Revisiting strategy tools: opportunity mapping and the case of BE Power Equipment

Purpose The paper answers call for strategy as practice exploration and revised strategic analysis tools over time with the application of opportunity mapping – used with an innovative, third-generation family firm in a highly competitive global context. This paper explores the novel opportunity mapping tool with BE Power Equipment. Design/methodology/approach The case study method was informed by a review of historic tools coupled with a multiday strategy workshop with 12 executive-level managers and key stakeholders of a global power equipment manufacturer as led by experienced facilitators. Findings Enterprise risk management is complex and benefits from a strategic link to mitigating opportunities. The process itself is as impactful as the outcomes and communicating a firm’s risk culture impacts strategic choices as do the “players” in the room. Innovative organizations with strategic intents are more aligned in their identification of risks and linked opportunities with less acute outcomes as a result of ongoing organizational enterprise risk management and future scenario identification. New strategy tools complement historic methods and contribute to innovative opportunities. Practical implications Given the abundance of contemporary risks and competitive forces coupled with changing organizations, it can be challenging to facilitate resources for strategic planning. Opportunity mapping presents a new model rooted in classical management theory to prioritize risks and codify culture across a firm. Originality/value The strategy tool of opportunity mapping is intimately tested – bridging enterprise risk management theory and opportunity mapping theory to practice – for the first time with an innovative multi-national firm in a complex industry. Dynamic business environments require novel tools for strategic discovery to complement historic tools developed for use in stable markets. Results are shared with new implications for firms, researchers and practitioners.