About the strategic model

Defining a strategy is an essential step in ensuring the integration alignment necessary to succeed from an M&A transaction. Wasserstein refers to this as the core of merger business.  In his book he refers to some well known models: The McKinsey Formulation, The Boston Consulting Group Model, Michael Porter’s Five forces and Hamel and Prahalad’s Core Competencies.

During my MBA studies I have been exposed to these theories as well as another interesting model developed by Dr. Dong-Sung Cho called ser-M:

s - subject (Leadership)

e - environment (Industry)

r - resources (Core competences)

M - mechanism (Origin/source of the process).

This model introduces a new paradigm in strategic management planning.  This dynamic theory integrates the three existing strategies that explain the causes of business success in a more comprehensive and systematic fashion using a central concept called Environment Creating Mechanism.

The author of this model argues that to sustain a competitive advantage in an industry, a company must not only adapt to its environment but also actively create a new environment.  The idea is to facilitate the effective process of interactions among the subject, the environment and the resources over a long-term period through the mechanism.

This environment creating mechanism enables the organization to self-generate and self-change forming a unique system that is difficult or often practically impossible to imitate.  With this system in place the organization creates an environment that allows for prosperity and long-run sustainable competitive advantage.

Interesting stuff isn’t it?