A business strategist is a person responsible for the formulation and implementation of a strategy – that set of guiding principles used for decision making.
You may not know many business strategists but this is an actual job title with an actual job description.
Business strategists help identify new opportunities for their organization and then develop the goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics (plans) required to achieve them. This involves evaluating existing strategies and exploring new ones to uncover areas for improvement. Strategists may work for the business at-large or focus on a particular functional area like sales or marketing.
Some desirable job skills for business strategists include:
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Leadership skills
- Organizational skills
- Presentation skills
- Problem-solving skills
Educational requirements include at least a Bachelor’s in business, management or related discipline. Some companies might prefer a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) or Finance. An industry-related background is helpful but that’s sometimes tempered by years of experience.
Tools and techniques of the trade
Every profession has tools and techniques to ply their trade and business strategists are no exception. This is a partial list of some of the most commonly used tools and techniques. For a more complete list, see
- Balanced Scorecard (BSC): This is a strategic planning and management system used to measure progress toward key goals and objectives. It looks at the organization from four different perspectives:
- Capacity of learning/change (human capital, culture, etc.)
- Efficiency and effectiveness of internal processes
- Financial performance (including allocation of financial resources)
- Stakeholder satisfaction
Critical Success Factors (CSF): CSFs help you measure progress toward goals and ensures that tasks and projects are aligned across teams and departments. There are four types of CSFs:
- Environmental factors (the economy, competitors, technology, etc.)
- Industry factors (specific characteristics of your industry)
- Strategic factors (marketing or other functional strategies)
- Temporal factors (short-term barriers, challenges, influences, etc.)
PEST Analysis: “PEST” stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. There’s a modified version that also includes “E” for Environmental and “L” for Legal (PESTEL). Like a SWOT Analysis, PEST is a high-level tool that primarily identifies external factors and monitors how current conditions will impact the future of an organization. Results from a PEST Analysis can be used to inform other business management tools like a SWOT Analysis.
SWOT Analysis: “SWOT” stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. SWOT is a high-level tool used for strategic planning that helps an organization understand where they’re doing well and where they might improve. A SWOT analysis is one of the most popular strategic planning tools because of its ease of use and applicability. Its results are easily translatable into strategies, goals, and objectives.
Obviously, there are a wide variety of tools and techniques available to business strategists. The challenge is to determine which tool or technique is best suited for your organization considering what it’s trying to accomplish. And as any good business strategist will remind you, a tool is only as good as the person wielding it.
The evolving role of the business strategist
For the most part, strategy formulation and implementation has primarily been a top-down process, led by senior executives. But as companies are getting leaner and therefore flatter or more horizontal, more and more empowered employees are getting involved in strategy. This bottom-up approach or “democratization” of strategy is leading to more responsive and innovative strategies, especially at the functional level like sales and marketing. Indeed, it’s becoming more of an imperative.
Ultimately, business strategists are focused on two core objectives: identifying efficiencies that lower costs and creating opportunities that add value. It only makes sense that an event strategist should focus on the same core objectives.
Summary: Business strategists use a unique set of competencies, tools and techniques in order to help their organizations thrive in today’s environment. Event strategists can help their event thrive by using the same competencies, tools and techniques. Knowing which tools and techniques to use – and how to use them – is critical.
