Strategic Analysis

Holistic Solutions

Have you noticed that some business situations require actions that are in conflict. They can't both be done. The management coin flip. What most often results is a poor compromise. More of this or more of that. Not more of both.

These conflicting needs are caused by assumptions that have been held for so long that the reasons are no longer valid, if they are even remembered. Are any of these familiar?

• Increase inventory to increase sales, versus reduce inventory to keep costs down.
• Raise prices to increase margins, versus reduce prices to increase volume.
• Improve processes to be profitable in the future, versus don't improve processes to be profitable this quarter.
• Lay off employees in the area that improved the most to reap the benefits, versus retaining those employees to encourage more improvement.

Strategic Analysis tools use logic to clarify how your system works and identifies the root causes of many of your problems. Then the tools validate the effects of eliminating the root causes and avoiding side effects of the change. Planning the future this way anticipates obstacles and decisions to be made.

All of the above conflicts have solutions that are NOT compromises!