Were they not so insulated, schools wouldn't need to resort to grades, and it wouldn't be so tough to cost-justify corporate training. Even organization operates on a Theory ofthe Business , that is, a set of assumptions as to what its business is, what its objectives are, how it defines results, who its customers are, what the customers value and pay for. Strategy converts this Theory of the Business into performance. Its purpose is to enable an organization to achieve its desired results in an unpredictable environment. For strategy allows an organization to be purposefully opportunistic.
Strategy is also the test of the Theory of the Business.
Failure of the strategy to produce the expected results is usually the first serious indication that the Theory of the Business needs to be thought through again. And unexpected successes are often also the first indications that the Theory of the Business needs to be rethought. Otherwise, there is no way to tell what genuinely advances the organization toward its desired results, and what is diversion and splintering of resources. There are indeed FIVE phenomena that can be considered certainties. They are, however, different from anything present strategies consider.