Strategy Concept Models

Introduction  
Generally, strategy refers to how - means by which - a given objective will be achieved. Strategy in the general sense is concerned with the relationships between ends and means; that is, between the results we seek and the resources at our disposal. ​Strategy is concerned with formulating and then carrying out courses of action intended to attain specific objectives by mobilizing organization's resources - deploying the resources at the organization's disposal.

Strategy Hierarchy Layered Concept Model
The term "strategy" is an overloaded in everyday business conversations, because most people including professional practitioners do not bother to explicitly establish their point of view into what is essentially a layered concept that exists at least three (3) levels such as corporate strategy, business and competitive strategy, and Operations strategy. 

1. corporate Level Strategy - Corporate strategy defines the vision, mission, and values and deals with three dimensions of a firm's scope: product, vertical and geographic. 
2. Business Level Strategy - This is concerned with how the firm competes within a particular industry or market. If the business is to prosper within its industry, it must establish a competitive advantage over its rivals. The basic element at this level is the strategic business unit. 
3. Operations Level Strategy - This ensures four perspectives of scope and coverage: (1) vertical - a top-down reflection of what the whole group or business wants to do; (2) a bottom-up activity where operations improvements cumulatively build strategy; (3) Horizontal - involves translating market requirements into operations decisions; (4) exploiting the capabilities of operations resources in chosen markets.

Business Functions - Each business unit comprises a number of functions such as finance, marketing, HR, sales, IT, etc., that make up the total activities within a business unit. The strategic role of each function is to support those competitive dimensions within a market for which it is wholly or partly responsible. In this way the market comprises of the agenda based on functional strategies and becomes the mechanism for determining development and investment priorities, which is part of Corporate Strategy.

Strategy Viewpoints
The concept of viewpoint is a device that helps in developing a robust and successful strategy by enabling  approaches to highlighting problems that would undermine an intended strategy at implementation and execution. The viewpoints or approaches as proposed by Mintzburg include:

1. Plan - This is a device to help brainstorming options and planning how to deliver them. This may be general or detailed, formal or informal (in the mind). As a plan, strategy is conceived in advance, has a purpose and is thoughtful to some degree. This is deliberate and planned strategy which is a result of the rational planning approach of strategy development. The rational planning approach (e.g., Ansoff, 1979) defines an objective in advance, describes "where we are now," and uses a prescriptive approach in which "the three (3) core areas - strategic analysis, strategy development, and strategy implementation - are linked together sequentially" (Lynch, 2000; 24).
2. Perspective - This defines an orientation  - patterns of thinking - that shapes an organization's perspective on vision and direction - a view of what the company or organization is to become - and the things the organization is able to do well. Mintzburg points out that strategy as a perspective is the same as "Strategy as a Plan" but without the formal planning. In this view, many people in the organization have the same orientation or perspective when they make strategic decisions.
3. Pattern - A "realized pattern" of organizational behavior emerging as strategy. This comprises the decisions and actions over time that may be consistent or inconsistent but represents an emergent strategy. Emergent strategy is realized pattern (behavior) that was not expressly intended or planned that emerged from execution. It is a set of actions, or behavior, consistent over time, “a realized pattern that was not expressly intended” in the original planning of strategy. An emergent strategy develops when an organization takes a series of actions that with time turn into a consistent pattern of behavior, regardless of specific intentions. It consists of the moves made and approaches taken by management to produce successful performance of the organization in successfully competing against rivals. For example, the day-to-day decisions and actions in areas such as enter new business to diversify, extending geographically to grow, efforts to integrate forwards or backwards, efforts to broaden or narrow product/services, actions to capitalize on new opportunities, and actions to respond to changing industry conditions i.e., shifting demand patterns, new airport regulations, entry of new competitors. A consistent pattern of decisions may be the result of an explicit and written strategy or it may be result from organizational culture, or it may result from the influence of one or more leaders. An inconsistent pattern of decisions also represents a sort of strategy - a non-strategy, perhaps, but a strategy that governs decisions. So, in a sense, every organization has a strategy; they all make strategic decisions or non-decisions that are also decisions. 
4. Position - We may view a position taken by the organization that reflects decisions to offer particular products and services in particular markets as a strategy relative to the environment. 
5. Ploy - This is a deliberate exercise and device that can help the organization explore the possible future scenarios in which competition will occur. 

Decision makers or managers start with a given perspective, conclude that it calls for a certain position, and sets about achieving it by way of a carefully crafted plan. Over time things change; a pattern of decisions and actions marks movement from starting point to destination end-point (goal). This pattern of decisions and actions is called "realized pattern" or "emergent" strategy. The actual strategy of an organization is the combination of the executed parts of deliberate strategy and emergent strategy.

Roles of strategy in Business
Strategy in a business organization is about how the organization seeks to survive and prosper within its environment over the long-term. ​Strategy provides an organization with an offensive device to compete against competitors and guides their actions when faced with a range of choices. Strategy plays a number/variety of roles in organization's success, including:

1. Preparing an organization for the future - This does not necessarily imply long-term planning or planning in general; it does imply forward-looking, which helps organization anticipate future needs. Strategy shapes the future so the organization can position itself to win in both the short- and long-term.
2. Distinguishing an organization from others - This implies focus on the organization's unique assets (capabilities/competencies) and features, and exploiting them in a meaningful way to gain advantage.
3. Providing an organization with some stability - This implies the organization transformation or change is guided by strategy so it is not caught in constant flux or reorientation which would cause it to drift.
4. Serving as a common frame of reference - This implies strategy offers an organization a common point of reference even in rapidly changing circumstances. This makes it possible for people in the organization to have a shared understanding and know what assumptions, ideas or plans they are going to deviate from.
5. Support for internal and external alignment - This implies strategy provides an overarching and integrative framework for the most important internal and external factors to be taken into account by management, thus helping to align the organization both internally as well as with its external environment.
6. Guides organizational action - The reason for having a strategy is to give direction and meaning to the things that an organization does. 

Strategy is a significant determinant on a company's success or failure, in addition to the significance of competence of its managerial leadership.