ABSTRACT
The Customer & Market Strategic Focus Area leverages the work done in Strategic Analysis to set the direction of the organization relative to customers and markets. The Customer & Market Strategic Focus Area is intentionally the first block in the strategy development portion of the Strategy Whiteboard. There are many companies that appear to be solely focused on creating the best product. The BlackBerry case shows how an unrelenting focus on the product can blind a company to the customer and market demands. Within the design of the Statement of Intention, there is a specific reference to the customer. Concurrently, when developing the Customer & Market strategic platform, review the organization’s Culture block and the Statement of Intention to ensure the future direction is aligned with the desired culture. The Customer & Market Strategic Focus Area follows the same Microsystem model used in the Internal Evaluation.
