Broadly speaking, CSO responsibilities fall into three categories—strategy development, resource allocation, and strategy execution—but activities within these three categories vary widely. (See Exhibit 1.) Most CSOs are responsible for identification of growth opportunities (84 percent of the executives we interviewed), strategic planning (82 percent), and M&A and divestments (82 percent). Other common responsibilities include monitoring long-term trends and outlook, gathering competitive intelligence, driving cross-business-unit initiatives, and sustaining business model innovation. Far fewer CSOs are involved with identifying cost improvement opportunities and managing postmerger integration (23 and 20 percent, respectively).
What do "strategy" people do, really?