What are the principal managerial components of the strategy implementing / strategy executing process?
“Strategy is the business word for game plan. All businesses have strategies, either planned or unplanned.” (What is a business strategy, p. 2, para. 3). Before the implementation of any strategy, a company should analyze the strategy to be followed.
The analysis can be done by various proven methods like the PESTEL analysis, the SWOT analysis, the Five Forces analysis, Market Segmentation, Directional Policy Matrix, Competitor analysis, or Critical Success Factor analysis. Strategic audits are normally conducted to enable the management to establish a match between the internal operations of the firm and the business environment it operates in (Porter, 1996, pp. 61-78).
The management should then understand the stakeholders’ expectations, identify the strategic options, and evaluate and select the appropriate strategic options. Once the strategy is analyzed and selected, the implementation part comes. This is the most important and vital part of the process. The following simple illustration shows the three main factors of strategic management mechanism.
There are certain basic requirements for the realization of strategic implementation. Following are the main elements:
An efficient leader: In order to keep the efforts of the masses concentrated in one direction i.e. achieving the goal, an efficient leader is a must. Without a leader, the efforts of the employees will be scattered and the motive will not be achieved. An efficient leader will have the motivation injected in the employees and they will work as a team and teamed efforts seldom fail.
Execution of the strategy is another important element of strategic implementation. The strategy should be executed in such a manner that all the employees have a part to play in the execution. Resources required for the execution should be put in place prior to the execution. People should be given responsibilities and should be deemed answerable for any lapse in the execution.
Even if both the aforementioned points are adhered to, the third element, ‘Performance Management’, will be required to complete the circle of achieving the aims. Having Performance Management means having control over the performance of departments and individuals. Proper communication is a must in performance management. The concerned department or individual should be properly conveyed the expectations. Targets should be given to departments or individuals. Proper monitoring should be done whether the departments or individuals are performing up to the desired level or not.
The best way to judge the realization of strategic implementation is to monitor the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The management should keep an eye on whether the Key Performance Indicators are being met or whether the employees are working towards meeting the requirements of the Key Performance Indicators. But prior to this, it should be ensured that the employees are well aware of the company’s mission and vision statements.
Identify and briefly discuss the three facets of building an organization capable of proficient strategic execution
Accomplishing and executing any strategy is an action inspired by operation spinning around the control of individuals and the business procedure. “The administrative aim is to create the linking between the way things are done and what it takes for effective strategy execution” (Chanetta, n.d., p. 20). The managerial stress is on changing over key plans into achievements and desired outcomes. Management’s management of the methodology of bringing about and executing the selected technique could be thought of as being efficacious if and when the organization accomplishes the desired objectives pertaining to financial and strategic expectations and shows exceptional advancement in making its vital vision an actuality. Deficiencies in the exhibition indicate frail methodology, frail execution, or both.
The area for managers to begin accomplishing and executing another or diverse technique is with a testing appraisal of what the organization must do diversely and in a better way in order to achieve the desired results. They might as well then think specifically about how to make the indispensable in-house transformations as fast as could reasonably be expected.
The execution of a strategy is quite similar to the making of a strategy. The execution should not be considered to be the job of the management alone. The whole team, including the management, managers, administration, and the workforce, has to sincerely contribute to the proper execution of a strategy. People at the higher posts have to continuously rely on their subordinates for timely updates on the progress of the execution. “Usually good strategy execution requires a team effort from the entire management team” (Strategy Execution Process, 2012, para. 2).
In order to achieve successful execution of the strategy, organizations should be built by bringing together the proficiency, potential, and power of resources. Adequate funds and workforce should be assigned for the execution of the strategy. “If the firm is to accomplish strategic objectives, top management must provide the people, equipment, facilities, and other resources to carry out its part of the strategic plan” (Barnat, 2007).
The policies of the organizations should be favorable for the execution, rather than impeding. The execution team should be rewarded for the timely and orderly execution of the strategy. Even the working environment should complement the execution process.
Who are the owners of your organization? What is their role in the strategic management of the organization? Describe your organization’s culture. Include examples of your corporate culture in action. How would you go about changing your organizational culture?
The owners of our association are the Clark brothers. Both of them are management graduates and as such are well aware of the management policies. They are down to earth and have a good rapport with all the staff members. Despite being the owners – and having all the rights to make decisions – they never take any important decision on their own. Managers from all the departments are consulted before deciding anything.
All reasonable suggestions are considered while reaching any decision. The managers are advised to consult their subordinates for their feedback and the same is presented before the management. In a nutshell, the whole organization is involved in decision making. The best part of our organization is that whenever any new strategy is introduced, we accept it happily because we know that it has our inputs as well. Employees are likely to be more efficient in implementing a strategy that they support (Boyes & Melvin, 2007, p. 101). Neilson, Martin, and Powers (2008) are of the opinion that “Execution is the result of thousands of decisions made every day by employees acting according to the information that they have and their own self-interest” (para. 2).
The culture within our organization has all the seven core values namely, leadership, enthusiasm, reliability, teamwork, multiplicity, excellence, and answerability. Our organization has a diverse workforce from all over the world. In our organization, operating in a multicultural world is considered to be a crucial aspect of sustainability. A very good example of excellent diversity management in our organization is the promotion criteria.
Despite being an American company, our President (marketing) is an Indian and the production manager is Chinese. There are several other important portfolios that are held by expatriates. The American staff doesn’t have any problem with this and there is always an amicable atmosphere within our organization.
As far as changing the organizational culture of our organization is concerned, I would like to introduce a system where promotions are made after the successful completion of some tests. Presently, the performance of employees is considered for promotion. In my opinion, performance is more practical than theory. But for even better performance, exact knowledge of theory is also very important. So if clearing tests are made mandatory for promotions, I am sure our organization’s performance will become better.
How are you going to make sense of all these as you manage your future career? What will you do to develop your strategic thinking capability? How would you describe this educational experience to your boss, friends, or work cohorts? Was it worth it?
I have learned a lot about strategic management in my present job. The surrounding environment has been a source of inspiration to me. In addition to performing my professional duties, I have also been able to learn a lot about different cultures. I will try to inculcate all such things in my behavior and approach. As I mentioned earlier, having a thorough knowledge of theory is as important as the practices, I plan to do some management course so that I may put into practice all the theories and principles of management. By doing such a course, my mindset will surely be guided toward efficient management.
I will narrate the whole experience of writing this project to my boss, friends, and work cohorts. They will definitely be inspired by the outcome. It is quite possible that some of them might not be aware of the theoretical aspects of strategic management. They might be following the general practice. By knowing the theory, they will surely benefit by applying the theory in their daily dealings. For me as well, this project has been quite helpful and informative. It is surely going to take me to greater heights in my career.
References
Barnat, R. (2007). A general framework for strategy implementation. Web.
Boyce, W. & Melvin, M. (2007). Microeconomics. New York: Cengage Learning.
Chaneta, I. (n.d.). Strategic Management Process. Journal of Comprehensive Research, 5, 17-25.
Neilson, G. Martin, K. & Powers, E. (2008). The secrets to successful strategy execution. Web.
Porter, M. (1996). What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, 1(1), 61-78.
Strategy Execution Process. (2012). Web.
What is business strategy. (n.d.). Web.