The art of effective strategic management
Malta has managed to register a surplus in years 2016, 2017 and 2018 and stood as one of the best performing economies in Europe. Malta is looking forward to strike another surplus for the coming year 2019.
Aquestion that bears into people’s mind is “How is this possible for Malta?” Sadly, Malta was being undervalued and it was difficult for people to picture Malta as a potential hub, but that doesn’t mean that this was impossible.
The past teaches us valuable lessons while the future embraces us with courage and hope. Hope for a new vision and courage for a new investment, in essence, an ultimate goal for a better Malta.
A useful technique that it is commonly used by successful entrepreneurs is the SWOT Analysis which was invented by Albert S. Humphrey in the 1960s and 1970s.
The SWOT analysis is used for the understanding of strengths and weaknesses, which often are internal to an organization, and the opportunities and threats which generally relate to external factors.
Malta’s main strength is its location in terms of its geographical position and its favourable climate while a weakness is its size.
Opportunities could be the vision to quickly identify possible new markets and enact through innovation, while a threat can be by having possible competitors entering this new market. Therefore, it is very important to keep monitoring our performance and what’s going around, in order to enforce our position and remain the main pillar within such a market.
The government identified new opportunities within the Fintech and Blockchain markets and, in fact, in the budget for 2019, the government announced that a feasibility study on the application of 5G technology will be undertaking while setting up Tech.mt to promote Malta as an effective centre of activity for the digital economy and disruptive technologies.
From the other perspective, identified threats could be the fact that there is no regulation yet in Malta on such a subject and people will refrain themselves from investing in such a market due to unaddressed gaps in between that may lead to potential risks.
However, the government was aware enough about those gaps that he addressed them by establishing the Malta Digital Innovation Authority to regulate and certify Blockchain technology and by doing so addressing the threat accordingly.
A strength within this area is that Malta is a welcoming business environment as the process of staff employment, start-up businesses, remittance of revenue and commencement of operations from Malta is a lot more straightforward than in many other jurisdictions. The Maltese tax regime which is fully compliant with the EU is also very attractive.
Another strength is within the Maltese people themselves as individuals, as Maltese people are very hard working people, highly educated and are complimented with local talent and multi-lingual skills.
A weakness within this country is that it lacks enough space in terms of geographical land to welcome and accommodate everyone.
Certain areas within this country, have been transformed into ‘busy’ commercial business centres, such as Sliema, in order to attract and make space for foreign investments that are needed in sustaining Malta within its economic growth, but again there are various other areas that they are ‘quiet’ residential areas such as Xgħajra.
Where certain weaknesses are difficult to eliminate due to their strong impact on essential economic sustainability of the country, then a balance should be maintained. In this case, Xgħajra is attributed with sea shores just as Sliema, but their environment is opposite of one another, however a balance is maintained because Xgħajra makes up for what Sliema lacks and vice-versa.
In Budget 2019, the government announced that a tree will be planted for every new car. In actual facts, cars cannot be eliminated from the country at this point in time; however, we can control their pollution by planting trees that will provide for purer air.
An effective strategy needs to be intensively understood and clearly shared within an organization, therefore as a leader one must count on his members to make operational decisions that are aligned with the desired strategic direction.
Having different directions often leads to conflicts and disruption from the ultimate goal. Effective strategy results usually forms from the variety inputs of a diverse group.
Members in the strategic decision making must be composed enough to voice contrary opinions. Discussion is a must, as contrary opinions will make the leader reflect better on the situation and possibly manage to also identify new means or ways that can be sought in order to acquire better results.
An effective strategy shall allow flexibility in order to be capable to adjust according to the challenges faced and adapt easily to the changing circumstances.
Resistance to change can lead us to loss of opportunities and competitive advantage. Realtime and on-going information is key to keep updated with the market changes that are happening during the course while taking into consideration the current and future demands as well.
A thorough and deep analysis of both the external environment and the internal capabilities of the organization will result in an effective strategy. This is the essence of the SWOT analysis previously mentioned here above. The SWOT analysis ensures that intelligence is not dormant, but instead is immediately mined for insight in order to be transmitted into strategic and operational decision-making.
Finally, an effective strategy should immediately identify areas where the company can obtain competitive advantage. Having said this, Malta must also maintain parity with competitors in the ordinary matters. Like for example, maintaining standards of work equal to that of our competitors.
However, Malta must be world class at something that makes Malta different from other countries. In doing so, Malta is gaining excellence in various business sectors and this clearly proves that an effective strategic management is rapidly into play by this government.