Executive MBA Videos

Frédéric Fréry : What is strategy?

European Executive MBA Dean Dr. Frédéric Fréry introduces listeners to the subject of Strategy. He explains it with the acronym VIP.

What is strategy? Well, strategy consists in deciding where you are going to allocate resources. More precisely it consists in deciding where you are not going to allocate resources, since it is always much more difficult to decide what you are not going to do.

I usually summarize strategy with an acronym: VIP.

V stands for value. What is your value proposal? How are you going to create value beyond costs in order to make profits? What is your business model?

I stands for imitation. Can your value proposal resist imitation from competitors? How do you differentiate? What is your competitive advantage?

And P stands for parameter. On which market are you going to implement your value proposal? What are going to be the scope and the positioning of your company? What are you going to in-source and out-source?

VIP are the three fundamental dimensions of strategy. And in essence, a strategy class consists in exploring these three dimensions.