Bain & Company's approach to Business Unit strategy focuses on driving a specific business to full economic potential - whether it be through an annual planning process, a transformation effort, or turnaround situation. Such efforts are all about making strategic choices and driving change. The ultimate goal is to rapidly create a proprietary set of actions that serve customers better than the competition.

Bain envisions the components of a good business unit strategy as a pyramid capped by the vision and goals for the future, atop a structure that is firmly based on an aligned and mobilized organization. The pyramid is backed by a solid fact base about the company's current position and performance, as well as the identification of the "burning platform" or case for change.

Just beneath the guiding vision are the twin decisions of where and how to win, supported by the requisite capabilities, strategic imperatives and initiatives necessary to realize the strategy. These building blocks support the creation of long-term value through leadership in specific markets and segments.

Bain's research shows that sustained value creators turn in stronger performance before, during and after a downturn. They do this by:

• Building a strong core business
• Devising a path to achieve leadership economics
• Targeting a large and growing profit pool
• Focusing on the customer and developing "hidden" and untapped customer assets
• And by building a repeatable formula, based on a company's differentiated approach that can be replicated in closely adjacent markets

Bain's approach to Business Unit Strategy is geared to rapid results by considering options and mobilization efforts early on in the process. Indeed, from day one choices are weighed as the fact base is being developed and potential road blocks to implementation are examined and addressed.

We use five lenses to help our clients develop creative and innovative strategies. Ideas may be generated from an assessment of changes in the "rules of the game," differentiation via different competitive models, new trends, deep consumer insight, and the expansion of repeatable models, along with the mining of underutilized assets or platforms, or "hidden assets." To further foster creativity, Bain uses its "BothBrainstorming" approach, which helps clients harness the creative and the analytic capabilities within a business to revolutionize the ideation process.

We help clients to develop Dynamic Decision-Making capabilities, which aid strategy development amid uncertainty. Scenarios are developed by extrapolating macro, industry, and competitive trends to determine likely end-states. However, since the expected scenario may not be the one that plays out, organizations also need a process to develop robust and adaptable strategies, to monitor actual scenario outcomes, and to accommodate course-corrections as needed.

Mobilization efforts are focused on evaluating challenges to implementation and results by addressing risks, constraints, people and capability gaps from the beginning of the strategy process. Critical to this process is communicating early to key stakeholders to ensure buy-in and effective feedback loops that allow management to monitor execution. Mobilization, in short, is the process through which we help our clients convert a strategy into realized results.

To find out more about Bain's work in this capability area, please contact the Strategy practice.