THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT (BASM 4118)

STRATEGY
EXECUTION
Strategy Execution is the process of translating
strategies into action to achieve the organization’s
objectives.
Once strategy has been crafted, it has to be
EXECUTED. The organisation has to deliver on
its intent.

Without execution, 'vision' is just

another word for hallucination. –
Mark V. Hurd.
Unfortunately, too many strategic plans remain
unimplemented.

A research by Harvard Business Review found that 60%

of employees in different organisations rated their
organization weak on strategy execution.
 DRIVERS OF EFFECTIVE STRATEGY EXECUTION
1. Leadership
2. Competitive capabilities
3. Resources
4. Organisational Structure
5. Policies
6. Information systems
7. Rewards and Incentives
8. Organisational culture
(Source: Gamble, Peteraf and Thompson)
A. LEADERSHIP
The following leadership qualities are relevant
to strategy execution:
1. Mastery and ownership of the strategy
2. Sense of presence (e.g. Management by
Walking Around – MBWA)
3. Ability to motivate others through effective
communication.
4. Result-orientedness
5. Alternative thinking (ability to conceptualise
other pathways for achieving desired
results)
6. Problem-solving skills
B. COMPETITIVE CAPABILITIES

Effective strategy execution is largely a function of a

capable workforce.
As Gamble et al affirm, “The quality of an organisation’s
people is always an essential ingredient of successful
strategy execution – knowledgeable, engaged employees
are a company’s best source of creative ideas for the
nuts-and-bolts operating improvements that lead to
operating excellence” (pp. 202-203).
Key Attributes of a Capable Workforce
❑ Adequate theoretical and practical
knowledge about a particular function;
❑ Creativity (thinking outside the box);
❑Continuous learning (constant improvement
– Japanese concept of Kaizen).
❑Accountability (ability to account for their
actions)
❑ Commitment (willingness to work)
C. NON-HUMAN RESOURCES
How an organisation allocates its resources says
a lot about its commitment to its strategy.
Don’t focus on the budget, check the financial
statements.
Rule of Thumb: Organisations put their money
where their mouth is!
D. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
- Important Reference: Alfred D. Chandler (Strategy
and Structure: Chapters in the History of the
American Industrial Enterprise, MIT Press, 1962)

Reminder: Organisations are instruments for

carrying out activities that benefit (create
value for) shareholders and the community.

They are not HOUSEHOLDS (families) where

one belongs by nature.
One joins an organization to
PERFORM its activities aimed at
achieving strategic objectives.
Organizational structure is “the sum total of
the ways in which [the organisation]
divides its labour into distinct tasks and
then achieves coordination among
them” (Mintzberg, 1979, p.2).
“Every organized human activity – from the
making of pottery to the placing of a man on
the moon – gives rise to two fundamental and
opposing requirements: the division of labour
into various tasks to be performed and the
coordination of those tasks to accomplish the
activity.” (Mintzberg).
According to Chandler, changes in an
organisation’s strategy give rise to
administrative problems which, in turn,
require a new structure that can favour
the implementation of the new
strategy.

Put simply, Chandler found that

STRUCTURE follows STRATEGY.
Effective implementation of strategy
requires the alignment of
organisational structure with its
strategic thrust.
Ref. Mintzberg, H. (1979). The
structuring of organizations: a
synthesis of the research. Prentice Hall.
Objective of Organisational Structure:
To strengthen INTERNAL
COALITION (that is, the synergy of
those who work in the organisation).
For an organization to deliver on its strategy,
all the three levels of its functions should be
activated:
1. Strategic Level: Critical decision-making
2. Systems Level: Locking decisions into the
system
3. Operational: Routine (day-to-day) work
that translates decisions into results.
Common Weaknesses in
organisations:

❖ Everybody wants to operate

at the strategic level.
❖ Nobody takes care of
systems.
❖Everybody does routine tasks.
E. SUPPORTIVE POLICIES

Policies are principles that guide decisions and

actions in an organisation.
They are “a decision rule” for the organisation.

Policies establish indirect control over independent

action by clearly stating how things are to be
done.
Why Establish Policies?
✓To ensure consistency in the way
strategy-critical activities are
performed (standardisation and
conformity);
✓To provide guidance on to how
things are to be done (aim is to
avoid arbitrariness and uncertainty).
Policies have to be aligned with
strategies.

Inconsistencies between strategy

and policies can get in the way of
effective strategy execution.
F. EFFECTIVE INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
Communication is critical to effective strategy
execution.
❑ Internal communication system (departments to talk
to one another – no silos)
❑Communication with the outside world (customers,
suppliers and other stakeholders)
G. REWARDS AND INCENTIVES

Human action is motivated by promises (set up)

and payoffs (rewards).

Promise: Future benefit accruing from achieving

a particular task;
Payoff: A reward for a task accomplished.
Incentives and rewards are to be tied up
to ACHIEVEMENT of set tasks/goals
rather than mere performance of
routine tasks.

Rewards create and strengthen HABITS

in the organisation (cf. J. Clear, Atomic
Habits; C. Duhigg, The Power of Habit).
Incentives and rewards have to extend
to the whole organisation, from top
management to frontline employees.
There are two types of rewards:
-Monetary (bonuses, cash awards,
etc)
Non-monetary (fringe benefits,
promotion, attractive office space,
more leave days, etc).

Caveat: Too much focus on

incentives can kill intrinsic
motivation.
H. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Organisational culture refers to “how we do

things around here”.

A culture is composed of shared values,

beliefs and attitudes, which affect
behaviour.
A company’s culture is its organisational
DNA.
Organisational culture is formed
gradually, over a period of time, across
generations.

