Strategy Execution

Edited by : Deepa Verma
ISBN : 978-81-314-2457-5
Price: $50  ( INR)
133 pages( Hardcover edition )

  Snapshot |  Cases featured in this book  |  Sample pages | 

"

It all begins with strategy. Execution cannot occur until one has something to execute. Bad strategy begets poor execution and poor outcomes, so it's important to focus first on a sound strategy. The problem with strategy is you constantly have to update it, depending on what happens in the marketplace. For example, no sooner do you move your manufacturing offshore to gain a pricing edge than your rivals do too, and you're back to square one in terms of competitive advantage? The performance gap between strategy creation and benefit realization is frequently the result of a company's inability to execute the strategies. Larry Bossidy, the former CEO at Allied Signal, Inc. and Honeywell, and the co-author of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, said it like this: "Corporate strategies are intellectually simple; their execution is not. The question is, can you execute? That's what differentiates one company from another." So what makes this road to strategic execution so precarious? The most commonly identified hazards can be grouped into four basic categories: clarification, communication, alignment, and measurement. McKinsey research reveals a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute. Organizational structures and processes are not the solution.

Many factors contribute to effective execution. Good people are important for execution. It is vital to get the “right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus,” so to speak. But it's also important to know where the bus is going and why. Execution or strategy implementation often involves change. Not handling change well will spell disaster for execution efforts. Execution programs that contradict the power or influence structure of an organization are doomed to failure. Also, knowing how to achieve coordination and information sharing in complex, geographically dispersed organizations is important to execution success. Managers must also know who's doing what, when, and why, as well as who's accountable for key steps in the execution process. Organizations must develop execution-supportive cultures. Execution demands a culture of achievement, discipline, and ownership.

So where and how does one begin to confront the issues just noted? Which execution problems or opportunities should managers consider first? What decisions or actions come later? Why? Can an approach to strategy execution be developed to guide managers through the maze of obstacles and problematical issues just identified? All these issues are addressed in this executive book, interspersed with the seasoned wisdom of experts, consultants and world-renown researchers. If god is in details, this book details the intricacies of strategy execution.

"

» For Download PDF
Sample Pages of casebook Strategy Execution (104 KB)
Free downloadable contents for Strategy Execution .