MERC Guide

Strategy is one of those funny words, for some people it is a synonym for “important”, for others it means “long-term planning”. But a strategy should guide your business day to day, and should be something your employees at every level understand. It is both something you design, and something you execute.

A good strategy is a framework for decision making that tells us how we expect to generate competitive advantage and then helps everyone in our organisation do their bit to achieve it.

Change tends to render strategies obsolete, or at least to pressure test them in new areas. A strategy that was developed post-COVID, might not work with the Strait of Hormuz being blocked. If you want to engage proactively with the energy transition, you might need to consider what strategy helps you do that.

The sorts of things that are worth considering here are:

• Strategy Review
  A formal strategy review, bringing in external facilitators and taking the time to gather your leadership team, can help you understand how your strategy needs to change to meet the critical challenges facing your business.

• Financial Modelling & Analysis
  Decarbonising your fleet is not as simple as just buying new boats. Careful analysis and modelling of the financial options available to you can ensure that the transition is a successful one.

• Network Design
  For ferry operators looking at how electrification might impact your services, getting experts in to help you design your network is an ideal way to generate insights about how your strategy might need to adapt.