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7 Measurement and control – strike a new balance between control
and empowerment:
� Beware of the behavioural implications of budgets.
� Implement a strategic measurement system such as the
Balanced Scorecard.
8 Shareholder value – measure the new source of wealth creation:
intellectual assets:
� Understand the changing shape of share values and the
need for new yardsticks to measure performance.
� Seek solutions to the problem of valuing intangible assets
such as intellectual capital.
� Ensure that capital expenditures go beyond managing
information to improving its productivity.
9 Productivity – encourage and reward value creating work:
� Beware pursuit of the lowest unit cost.
� Adopt pursuit of value adding work.
� Look for new ways to measure productivity.
10 Transformation – innovation:
� Create perpetual strategy processes.
� Question the value of management education.
Some of the more common practices and processes used are
summarized in Table 7.2.
These practices can be supported by a large number of tools
(Skyrme identifies over 80 categories), many of which are
themselves computer based. All of these strategic processes are
knowledge based and must form part of a perpetual strategy
process that is continually fed by a competitive intelligence
process. This may result in frequent changes in strategy, in
tactics and in constant reengineering of the organization.
7.8 Dynamic strategies for virtual
organizations
Knowledge is so dependent on individuals that a rigid distinction
between strategy and organization is inappropriate and,
indeed, successful knowledge strategies involve almost every
aspect of a company’s organizational design. This is not
something that can be lightly undertaken according to a simple
set of rules that fits all circumstances. But this policy can be part
of a staged growth development that should be implemented
through an ongoing process of trial and testing, of experimenting
with products and processes, of seeking to adapt for the
better rather than keeping a model that proved its worth once.