One of my classic examples of strategy comes from the story of the Trojan Horse. In it, Greece and Troy are at war with Troy under siege by Greece for several years. Despite the long period of the siege, however, Greece is unable to make a headway into Troy because the latter is fortified with huge, impenetrable walls. Realizing that their siege is unsustainable, the Greeks eventually come up with a strategy: the create a giant horse and offer it, seemingly as an appeasement to the Trojans, leaving it outside the gates of the city. Then they pack their bags and leave, or so it seems.
Unknown to the Trojans, the Greeks are only pretending to leave, as they actually have a number of men hidden inside their giant gift. As the Greeks expect, the Trojans soon see their “gift”, noting their seeming departure, and take the giant package in to the city with a sigh of relief that they have seen the last of their enemies. Sadly, under the cover of night, the Greeks hidden within the horse let themselves out of it and surreptitiously unbolt the city gates from the inside. Their army, which has been waiting secretly takes advantage. Finally, the hitherto fortified city is now vulnerable and can be taken.
I like that story because it shows strategy at work. From it, we can see the concept of strategy as a plan that can help win a battle or outlast your competition. The meaning in a business context is similar: strategy keeps an organization in business as long as possible and makes it as successful as possible.
From a business analysis context, strategy is often evaluated in the light of two environments. They are the internal environment and the external environment. The internal environment sums up the factors that are within the control of the organization while the external environment refers to facts outside the control of the organization.
In this two part article, we will examine the internal environment using a popular business analysis framework known as VMOST, and the external environment using a framework known as PESTLE. This part focuses on VMOST.
VMOST Analysis
A VMOST analysis is performed by examining five components. They are vision, mission, objectives, strategies and tactics.
Vision
If you are familiar with American history, you may know of the famous ” have a dream” speech delivered by a young Black man known as Martin Luther King Jnr. In it, King cast a picture of a time when in America, his “four little children” would be “judged, not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. Using flowery poetic language, King delivered a poignant picture of a future of equality for people of colour at a time when racial discrimination was at its highest. That famous speech, which is perhaps the best known representation of Martin Luther King Jnr, would eventually serve millions of African American people as a picture of what their lives could be like and an inspiration of what to fight for.
That was an effectively cast vision.
I like to describe vision as telling you where an organization is going. A vision informs you of an organization’s purpose or what it was set up to accomplish. A good vision should inspire action and perhaps even faith in the organization.
Mission
Just like the vision, the mission tells what the organization does. However, unlike the vision which tends to take a more long-term, final destination approach, a mission is expressed more in day-to-day terms. I would like to look at it this way: for each day the organization achieves, why is it in business?
Objectives
With objectives, you break your mission into specific goals. A helpful hack for setting great objectives is to ensure that they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
Strategies
Strategies guide objectives.
Tactics
Tactics are specific methods employed by the organization to attain its objectives. They are relatively flexible (can be adapted to current realities).
Using the VMOST Framework
For a VMOST analysis to be effective and beneficial to an organization, defining the constituent elements is not enough. You need to go further by making sure that they are properly communicated to all stakeholders so that there can be alignment to the strategy. Here are some of the questions you may want to ask as a business analyst:
- Does the VMOST exist for the organization?
- Is the VMOST known to the management and staff of the organization?
- Is the VMOST properly communicated and understood by all stakeholders?
As a business analyst, you may also wish to examine the individual elements of the VMOST to ensure that there is overall alignment. The vision and mission should be harmonized. The objectives should break down the vision such that the attainment of those objectives would imply the attainment of the vision.
