Focus on the Big Picture, Not the Numbers Aaron Phillips Lauren Defrancisco James Blanton

Most Companies Mistakes Wedded to Red Oceans No clear strategy Cookie cutter strategy Industry Competitiveness How to beat competitor and cut costs Always full budget attached Confusing smorgasbord

Focusing on the Big Picture Draw a Strategy Canvas Shows you industries Strategic profile Shows the profile of competitors Shows your profile and where you stand Focus Divergence Compelling Tagline

Drawing your Strategy Canvas Use a Business Model Canvas Use the four steps of visualizing strategy

Four Steps of Visualizing Strategy Visual Awakening Visual Exploration Visual Strategy Fair Visual Communication

Step 1: Visual Awakening What prompted the blue ocean strategy implementation and change? Highly determined leader Serious crisis How can we change this? Compare your business with your competitors’ by drawing your “as is” strategy canvas See where your strategy needs to change EFS’s Traditional vs. online value curves Visual awakening: QUESTION :What needs to change? Wake up call that challenges their existing strategies Company divided: top execs vs. corporate exec. Split into teams Common mistakes: discussing the changes in strategy before attempting to resolve difference of opinion that they have now Executive are reluctant to accept that they NEED to change Also bc executive believe that time could make a difference if they maintain doing what theyre doing = DOESNT WORK

Strategy Canvas of Corporate Foreign Exchange (Offline) Provides great Ease of use Speed Price Lacks Flexible payment terms Knowledge European Financial Services

Strategy Canvas of Corporate Foreign Exchange (Online) Problems Good Ease of Use Bad Speed Unclear message Competitor Clearskies Easy to tell strategy One Click ease European Financial Services

Step 2: Visual Exploration Going into the field is the next step Never outsource your eyes Most companies do not do their own exploration “Great artists don’t paint from other people’s descriptions or even from photographs” -Blue Ocean Strategy After wake up call: Send people into the field to make the change (more hands on with products of how consumers use or dont use their products) Shouldnt be relying on reports that other people make about the products NEVER OUTSOURCE YOUR EYES (theres no substitute for seeing it in action yourself) Identifying the array of complementary products and services that are consumed alongside your own may give you insight into bundling opportunities Next, look at how your consumer might find alternative ways of fulfilling the need that YOUR PRODUCT SATISFIES Customer surveys or feedback (find out what the consumer likes or doesnt like) IT MAY SURPRISE YOU

Step 3: Visual Strategy Fair Draw your “to be” strategy canvas based on insights from field observations Get feedback on alternative strategy from customers, competitors’ customers, and noncustomers Use feedback to build the best “to be” future strategy After a few weeks: present strategy canvas in their teams Given 10 minutes to present (was considered that if it was longer than it was probably too complicated to implement) Judged strategies Managers relied on originality and clarity of their curves and pitches Based on the strategies they picked, they analyzed the new value curve and can now start to compile a future strategy that would react positively with their companies growth

EFS: Before and After Strategy eliminated relationship management and reduced investment in account executives. These moves dramatically reduced EFSs costs Bc relationship managers and account executives were the HIGHEST COSTS ELEMENT OF ITS BUSINESS Future strategy EMPHASIZED ease of use, security, accuracy, and spped which would allow customers to input data directly instead of having to fax to EPS and waste crucial time

Step 4: Visual Communication Distribute your before-and-after strategic profiles on one page for easy comparisons Support only those projects and operational moves that allow your company to close gaps to actualize the new strategy After future strategy set: now you have to make it so you can communicate it in a way that can be understood by any employee Put it together so employees could see where the company stoof and where it has to FOCUS its efforts to CREATE a compelling future Focus was to promote clarity within the company and their programs/ products and services that they wanted to implement

The Strategy Canvas & the PMS Map Visualizing Strategy Portfolio: Red → Blue Different business units presenting to each other. Starts by using: The Strategy Canvas & the PMS Map

Using the Strategy Canvas Having a distinct value curve to grow faster Samsung Established VIP Centers Importance of Value Innovation Grew from $16. 6 Billion to $216.7 Billion in 15 years Under Armour Idea House

Using the Pioneer-Migrator-Settler (PMS) Map Growth of a portfolio of businesses Pushing value to new frontiers Pioneers: Businesses that offer unprecedented value! Settlers: Businesses who value curves conform to industry’s shape Migrators: Businesses who give more value but in the same basic shape

Overcoming the Limitations of Strategic Planning Big Picture over Documentation Needs a creative component Not just analysis-driven Start with the big picture of how to break away from the competition Will greatly improve chances of creating a blue ocean