4

The Goal of Strategy

Let's take a test that I have given to hundreds of managers. Because I've spent years in a B-school, it probably won't surprise you that the test involves a two-by-two matrix (figure 4-1).

FIGURE 4-1

The goal of strategy is profitable growth

 

On the vertical axis is economic profit (EP) or what some have branded as economic value added (EVA). Essentially, EP is what's left after subtracting the cost of capital from net operating profit. When a firm makes an investment—a choice to commit time and capital to build a new plant, hire a new salesperson, or invest in training, for example—that investment should, at a minimum, ...

Get Aligning Strategy and Sales now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.