Idea strategizer

Why?

The Idea Strategizer is based upon the work of Mintzberg et al. (1998) who argue that strategy can be conceptualized either as a matter of unique and valuable positioning in a specific market or as a perspective taken by the strategist. This method helps the students evaluate the strategic potential of their ideas, which is an important step on the way to selecting one or two valuable ideas, which can be developed further.

How?

The students place their ideas into the matrix according to whether they represent a new position in the market and/or a new perspective. Hence, if the students have an idea that represents a new perspective, but an old position, they place this idea into the lower right corner of the matrix as in the example below, where the strategist has taken a new perspective upon the Big Mac and serves it as a Big Mac á table. Based on this grouping of ideas, the students select the ideas that have the best strategic potential.

Tips

The students can also use the matrix to think about and sketch alternative strategic positions and perspectives for their ideas by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each of the four strategic approaches. This enables the students to think about alternative strategies for the realization of their ideas. Thus, the Idea Strategizer can also work as a divergent method for further idea generation.

Literature

Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds of Strategic Management. Harlow: The Free Press