In a global recession, executives face new challenges and opportunities in strategy formulation and the first alternatives to come to mind are cost reduction and restructuring, but these will result in poor performance and place the firm at a disadvantage in the coming economic recovery. Executives need to focus on the growth opportunities and many executives may use the Ansoff Matrix to analyse their strategies. This paper addresses some of the concerns and ambiguities that are imbedded in the Ansoff Matrix, clarifies them, and proposes an extended Ansoff Matrix, giving eight growth vector strategy alternatives that are easier to use