Executive Interviews: Interview with Melissa Raffoni on Strategy Execution
September 2008 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Melissa Raffoni
President Raffoni CEO Consulting.

In my opinion, there is no execuse for, as you note "senior management that doesnot atttend to or execute a strategy", thats their job. Because clarity in communication is so difficult, but paramount; the systems should be desinged to support managers so that they can effectively communicate, measure and solve problems. They are there to help managers become successful.

• Most strategies are made by one team (top management) and they are supposed to be executed by another team. Do you think companies can achieve better results if they combine strategy formulation and strategy execution, wherein the same team can be made responsible for both the activities? Do you see this happening anywhere?
  I believe that the top team is ultimately responsible. In most organizations, theoretically, everyone reports to them so the buck stops there. In the companies I work with, I require all strategies to have a senior sponsor or leader. The sponsor is responsible for the outcome. That being said, a good senior sponsor will engage the next level down and so forth in the execution process either through focused execution teams or next level cascadedmetric setting.

• Tom Davenport recently argued that strategy execution has for too long lurched between two extremes. One camp, which he calls "strategic engineering," envisions strategy execution as an engineering exercise, and views employees as cogs in a machine well oiled by computers. The other extreme, which he labels "strategic anarchy," encourages executives to simply get out of the way of their employees entrepreneurial and innovative energies. Neither extreme, of course, is very useful for organizations attempting to perform well in difficult and changing business environments. What according to you should be the right approach?
  I think its a hyrbid. In my opinion, senior managers are responsible for setting direction, in particular the companies strategic goals (presuming, of course, that they are intelligent enough not to do this in a vacuum). After that, they should encourage employees to be innovative in their approach to achieving the goals. How much they "get out of the way" depends on the skill set of the team and the clarity and stability of their initial direction setting. At the end of the day, senior management should assume responsibility for the goals and audit progress. If its going well or great, back off a bit. If its getting of course, get back in.

• What is the role of culture in implementing strategies successfully?
  I donot believe that there is specific cultural formula for achieving execution success. Some of my companies are very conservative, others aremore inclined to risk. Both can be successful, vis a vis given market conditions. That being said, in my opinion, if a company does the following two things, they will increase their chances of success:

1. Have the discipline to focus on the basics: Strong leadership, focused and clear goals, analysis, problem solving and review.
2. Have the insight and boldness to customize your tools and processes to align with your culture at the given time. For example, if you need more innovation add "creative sessions" to your governance plan. If you need more discussion between product management and marketing, build a mechanism for that to happen.

   Keep in mind that it needs to be both a dynamic and rigorous process.

• After all, no one plans for a failure. Why do you see so many companies strategies failing? Why dont good strategies result in good results? Drawing from your rich experience and research inputs, whats your advice to companies in making their strategies succeful?
  Hire, develop and nurture strong leadership and focus on the three keys: focus, analysis and review.

• In all the B Schools, the students are offered a course either on Corporate Strategy or Business Strategy. And invariably, these courses offer tools and techniques of strategymaking. But no B School seems to be teaching the execution part of the strategy. All of these students become very good in strategizing with no idea whatsoever on implementing. Even as regards implementation, the students are taught the science in the classrooms. How about teaching them execution? What according to you should be done to sensitize them to the importance of becoming equally good executionists?
  A course should focus on Strategy Execution. At a minimum, it should cover the role of leadership, various execution processes, the impact of industry dymanics, and resource allocation.

1. Business Strategy Case Studies
2. ICMR Case Collection
3. Case Study Volumes