Task 4: Implementation and executive Strategy

What is the Goal of strategy implementation ?

The goal is to unit the total organization behind the strategy

Ways to lead the implementation process

• Make decisions authoritatively OR on the basis of consensus
• Delegate much or little
• etc...

Strategy implementation is fundamentally an administrative activity and includes the following components :

• building an organization capable of carrying out the strategy successfully
  • Specific tasks :
1. Creating a strategy-supportive organization structure
2. Developing the skills and distinctive competence upon which strategy is grounded
3. Selecting people for key positions
• Establishing a Strategy-supportive budget
• Specific tasks :
1. Seeing that each organizational unit has the budget to carry out its part of the strategic plan
2. Ensuring that resources are used efficiently to get "the biggest bang for the buck"
• Installing internal administrative support systems
  • Specific tasks :
    1. Establishing and administering strategy-facilitating policies and procedures
    2. Developing administrative and operating systems to give the organization strategy-critical capabilities
    3. Generating the right strategic information on a timely basis
• Devising rewards and incentives that are linked to objectives and satrategy
  • Specific tasks :
1. Motivating organizational units and individuals to accomplish strategy
2. Designing rewards and incentives that induce the disired employee performance
3. Promoting results orientation
• Shaping the corporate culture (*) to fit the strategy
  • Specific tasks :
1. Established shared values
2. Setting ethical standards
3. Creating a strategy-supportive work environment
4. Building a spirit of high performance into the culture
• Exercising strategic leadership :
  • Specific tasks :
    1. Leading the process of shaping values, moulding culture and energizing strategy accomplishment
    2. Keeping the organization innovative, responsive, and opportunistic
    3. Dealing with the politics of strategy, coping with power struggles, and bulding consensus
    4. Enforcing ethical standards and behavior
    5. Initiating corrective actions to improve strategy execution

(*) What is Culture ?

Culture is a pattern of beliefs, values and expectations shared by members of an organization.

These beliefs, values and expectations produce norms that can serve as a social control mechanism of an organization.

 

Sources :

Gaining and Soustaining Competitive Advantage, Jay. B. Barney, Addison-Wesley, 1997

Contemporary Strategic Analysis, Robert M. Grant, 3th edition, Blackwell, 1998

Strategic Management, Professor Raphael Amit, Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Strategy formulation and complementation : Tasks of the General Manager, by Arthur A. Thompson, Jr & A.J. Strickland III, 1992

Page publisher : Bernard Jaquier, Professor in Economics and Finance, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, 2003