What should our strategy be? (6)

Sometimes a client can be presented with a problem or an opportunity that he recognizes requires action on his part, but the situation is so new or his knowledge so sparse that he does not know how to go about either setting clearly defined objectives or working out the steps for achieving them. He might, for example, be in an industry whose technology and markets are changing rapidly, he recognizes the turmoil as an opportunity to move out of stagnant areas and into growing ones, but he simply doesn't know what they are likely to be.

In this case a consultant is called in to analyze the industry md identify the key factors for success in it, determine where the client is strong in relation to the key factors, determine how effectively and profitably he would be able to compete given those strengths, and then work out what he thinks the client's wisest strategy would be.

The top point of the document is then a statement of that strategy, with the Key Line either delineating the steps to achieve it or, as shown above, explaining the strategy with a deductive argument, where the steps go under the final box.