STRATEGIC

MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
IMPLEMENTATION

• Activities involving the execution of a plan

• Whatever happens between strategy formulation and evaluation
• Processes after the formulation phase that are aimed at the realisation of the objectives of a
strategic plan
• Includes:
– Operational procedure
– Allocating resources (financial, human, technological, political, etc)
– Structuring
– Coordinating the structures
NATURE OF IMPLEMENTATION

• Iterative process
– Intertwined with formulation
– Intertwined with monitoring/evaluation

• Both a technical process and a political game

– Requires leadership & communication
– Setting realistic timelines and milestones
– Involves allocation of resources
– Involves multiple levels

• Involves organizational change

– Fostering strategic behaviour
– Adaptation to disruptions
SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

• Top-down
• Bottom-up
TOP-DOWN APPROACH

• Assumes the existence of a chief strategist: the CEO

• Successful implementation=minimizing communication distortions between CEO & subordinates
• Implementation: a command-and-control process
• CEO controls implementation through:
– Communication
– Staffing
– Budgeting
– Control systems
– Adapting implementation to disruptions

• Others’ participation: not at the expense of CEO’s central role

BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

• “Implementation occurs only when those are primarily affected are involved in the
planning and execution of strategies”
IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

• McKinsey 7-S
• Balanced Score Card
• Execution Premium
• Lewin’s change management
• Kotter’s 8 steps
• ADKAR
 McKinsey 7-S Model

Implementation requires coherence

among organizational elements

Unity of purpose: everyone is working

towards common goals

Implementation is a process of
alignment among different elements of
the organization
 BALANCED SCORE CARD

Monitoring progress is vital

during implementation

BSC: A performance
measurement system that links
strategic objectives to
performance metrics

–Financial

–Customer satisfaction

–Internal processes

–Learning and growth

EXECUTION PREMIUM MODEL

Extends the Balanced Scorecard

framework

Emphasizes the importance of

strategy execution
KOTTER’S 8-STEPS MODEL
 BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING - BPR (KITTINGER & GROVER, 1995)

Information &
Technology
ICT
DMSs
Production tech

Products, services &

Management Business processes People performance
Style Inter-organizational Skills Costs
Strategy Systems Cross-functional Behaviour Quality
Measures Intra-functional Culture Customer satisfaction
Risk propensity Values Flexibility/innovation
Shareholder value
Structure
Formal org
Informal org
Work teams
Groups
Coordination
BPR

• Radical redesign of business processes

• Intends to achieve dramatic improvement in business performance
– Increase productivity
– Reduce costs
– Improve customer service
– Provide a competitive advantage
KAIZEN

• Japanese term expressing the concept of continuous improvement

• A customer-driven strategy in which aimed at increased customer satisfaction
• Characterized by gradual but steady and continuous change.
KAIZEN PROCESS: PDCA

• Plan: assessing the current situation to determine areas for improvement

• Do: putting a solution in place
• Check: seeing if the solution has the intended effect.
• Act: returning to the plan stage for further analysis if the solution is not effective
TOP MANAGEMENT

• Commitment to continuous improvement

• Commitment to change
• Empower employees
• Right kind of leadership
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT

• Push upper management for involvement in TQM

• Establish and continually strengthen standards
• Help employees to develop their abilities
EMPLOYEES

• Apply PDCA to daily work

• Satisfy customer needs
• Learn and apply problem solving
• Develop new skills and capabilities continuously
 TOP MANAGEMENT
Commitment to continuous improvement
Commitment to change
Empower employees
Right kind of leadership

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
Push upper management for involvement in TQM
Establish and continually strengthen standards
Help employees to develop their abilities

EMPLOYEES
Apply PDCA to daily work
Satisfy customer needs
Learn and apply problem solving
Develop new skills and capabilities continuously
 REFERENCES

deLeon, P & deLeon, L (2002). Whatever happened to policy implementation? An alternative approach. Journal of
Public Administration Research and Theory. Vol. 12, No. 4

Mintzberg, H. (1990). The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management. Strategic
Management Journal, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 171-195

Riposo, J , Weichenberg, G et al. (2013) “Business process reengineering”. In Improving air force enterprise resource
planning-enabled business. RAND Corporation.
Transformation

Kettinger, W. J, Teng, J. T. C. and Guha, S. (1997). Business process change: A study of methodologies, techniques,
and tools. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 55-80

Wiley, A. N. (1992). The meaning of continuous improvement. Technical Communication. Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 709-710