Strategic Intent
(Hamel Prahalad)

Reconciling the purpose of a company with its means. Explanation of Strategic Intent of Hamel and Prahalad. ('89)

In 1989, Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad created an upheaval with their article entitled "Strategic Intent". It was published in the Harvard Business Review. Hamel and Prahalad argue that in order to achieve success, a company must reconcile its purpose (end) with its means through Strategic Intent.

What is Strategic Intent? Description

In their book, Hamel and Prahalad define Strategic Intent as: an ambitious and compelling dream that energizes; which provides the emotional and intellectual energy for the journey to the future. If strategic architecture (a high-level blueprint for the deployment of new functionalities, the acquisition of new competencies or the migration of existing competencies, and the reconfiguring of the interface with customers) is the brain, strategic intent is the heart. It should express a feeling of stretch (challenge) - that current resources and capabilities are not sufficient for the task.

Strategic Intent Attributes

Hamel and Prahalad provided the following three attributes of strategic intent: direction, discovery, and destiny.

Sense of Direction. A particular point of view about the long-term market or competitive position that a firm hopes to build over the coming decade or so. It should be a view of the future and it should express a sense of direction which unifies and personalizes.
Sense of Discovery. A strategic intent differentiates; it implies a competitively unique point of view about the future. It holds out to employees the promise of exploring new competitive territory.
Sense of Destiny. Strategic intent has an emotional side; it is a goal that employees perceive as inherently valuable.

Typical three steps Strategic Intent Process

Set the Strategic Intent, having all three characteristics stated above.
Set the Challenges. Find appropriate challenges and communicate them to the entire workforce. These challenges are the means to achieve the Strategic Intent. For example: Suppose the Strategic Intent of Canon is: "Beat Xerox". A strategic challenge could be: Develop a home copier at a target price of $1000.
Empowerment of the Strategic Intent. Key in any Strategic Intent process is: to realize that achieving (getting into) the Strategic Intent is a matter that involves everybody. The task of Top Management here is to "capture the wisdom of the ants hill": change the traditional downward communication style to an upward communication stream of new ideas coming from the entire organization.

The background of this approach for corporate strategy, and strategic thinking in general, was the dramatic post-war ascent of Japanese companies. The Japanese economy increasingly dominated the world markets, by having initial ambitions that in the West would have been considered highly unrealistic. Unrealistic regarding their resources and capabilities. An obsession for winning was created and sustained at all levels of the organization. Thus the basis was created for a 10- to 20-year quest for global market leadership.

Book: Hamel & Prahalad - Competing for the future -

Strategic Intent Forum (11)

Start Every Activity with an Intent
"We tend to forget that an intent paves the way to reach any objective.
If we don't formulate an intent, that means we don't have any objective. Of course, things can be done without an intent, but you will achieve more or less random things.
So, start every activity with intent! If you want to get useful and good results, you have to start with a good and clear intent. Then, follow up by scanning yourself and your environment (do SWOT analysis) so that you can formulate a good strategy to achieve your objective.
Don't forget to accommodate internal as well as external factors in your strategy. Don't focus too much on one factor."

Setting the Challenge of Strategic Intent
"Should the challenge (always) be declared publicly?"

4 Dimensions of Strategic Intent
"Strategic Intent has four key dimensions and it is important to discern their inter-relatedness and distinctness at the same time. The Four Dimensions of Strategic Intent are:
1. The Desired Future State
2. The Strategic Position
3. Shared Values
4. Specific Steps to be Taken."

Measuring the Attributes of Strategic Intent
"How to measure these three attributes: sense of direction, sense of discovery and sense of destiny?"

Strategic Intent - 2 Quotes
"I like 2 sentences about S.I. From Competing for the Future:
Page 148: ".. Strategic intent aims to create employee excitement, not just employee satisfaction", and
Page 142 &ff: "direction, discovery and destiny. These are the attributes of strategic intent"."

Strategic Intent accommodates all sides
"It is hard to translate individual strategies of people in a company into corporate strategies. That is why a company has to have strategic intent in order to synergize individual concepts and competencies in running a task. Intent will affect the structure of business strategy in achieving an objective.
In Islam culture is said: "Every activity must be started with intent. You will get what you intent to.""

Strategic Intent Demands
"Strategic Intent demands equal commitment from mind, body, and soul. Its an obsession. It is to walk thro the journey with clear-cut agenda to reach the destination of ultimate supremacy, distinct leadership, sustainable competitive advantage, dominant market-share, and best-in-class processes in place. And this is achieved with vision broken into many interim missions with a clear deadline and strategy to meet desired objectives."

Strategic Intent Creates a Shared Obsesssion
"The strategic intent concept helps to increase the abilty of an organization to achieve its strategic purpose by creating a strong shared desire or even obsession across the organization to achieve it."

Intent-Intent Made strategic
"Strategic intent provides for the right frame of direction as well as geared towards the achievement of the company's common destiny as opposed to commonly observed motivations of success in most management cases that at some point, their direction is a result of their manipulative and strategically designed interventions. Either way, it ends at the right direction and destiny right? - The big DIFFERENCE is shown at the inability of managers to look at the company's direction with a sense of purpose and with a sense of commitment. Without a sense of purpose, one does not fully discover and without commitment, one does not achieve its destiny."

You're Lost without Intent
"Without strategic intent you are lost and as good as travelling in the dark without a torch. Strategic intent provides one with the weapon to overcome future hurdles."

Intent vs Strategic Values
"Strategic intent must be underpinned by strategic values. The corporate world must understand that an obsession to win or achieve strategic intents notwithstanding, clear and 'sacred' strategic values should not be compromised in achieving these strategic intents. When this is done, very few organizations will go under."

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