Structuralist and Reconstructionist Strategies.

Strategy is all about how your organisation chooses to position itself to gain a competitive advantage. Whether you are just starting a business or you have been in the market for generations, employing a strategy that suits your business needs and capabilities is a must.

There are many different ways to go or select a strategy, but the first thing you need to do before selecting or deciding is, ask yourself and your team, "Who we are?", "How do we stand out?", and "Where do we want to go or see ourselves in future?"

Once you have an overall picture of your business objectives, narrow down your questions and focus on the more immediate goals that will help you get there. Make sure to stay realistic, keep your plan of action within the resources that you have, and specific market needs. 

According to Michael Porter and others, for identifying and executing strategy first we need to conduct an analysis of the environmental conditions in which they operate and then carve out a competitive advantage based on their distinctive core competencies. 

Some might get confused and question, "What strategy to select" or "how to approach?", and so on. 

There are two business strategies namely "Structuralist" and "Reconstructionist" which you can review to understand which one is the best fit for your business, but, the first thing before reviewing or deciding a strategy, you need understand each business strategy revolves around three propositions

1. Value - which attracts customers
2. Profit - which generates revenue
3. People - which successfully executes the value and profit propositions

Now let us look into the Strategies.

Structuralist:

In Structuralist strategy the organisation focuses its operations to fit existing industry or given market conditions. Depending on your industry (target), this could pose no issue, and also save time and money for creating your own infrastructure. 

Structuralist strategy determines the competitive advantage in that environment by following either a "Differentiation" or "Low Cost" strategy. Depending on the product or service offering, differentiation provides a stronger competitive advantage, whereas being a low-cost alternative requires more barriers to be broken, like customer brand loyalty.

• Example for Differentiation:
• Value: Develop a product with one distinguishing characteristics aligning with customer needs or preferences
• Profit: The product must be marketed effectively to increase customer attraction and generate revenue.
• People: Hire experienced and motivated staff who support the business strategy and strongly execute business operations which emphasise the brand's defining factors to gain momentum in consumer awareness and popularity.

• Example for Low Cost:
• Value: Develop a product with low production costs to offer consumers an inexpensive alternative.
• Profit: This product markets the low cost aspect of the product to attract consumers who have smaller spending budget.
• People: Hire experienced and motivated staff who break down any barriers surrounding existing brand popularity or brand loyalty to lead your business to success

Reconstructionist:

Unlike Structuralist strategy, which has dominated the business landscape for decades, the Reconstructionist approach strived to build industry standards and the market environment to suit business. It seeks to shape the environment. 

For businesses that cannot effectively fit into the existing industry structure or cannot outperform the competition to obtain market share, redefining the industry’s standards to benefit themselves should be considered. While modifying their infrastructure, it is in the business’s best interest to consider the delivery of differentiation and low cost to overpower competitors. The approach involves a balanced combination of both differentiation and low cost for business to achieve long-standing success. 

• Example for Differentiation and Low Cost:
• Value: Establish business operations that provide consumers new offering with unique advantages or benefits for a low cost.
• Profit: The offerings are created with low production costs, allowing for greater profit margins, and the organsiation instills multiple revenue generating streams to avoid reliance on just one.
• People: Hire experienced and motivated staff who supports and mobilise the reconstruction of the industry to lead the organisation to success

End Note:

Regardless of which strategy you choose to apply to your business, the chances of success for the strategy hinge on the company’s ability to develop and align three strategic “propositions” i.e., Value, Profit, and People. Based on the presumptions it is possible to “reverse the structure strategy sequence” and reshape the operating environment in a way that is most favourable to organisation.