The business strategy will be implemented through the concerted actions of all staff working within a partnership framework. The Board will set objectives and parameters, for the business strategy implementation, and will review progress in achieving objectives. Management will take ownership, give leadership and agree with staff clearly defined roles and responsibilities in achieving targets and milestones. It is also recognized that resources issues may affect the full implementation of the strategy.
- To assist management in carrying out its role in delivering the strategy and whatever may evolve in the future, an integrated management development programme, with a particular focus on business planning and performance management, will a particular focus on business planning and performance management, will be provided.
- It is anticipated that other issues will emerge as the process evolves. The project groups will comprise of management and staff, at all levels, who have expressed an interest, and who have some expertise/knowledge, in the topic areas.
- A Steering Group will be established, through the Partnership Framework, to set terms of reference, to agree resources and deadlines, to monitor and support progress and to ensure the integration of project group activity and outputs into progressing the organization’s strategy.
- At Unit, Regional and Divisional level, annual business plans will be developed and these will also draw on the work of the project groups. These plans will be directly related to the Priority Goals and overall organizational strategy.
The job of strategy execution is to convert strategies plans into actions and good results. The rest of successful strategy execution is whether actual organization performance matches or exceeds the targets spelled out in the strategic plan. Shortfalls in performance signal weak strategy, weak execution, or both.
In deciding how to implement a new or revised strategy, managers have to determine what internal conditions are needed to execute the strategic plan successfully, then they must create these conditions as rapidly as practical. The process of implementing and executing strategy involves:
- Building an organization with the competencies,capabilities, and resource strengths to carry out the strategy successfully.
- Developing budgets to steel ample resources into those value chain activities critical to strategic success.
- Establishing strategy — supportive policies and procedures.
- Instituting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement in how value chain activities are performed.
- Installing support systems that enable company personnel to carry out their strategies roles successfully day in and day our.
- Tying rewards and incentives to die achievement of performance objectives and good strategy execution.
- Relating a strategy-supportive work environment and corporate culture.
- Exerting the internal leadership needed to drive implementation forward and to keep improving on how the strategy is being executed.
The challenge is to create a series of right fits (1) between strategy and the organization’s competencies, capabilities, and structure; (2) between strategy and budgetary allocations; (3) between strategy and policy; (4) between strategy and internal support systems; (5) between strategy and the reward structure; and (6) between strategy and the corporate culture. The tighter the fits, the more powerful strategy execution becomes and the more likely targeted performance can actually be achieves.
Business strategy implementation is not just a top-management function; it is a job for the whole management team. All managers function as strategy implementers in their respective areas of authority and responsibility. All managers have to consider what actions to take in their areas to achieve the intended results-they each need an action agenda.
The three major organization-building actions are (1) filling key positions with able people, (2) building the core competencies and organizational capabilities need to perform value chain activities proficiently, and (3) structuring the internal work effort and melding it with the collaborative efforts of strategic allies. Selecting able people for key position tends to be one of the earliest strategy implementation steps because it takes a full complement of capable managers and employees to get changes in place and functioning smoothly.
Building strategy—critical core competencies and competitive capabilities not easily imitated by rivals is one of the best ways to gain a competitive advantage. Core competencies emerge from skills and activities performed at different points in the value chain that, when linked, create unique organizational capability. The key to leveraging a company’s core competencies into long-term competitive advantage is to concentrate more effort and more talent than revivals competitive advantage is to concentrate more efforts and more talent than revivals of on strengthening and deepening organizational competencies and capabilities.
The multi-skill, multi-activity character of core competencies and capabilities makes achieving dominating depth an exercise in (1) managing human skills, knowledge bases, and intellect, and (2) coordinating and networking the efforts of different work groups, departments, and collaborative allies. It is a task that senior management must lead and be deeply involved in chiefly because senior managers who are in the best position to guide and enforce the necessary networking and cooperation among individuals, groups departments, and external allies.
Building organizational capabilities means more than just strengthening what a company already does. There are times when management has to be proactive in developing new competencies to complement the company’s existing resource base and promote more proficient strategy execution. It is useful hare to think of companies as a bundle of evolving competencies and capabilities, with the organization-building challenge being one of developing new capabilities and strengthening existing ones in a fashion calculated to achieve competitive advantage through superior strategy execution. One capability-building issue is whether to develop the desired competencies and capabilities internally or whether is makes more sense to outsource them by partnering with key suppliers or forming strategic alliances. Decisions about whether to outsource or develop in-house capability often turn on the issues of (1) what can be safely delegated to outside suppliers versus what internal capabilities are key to the company’s long-term success and (2) whether noncritical activities an be outsourced more effectively or efficiently than they can be performed internally. Either way, though, calls, for action. Outsourcing means launching initiative relationships. Developing the capabilities in-house means hiring new personnel with skills and experience relevant to he desired organizational competence/capability, then linking the individual skills/know-how to form organizational capability.