allows you to use the analytical data to identify which parts of the strategy are working well and which need adjustments or removal. It also helps to identify potential risks, as well as any opportunities available, to help expand business processes.

Value Chain Analysis

Value chain analysis takes a different approach by evaluating every step of the strategy process. For example, it may assess operations, talent management, marketing, logistics, and sales. This type of analysis can help identify weaknesses that are impacting other departments. Conversely, it can identify strengths in one department prompting improved outcomes in another. This step can help develop a cohesive strategy for the entire corporation.

SOAR Analysis

SOAR analysis is very similar to SWOT analysis, except it focuses on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results. This type of analysis is more forward-focused and ideal for emerging enterprises or corporations in a growth stage.

Take Action – Taking Corrective Action After Evaluating Corporate Strategy

Taking action is the last phase of the corporate strategic evaluation process. Unfortunately, many companies fail to handle this stage effectively. Only change and adjustment can tailor a corporate strategy to meet the needs of the company’s overall outcomes.

Start by identifying weaknesses within the strategy. This is possibly a step in the process, a specific department, or unachieved goals. Next, look for ways to adjust the strategy to improve outcomes. For instance, you may need to develop a new implementation plan, modify corporate policies, and make structural and organizational changes.

Setting metrics, analyzing data, and taking action are all important components of the evaluation process. Using these tools can help your corporation measure success, ensure that the business strategy aligns with corporate objectives, and develop a successful overall corporate strategy.