Markides Article Summary

Markides Article When looking up the definition of strategy, of the many definitions one of the one’s I came upon is “a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result.” But according to Costas Markides, “though it is technically correct, it is so general that it is practically meaning less.” Markides says that all strategies “share the same principles or building blocks.” He goes further into describing what these building blocks are according to his research. These building blocks include parameters, strategic ideas, what to do & what not to do, flexibility, a proper environment, and constant improvement. Let’s define these building blocks one by one. By parameters, Markides tells us that a company must decide on are “who will be its targeted customers and who it will not target; what products or services it will offer its chosen customers and what it will not offer them; and how it will go about achieving all this—what activities it will perform and what activities it will not perform.” The definition of strategic ideas is the same as parameters (on who to target, what to sell and how to do it) but one difference. That difference is where these ideas are coming from. Markides argues that these ideas can come from “anybody, anywhere, anytime,” even because somebody had a gut feeling. These ideas can also come from trial and error and from market changes. These market changes are basically feedback from the market which then leads an organization to modify or change its strategic ideas. It is crucial for a company to know its roles/duties or what it is supposed to do and of course what it is NOT supposed to do. If this is not clearly stated then there will be confusion. For example the “CEO proclaims ‘our strategy is crystal clear: we will do ABC’ and at the same time the employees of the organization see the firm doing XYZ as well as ABC.” What are our duties, goals, and how do we procure them? These actions