Exam Summary Strategy Implementation
The Lectures & Sample Questions
1
,Lecture 1 – Introduction:
What makes strategy implementation difficult:
- Different scope than analysis
- Need for coherence
- Complexity – depending on the number of interactions and elements
Strategic planning is the process of deciding on the programs that the organization will undertake on
the approximate amount of resources that will be allocated to each program over the next years.
The focus of strategic planning is not on strategy formulation but on strategy implementation.
The strategic management process:
Strategy creation:
- Analysis and planning
- Thinking
- Initiate
- At the top
- Entrepreneurial
- Goal-setting
Strategy implementation:
- Execution
- Doing
- Follow through
- Top-to-bottom
- Operational
- Goal-achieving
For strategy implementation, there must be alignment between the strategic goals and:
- People
- Culture
- Leadership
- Structure
- Incentives
- Supporting activities
This can be checked with an alignment checklist.
2
,Requirements for strategy implementation:
- Knowledge – information
- Motivation – Control – Organization – Change management
- Performance
Lecture 2 – Change management:
Leadership is one of the alignments needed to implement strategic goals.
Why many change programs fail:
- Lack of clearly defined and/or achievable milestones and objectives to measure progress
- Lack of commitment by senior management
- Poor communication
- Employee resistance
- Insufficient funding
Organizations incorporate change in steps/phases due to human nature that people need stability.
Strategic drift occurs when the strategy pursued by a business no longer fits the environment:
Change fatigue = tiredness about things that are not stable, but constantly changing
Nature What changes? Example
Merger / acquisition Products, markets, work organization, Daimler – Chrysler
structure, power structure, culture,...
Strategy Goals and resources ‘Intel Inside’ – build a brand image
for microprocessors
Governance/authority Power structure Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE)
/ Vivendi
Methods, tools Work organization Ford (Total quality)
Market evolution / Products, markets, work organization, Kodak (Digitization)
Technology structure,…
Legislation Environment, etc… Brexit
Restructuration Power structure, resources Teva France (downscaling 50%)
3
, The challenge of organizational change:
- As the rate of change in the business environment continues to increase, the premium on
organization’s being able to change is growing ever more significant.
- Organizations are built to be stable. As a result, most efforts at designing and managing
organizational change are dismal failures.
Formulaic approach to strategic change:
Off-the-Shelf Solutions
or Change Agent's Implementation Strategy Change Outcomes
Preferences
Context-sensitive approach to strategic change:
Change Context Implementation Strategy Change Outcomes
Two basic types of change:
- Reactive change – closing a performance gap (what is and what should be)
- Proactive change – closing an opportunity gap (what is and what could be)
Organizational Change Phases of Lewin:
4
The Lectures & Sample Questions
1
,Lecture 1 – Introduction:
What makes strategy implementation difficult:
- Different scope than analysis
- Need for coherence
- Complexity – depending on the number of interactions and elements
Strategic planning is the process of deciding on the programs that the organization will undertake on
the approximate amount of resources that will be allocated to each program over the next years.
The focus of strategic planning is not on strategy formulation but on strategy implementation.
The strategic management process:
Strategy creation:
- Analysis and planning
- Thinking
- Initiate
- At the top
- Entrepreneurial
- Goal-setting
Strategy implementation:
- Execution
- Doing
- Follow through
- Top-to-bottom
- Operational
- Goal-achieving
For strategy implementation, there must be alignment between the strategic goals and:
- People
- Culture
- Leadership
- Structure
- Incentives
- Supporting activities
This can be checked with an alignment checklist.
2
,Requirements for strategy implementation:
- Knowledge – information
- Motivation – Control – Organization – Change management
- Performance
Lecture 2 – Change management:
Leadership is one of the alignments needed to implement strategic goals.
Why many change programs fail:
- Lack of clearly defined and/or achievable milestones and objectives to measure progress
- Lack of commitment by senior management
- Poor communication
- Employee resistance
- Insufficient funding
Organizations incorporate change in steps/phases due to human nature that people need stability.
Strategic drift occurs when the strategy pursued by a business no longer fits the environment:
Change fatigue = tiredness about things that are not stable, but constantly changing
Nature What changes? Example
Merger / acquisition Products, markets, work organization, Daimler – Chrysler
structure, power structure, culture,...
Strategy Goals and resources ‘Intel Inside’ – build a brand image
for microprocessors
Governance/authority Power structure Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE)
/ Vivendi
Methods, tools Work organization Ford (Total quality)
Market evolution / Products, markets, work organization, Kodak (Digitization)
Technology structure,…
Legislation Environment, etc… Brexit
Restructuration Power structure, resources Teva France (downscaling 50%)
3
, The challenge of organizational change:
- As the rate of change in the business environment continues to increase, the premium on
organization’s being able to change is growing ever more significant.
- Organizations are built to be stable. As a result, most efforts at designing and managing
organizational change are dismal failures.
Formulaic approach to strategic change:
Off-the-Shelf Solutions
or Change Agent's Implementation Strategy Change Outcomes
Preferences
Context-sensitive approach to strategic change:
Change Context Implementation Strategy Change Outcomes
Two basic types of change:
- Reactive change – closing a performance gap (what is and what should be)
- Proactive change – closing an opportunity gap (what is and what could be)
Organizational Change Phases of Lewin:
4
