The new strategic architecture: Learning to compete in the twenty-first century

Executive Overview In the past decade, the focus of much of what passes for the corporate strategy debate has been on factors external to the firm—initially on industry structure and dynamics, and latterly on changing customer requirements and their implications. While perfectly valid as far as it goes, this outward focus has tended to blind executives to a series of internal factors likely to be even more critical to competitive success in the twenty first century. These factors constitute the key elements of what we call the strategic architecture of the firm. Constructing strategic architecture requires conscious attention to developing mechanisms for organizational learning, innovation and experimentation, constructive contention, empowerment, optimized value potential, corporate sustainability, and strategic re-framing. Firms with a thoughtful and durable commitment to these meta-strategies will not only survive to see the next century, they are likely to dominate it.