The April 28, 2011 edition of The Wall Street Journal shared the results of a survey of 527 senior decision-makers, asking them, “What will be the focus of your company’s growth strategies in the next year?”  Here were the top six growth strategy areas named:

·         Expanding target markets in the U.S. (named by 56% of respondents)

·         Up-selling or cross-selling into existing customer bases (46%)

·         Expanding/diversifying product and service offerings (46%)

·         Expanding target markets globally (34%)

·         Pursuing/expanding third-party alliances within the U.S. (18%)

·         Pursuing/expanding third-party alliances internationally (13%)

In what ways can you apply the things you are learning to drive greater impact for your firm in these growth strategies, and others?