ForBuS

Abstract

In this graduation report companies who lack in having a clear and supported business strategy are offered a solution. This solution comes in the form of a business strategy forming tool: ForBuS. ForBuS is based on extensive literature research where the closed loop management system of Kaplan & Norton (2008) is used as basis. ForBuS is an addition to this model as it eases the first two steps of the model, strategy forming and strategy translation, with a practical approach. Out of this theoretical background a theoretical model has been formed to cover the essences of business strategy forming. The design of the tool is based on a preliminary research and six different steps, which contain several different activities. These activities were created from the theoretical background of business strategies and three focus areas. These focus areas, Internal, External and Organizational Variables, have a major contribution in the forming as they reflect the content of a business strategy. Preliminary research is conducted to gain more insight in the company. This is done with desk and action research in the mentioned three focus areas. Customized visuals are created to support the various steps within ForBuS after this research. The first step is the value, mission and vision. By creating future scenarios and describing the ethics, the company tries to describe the values, vision and mission for the company. The second step covers the strategic analysis. This is a important step as various activities are used to assess all three focus areas (e.g. customer analysis, product portfolio analysis and Trends & Developments). Within these activities different techniques are used in combination with the created visuals. The third step involves the strategy forming. Here the findings of the strategic analysis are combined with business strategy factors and the formulation of the business strategy itself. A short evaluation is conducted after this. The forth step is the strategic mapping. Translating the business strategy in strategic objectives is the first step to make it tangible for the company. Complementary objectives can be combined into strategic themes. The fifth step is the balanced scorecard, which translates the strategic objectives into activities, resources, targets and people. The sixth and last step are the strategic initiatives. Clear descriptions of the actions are given to give input to the planning and implementation within the company. Van Egdom B.V. served as test case company. Van Egdom is a leading Dutch water attraction and water treatment manufacturer in the Netherlands. Active in the water leisure industry and with more than 50 years of experience and 5000+ projects world wide a well know company in the market. Van Egdom can serve any customer in the world with a turn-key approach based on an unique set of competencies and an extensive network. Only the preliminary research and the strategic analysis were conducted during the implementation at Van Egdom. Due to high season only two workshops were given. The fifth and sixth step are not covered in this graduation report due to limited time. The reactions on the first two workshops were positive and promising Participants saw the potential usefulness and would like to complete ForBuS during the low season. Although the participants might need to gain more experience in some activities, the overall performance was relatively good seen their inexperience with business strategy forming. Still some recommendations need to be made for ForBuS. The role of the facilitator is very important. He will be in charge of the used information and choice of participants. It is key to choose a competent facilitator to guide ForBuS, who has the appropriate knowledge in the usage of ForBuS and creative facilitation. Applying ForBuS at other companies and implemented by own employees is another recommendation. The graduate has been both developer as facilitator of the ForBuS workshops. Overall fine tuning of ForBuS can be done after the tool has been fully implemented at a couple companies.