Implementing
Strategy
Chapter 7
Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you should be
able to:
 Translate strategic thought to organisational
action
 Effectively implement strategic plans
 Evaluate key strategic implementation issues
 Identify force fields analysis factors
 Appraise and execute the six factors to
successful strategy implementation
 Review the cultural web of an organisation
 Evaluate progress using the Balance
Scorecard
Introduction
To ensure success, the strategy must be
translated into carefully implemented action.
This means:
 The strategy must be translated into
guidelines for the daily activities of the firm’s
members
 The strategy and the firm must become one
– that is, the strategy must be reflected in
the way the firm organises its activities and
in the firm’s values, beliefs and tone.
 In implementing the strategy, the firm’s
managers must direct and control actions
Translating strategic thought
to organisational action
 Once corporate and business strategies have
been agreed upon and long-term objectives
set, the strategic management process
moves into a critical new phase – translating
strategic thought into organisational action.
 Managers successfully make this shift when
they do four things well
 Identify short-term objectives
 Initiate specific functional tactics
 Communicate policies that empower people in
the organisation
 Design effective rewards
Implementing Strategic
Plans
 Once strategies have been agreed on, the
next step is implementation; this is where
most failures occur.
 It is not uncommon for strategic plans to
be drawn up annually and to have no
impact on the organisation as a whole.
 A common method of implementation is
total communication effort
 This can involve slogans, posters, events,
memos, videos, websites, etc.
 A critical success factor is whether the entire
senior team appears to buy into the strategy
and models appropriate behaviours.
 Success appears to be more likely if the CEO
or a very visible leader is also a champion of
the strategy.
 Strategic measurement can help in
implementing the strategic plan. Appropriate
measures show the strategy is important to
the leaders, provide motivation and allow for
follow-through and sustained attention.
 By acting as operational definitions of the
plan, measures can increase the focus of the
strategy, aligning the workforce around
specific issues.
 The results can include faster changes,
greater accountability and better
communication of responsibilities which may
reduce duplication of effort.
 Creating a strategic map helps identify focal
points; it shows the theory of the business in
easily understood terms, showing the cause
and effect lingkages between key
components.
 It can be a focal point for communicating the
vision and mission and the plan for achieving
desired goals.
 The senior team can create a strategic map
by identifying and mapping the critical few
ingredients that will drive overall
performance.
 The panel does not include all of the areas
organisations measure, rather the few that
the top team can use to guide decisions,
knowing that greater detail is available if
they need to drill down for more intense
examination.
 These critical few are typically within 6
strategic performance areas:






Financial
Customer / market
operations
Environment
People
Partners / suppliers
 Once the strategic map is defined,
organisations must create measures for
each focal point.
 Identify how they contribute to the overall
measures, and then define measures of
their own.
 Ideally this process cascades downward
until each individual is linked with the
strategy and understands the goals and
outcomes they are responsible for and
how their individual success will be
measured and rewarded.
Cascading the Plan
 Cascading is often where the implementation
breaks down.
 Cascading is often noted as being a serious
problem in implementing strategic
measurements systems.
 Organisations have found it to be helpful to
ask each functional area to identify how they
contribute to achieving the overall strategic
plan.
 Functional area leaders may be more
successful using a cascade team to add input
and take the message forward to others in
 Developing ambassadors or process
champions throughout the organisation to
support and promote the plan and its
implementation can also enhance the
chance of success.
 These champions may be candidates for
participation on the design or cascade
teams and should be involved in the
stakeholder review process.
External Consultants
 External consultants can play an important
role in building and implementing strategic
plans if they are used appropriately.
Rather than creating or guiding an
organisation’s strategy, the primary role of
consultant should be that of a facilitator, a
source of outside perspective and perhaps
as a resource for guiding the process
itself.
 This allows each member of the internal
team to participate fully without having to
manage the agenda and keep the team
focused on the task at hand.
 Consultants can keep the forum on track by
directing the discussion to ensure objective,
strategic thinking around key issues, tapping
everyone’s knowledge and expertise, raising
pertinent questions for discussion and debate,
managing conflict and handling group-think and
other group dynamics issues.
 Consultants can extract the best thinking from the
group and ensure the vision and mission are
based on a sound, critical review of the current
state and anticipated future opportunities.
 Once this is accomplished, consultants can
facilitate the identification of desired oucomes and
the drivers needed to achieve them. They can also
help to assure that a true consensus is actually
reached, rather than an appearance of a
consensus due to fear, conformity or other group