The Right Strategic Style for Your Environment: The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

According to the article, Your Strategy Needs a Strategy, the majority of companies are all using very similar strategies regardless of the type of company they are or the business they are in. Often these strategies are the ones being taught in MBA programs and business schools across the country. Instead of using similar strategies, companies should be building strategies for their unique business situations, market and environment, ensuring that they are operating at optimal efficiencies.

The researchers suggest that there are four basic categories of strategies that companies fit into – Classical (taught in business schools), Adaptive, Shaping and Visionary – and finding the right type of strategy is key to building strategic success. These four categories take into account two key factors: predictability or how predictable is your business environment and malleability or how much can your company influence the environment your business operates in. If a company can get a handle on these two factors and figure out which strategic category they should be operating in, they can start to build a strategic plan based on actual factors that are in the environment, which the researchers suggest, leads to higher business success.

I work for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh which is a local non-profit organization that raises money and allocates it out to various local service orientated Jewish organizations. These organizations provide services for the Pittsburgh Jewish community ranging from education, refugee services, general social services and senior care. Not only are we often the main fundraising arm for the community but we are also the main driver for what the future of the Pittsburgh Jewish Community will look like in terms of services provided, programing and ensuring that all the needs of the community are being met.

Initially, I would have said that the Federation should have a classical strategy but upon further reflection, the Federation operates with a visionary strategy. Our business environment is highly predictable from year to year. We raise slightly more money each year and allocate out similar amounts to the same beneficiary agencies. There are only two aspects of our business that would be “unpredictable” which is raising money for natural disasters and the non-beneficiary agencies/programs applying for grants. Both are “unpredictable” in the sense that we do not know what is going to happen but we have established business practices to deal with it.

Partnered with our extremely high predictability is our high malleability. This is due to very low competition (other non-profits) and how we are in the position to be the driving force for the community’s long-term strategic plan. A great example of this is how we are currently in the process of combining all of the young adult programing in the community under one umbrella program housed at the Federation. Without the Federation spearheading this project, there would be many competing programs offered by competing organizations all with limited resources.

Your Strategy Needs a Strategy (Reeves, Love, and Tillmanns, Harvard Business Review, September 2012)