THE POWER OF STRATEGIC FIT.

Companies that don't align the essential elements of their strategy won't be able to create sufficient value for their firms and their stakeholders to sustain long-term success. Too many leaders, facing heavy pressure to increase the worth of their company, use simplistic "spreadsheet strategies": They set financial goals that will meet analysts' expectations and find ways to back into them. They don't address the essential elements of strategy or improve the fit and synergies among them. Drawing on the example of Self Esteem Brands—a fitness, health, and wellness company—the authors, partners at Bain & Company, show how to create a cohesive strategy that unleashes the power of strategic fit. They identify seven strategic factors: the mental model, purpose and ambitions, stakeholder value creation, macro forces, markets and products, competitive advantages, and the operating model. And they explain how aligning them generates beneficial multiplier effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]