What is corporate strategy? The art of ensuring that the value of the enterprise as a whole is more than the sum of its parts.
The goal of corporate strategy is to articulate a vision of a great company that is also a great stock—and to define the specific moves needed to bring that vision to life. Rooted in a clear understanding of competitive advantage, corporate strategy lays out a multiyear roadmap for how best to leverage advantage to drive profitable growth and strong, sustained value creation. A winning corporate strategy will identify the optimal business portfolio, prioritize the right growth platforms, and set a financial strategy to transform vision into value.
Our corporate strategy work with clients focuses on answering questions in four key areas:
Mission, vision, and ambition. Who are we? Where is our industry headed? And where do we want to be five or ten years from now?
Corporate portfolio strategy. What is the overall logic of our business portfolio? And what are the roles and strategic priorities (generate cash, expand and grow, divest) of the business units it comprises?
Corporate growth strategy. What are our growth engines? Do we need to pursue new growth vectors? What are the key platforms that will realize our growth ambition?
Financial strategy.
Do we have the right processes and policies to link strategy to value creation? Do we efficiently allocate capital—and is the balance between reinvestment in the business and payouts to investors optimal? Do we have the right investors and investor story?
Portfolio strategy—helping clients determine how to invest capital across businesses, products, and initiatives to maximize returns—has been at the core of BCG’s DNA since our founding. And any good value creation strategy depends on a clear portfolio strategy and active management of the business portfolio that focuses on three imperatives:
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A central hub of interactive briefings designed to help you turn advanced business insights into strategic action.
Our corporate strategy consultants have completed over 4,000 corporate strategy engagements over the past five years. For example, we helped:
