Hambrick and Fredrickson's Strategy Diamond

© iStockphoto
woodygraphs

Use the four sides of Hambrick & Fredrickson's Diamond to create a powerful strategy.

What's your company's strategy? Is it to be "bigger and better," "increase revenue" or "go global"? If so, you may not have a strategy at all...

"Strategy" may be a familiar word to you. It's often used in business and, yet, it's probably one of the most misused and misunderstood terms around. Here's why: aspiring to become "the best…" or "the most successful…," or to "go global" are not strategies, they're goals.

So, what does "strategy" actually mean? And how do you develop an effective one for your organization?

This article explores these questions and more, by thinking about strategy using Hambrick and Fredrickson's Strategy Diamond.

About the Tool

Your company's strategy is central to what it can accomplish. Put simply, "strategy" is a statement of how your company plans to succeed in its market, however that is defined.

Professors Donald Hambrick and James Fredrickson have studied strategic planning extensively. They published their Strategy Diamond, shown in figure 1 below, in the November 2001 edition of "The Academy of Management Executive." ...