A Strategic Business Unit (SBU) can be defined as a profit centre within a company that is organised as an autonomous unit and that corresponds roughly to one particular market. SBUs are typically responsible individually for developing, manufacturing and marketing their own product or group of products. Each SBU will therefore have a strategy that is concerned with creating and maintaining a competitive advantage for the specific business unit. If your company is made up of several SBUs that each consists of a number of different segments, it will be easier to start a new BusinessMap exercise for each SBU. There is no right or wrong way of doing it - but keep it as simple as possible!

The division of a Company or Strategic Business Unit (SBU) into sub-segments. By analysing individual sub-segments rather than the overall Company or SBU you will get a clearer picture of what is needed to succeed.Within your business, there is almost certainly a lot of different businesses or segments. The first step of the BusinessMap exercise is to define these different segments. The segmentation process is crucial, as the understanding of your various segments will inevitably influence profitability. Generally 80% of the profits of a company come from 20% of its products. It is thus essential to identify the profitable 20%, as this will allow you to increase the amount of time spent in this segment. Careful segmentation may also make it easier to identify different market opportunities.

A business segment is anything that comprises a separate product, service or activity; or anything going to one group of homogeneous customers as opposed to another group; or anything where the main competitor you face is different; or anything that may have different profitability. Different segments may be defined by any of the following:

Having determined your future level of investment and focus, BusinessMap calculates your Simulated Profit figure.

Goals indicate where a business wants to go; strategy answers how to get there. (P.Kotler, Marketing Management). A plan which decides how a company will proceed in the future; usually the responsibility of top management. When formulating your main strategy you should take into account both the external variables facing your company, and your company‘s capacity for change.

Is your strategy defensive or offensive? Companies already in strong positions in their markets may pursue defensive strategies to enable them to hold the ground they have already won. For market leaders, the major objective may not be to build but to maintain its current position against competitors. However, a defence strategy can be very aggressively pursued. It is important to draw up a strategy that ensures a fit between the market and the competencies and assets the company can deploy to serve its customers more effectively than competitors.

In BusinessMap we also ask you to consider your strategy's suitability, feasibility and acceptability. Does the strategy exploit company strengths and market opportunities? Overcome weaknesses and environmental threats? Create competitive advantages? Can the strategy be funded? Can you secure employee backing?

The purpose of the SWOT analysis is twofold. First, it seeks to identify the most significant factors, both internal and external, affecting the company and its markets. It provides a summary of the key issues. Second, by looking at where strengths and weaknesses align with opportunities and threats it can help strategy formulation. The company can begin to see where its strengths might be deployed and where its weaknesses leave it vulnerable to market change.

The SWOT analysis is an examination of your segment‘s strengths and weaknesses in relation to possible opportunities and threats. In BusinessMap the SWOT analysis is to some extent a summary of your previous findings, i.e. the questions assigned a higher score in Market Position may provide you with some input when listing your strengths and when completing Opportunities and Threats you should think back to your list of competitors and the identified market trends. Be aware that an apparent opportunity may evaporate when considered in the light of the internal resources. Assessing your internal strengths and weaknesses also depends on drawing various comparisons:

The threat of a new organisation entering the industry is high when it is easy for an organisation to enter the industry i.e. entry barriers are low. An organisation will look at how loyal customers are to existing products, how quickly they can achieve economy of scales, would they have access to suppliers, would government legislation prevent them or encourage them to enter the industry.

Are there alternative products that customers can purchase over your product that offer the same benefit for the same or less price? The threat of substitute is high when:

Understanding where, how and why value is created within your company and your markets is the best way to identify which of your activities and assets are distinctive enough to provide a platform for sustainable and profitable growth.

The word vision is often used as a synonym for mission, but the two concepts are very different. Mission is why a company exists, its role in life. Vision is a view of what the company could become, imagining a desired future. A Vision Statement can paint a picture which creates a sense of desire and builds commitment to reaching the vision. It should be an inspiring view of what a company could become, its lodestar, - the long term aspiration and ambitions of leaders. If you in BusinessMap are working on a sub level your vision are copied across from level 1. If you make changes to your vision on a sub level the vision entered on level 1 will also be changed.