Coherence

Using such a cost advantage to good effect will require the alignment of many actions and policies.

The actions within the kernel of strategy should be coherent.  That is, the resource deployments, policies, and maneuvers that are undertaken should be consistent and coordinated.  The coordination of action provides the most basic source of leverage of advantage available in strategy.

In a fight, the simplest strategy is a feint to the left and then punch from the right, a coordination of movement in time and space.  The simplest business strategy is to use knowledge gleaned by sales and marketing specialists to affect capacity expansion or product design decisions--coordination across functions and knowledge bases.  

Even when an organization has an apparently simple and basic source of advantage, such as being a low-cost producer, a close examination will always reveal a raft of interrelated mutually supporting policies that, in this case, keep costs low. Furthermore, it will be found that these costs are lower only for a certain type of products delivered under certain conditions.  Using such a cost advantage to good effect will require the alignment of many actions and policies.

ACTION  POINT: Ensure your actions are aligned with your policies.