Culture is a product of SOCIALISATION

(observation, instruction, imitation).

Culture is demonstrated through ATTITUDES

and ACTIONS, rather than mere words.
Desirable Types of Organisational Culture
1. High-Performance Culture: Result-oriented;
emphasis on efficiency (doing things right) and
effectiveness (doing the right thing).
2. Adaptive Culture: Responding to and
anticipating change both within and without the
organisation.
3. Innovative Culture: Emphasis on innovation;
thinking outside the box.
4. Collaborative/Cooperative Culture: Sharing
knowledge, skills and resources to achieve
common goals.
Undesirable Types Organisational Culture
1. Politicised Culture: People jostling for
positions, undercutting one another, etc. This
consumes a lot of energy and detracts from
strategy implementation.
2. Change-Resistant Culture: Inability to adapt
to internal and external change.
Warning from Jack Welch (former CEO of
General Electric: “When the rate of
change on the outside exceeds the rate of
change on the inside, the end is near.”
3. Narcissistic Culture: Inward looking,
absorbed in its success and greatness, not
paying attention to competition/market. This
culture eventually leads to downfall.

4. Greed-Driven Culture: Conducts its business

unethically in order to maximise profit, to
minimise costs or to undercut competitors.
5. Conflict-Ridden Culture: The
organisation has subcultures at war with
one another; conflict can be at the level
of values, beliefs and attitudes. In the era
of global business, cultural conflict is a
real possibility.
THE DISCIPLINE OF EXECUTION

Reference Text: McChesney, C., Covey, S., &

Huling, J. (2014). The four disciplines of
execution: Achieving your wildly important goals.
New York: Free Press.
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and
accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn (1930-2009)
Discipline is doing what ought
to be done even if you don’t
feel like doing it.
• Strategy execution has been identified as
one of the major challenges organisations
face.

• One of the factors that prevent organisations

from executing their strategy is the DAY JOB
(urgent matters to be attended to on a daily
basis).
The day job is the WHIRLWIND that
scatters an organization’s focus on its
strategy.
McChesney et al propose FOUR disciplines that
organisations can adopt to ensure strategy
implementation.
• 1. Focus on Wildly Important Goals (WIGS)
• 2. Act on the Lead Measures
• 3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
• 4. Create a Cadence of Accountability
•Note that all the disciplines
are formulated as VERBS
(ACTION WORDS).
• DISCIPLINE 1: FOCUS ON WILDLY
IMPORTANT GOALS

This is the discipline of PRIORITISATION.

A wildly important goal (WIG) is an
organizational objective that is critical
(mission critical) to the performance of an
organization.
Select a maximum of 3 important goals to
be realized at any given time.
Not every good idea needs to be executed.
Chichewa Proverb: Ichi chakoma ichi
chakoma pusi anagwa chagada.
The principle here is that the more the
goals you try to achieve the less the
likelihood of achieving any of them.
In strategy execution, less is more.

Lack of focus increases the power of the

whirlwind and takes away your energy from
critical goals.
 NUMBER OF GOALS VERSUS
EXECUTION
NUMBER OF GOALS SET GOALS ACHIEVED
(IN ADDITION TO WITH EXCELLENCE
ROUTINE WORK)
2-3 2-3
4-10 1-2
11-20 0
The problem of MULTI-TASKING: attention is
divided. This undermines quality and
depth of work.

• What is required here is MONO-TASKING:

focus on a goal at a time.
• “The fundamental principle… is that
human beings are hardwired to do one
thing at a time with excellence.”
(McChesney at al)
Prioritization Tool: MoSCoW (by Dai
Clegg, 1994)

a. Must-have (non-negotiable)
b. Should-have (important but not vital)
c. Could-have (nice to have but makes
no difference if not done)
d. Wish/Won’t Have (not a priority for
now).
DISCIPLINE 2: ACT ON THE LEAD
MEASURES

This is the discipline of LEVERAGE, that is

knowing what drives results.
Difference between LAG Measures and LEAD
measures:

What are Lag measures?

These are consequences rather than causes of

human action.
Examples: profit, revenue, market share.

They are the measures/indicators of behaviour.

Lead measures
These are BEHAVIOURS that drive organizational
performance.

Two characteristics of lead measures:

a). They are predictive of future performance
b). They can be influenced (changed) by
people’s decisions.

Examples of lead measures: Innovativeness,

Marketing, Quality management, etc.
In other words:

• LEAD MEASURES ARE THE INDEPENDENT

VARIABLES (PREDICTOR VARIABLE,
EXPLANATORY VARIABLE, INPUT VARIABLE,
REGRESSOR).
• LAG MEASURES ARE THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES
(RESPONSE VARIABLE, PREDICTED VARIABLE,
REGRESSAND, OUTPUT VARIABLE)
DISCIPLINE 3: KEEP A COMPELLING
SCOREBOARD
This is the discipline of engagement.

People are more engaged when they

know the SCORE (that is, whether they
are winning or losing).

Effective strategy implementation can

be enhanced by a strong feedback
mechanism.
DISCIPLINE 4: CREATE A CADENCE OF
ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is the discipline of
COMMITMENT.

It requires various actors to report

on progress in strategy execution.
Meetings for tracking strategy implementation
need to be held REGULARLY.

Decide on the frequency of the meetings, e.g. per

week, per fortnight, per month.

What is done at such meetings:

❑ Reporting on what has been achieved
❑Addressing emerging challenges
❑Committing to new milestones
CONCLUSION

Without discipline, not much can

be done.

These four disciplines can

significantly improve organizational
outcomes with regard to strategy
execution.