• Reasonably lower operating costs, higher profitability
• Faster response to customers and markets need
• Appropriate structures, incentives, and controls: Focusing attention on the right strategic and operating issues
• More effective and efficient coordination and communication
• Clear responsibility and accountability
• Effective management of human resources
• Increased internal capability to manage execution and change

Organizational structure and incentives support a chosen strategy, and effective controls provide feedback about performance, allowing the organization to adapt and retain its market or customer focus. The process is ongoing, allowing the organization to focus on learning in a continuous cycle of performance, evaluation, learning, and adaptation.

Inability to manage change effectively, for example, can prove to be the largest obstacle to the effective execution of strategy. But logically something must precede change attempts. Decisions and actions must have been taken and new factors introduced before change can occur. In effect, there must be something to change before change can occur.

The areas relating to successful strategy execution are as follows:

• Developing a model to guide execution decisions and actions
• Understanding how the creation of strategy affects the execution of strategy
• Developing organizational structures that support strategic objectives and foster information sharing, coordination, and clear accountability
• Creating and using incentives to support strategy execution processes and decisions
• Developing effective controls and feedback mechanisms to enable the organization to assess performance and adapt to changing conditions
• Understanding an organization’s power or influence structure and using it for execution success
• Knowing how to create an execution-supportive culture
• Exercising execution- biased leadership
• Managing risk and change effectively, including culture change

In the efforts of raising awareness and closing competency gaps on strategy management, Said Al Harthy, the Executive Director of Tanfidh Training & Consulting and in partnership with world renowned firms in strategy, are committed to delivering highly comprehensive consulting advisory and training programs on strategy execution with a balanced scorecard tool around the Globe.

The post Benefits of a Sound Strategy Execution: Possible Contributions to Competitive Advantage appeared first on Management Consultants Oman.

Several obstacles have been identified by leaders worldwide but the following few samples have been suggested by best practice:

1. Inability to manage change effectively and overcome resistance to change
2. A poor or vague strategy
3. Not having guidelines or a model to guide strategy-execution efforts
4. Trying to execute a strategy that conflicts with the existing power structure
5. Lack of alignment. Poor or inadequate information sharing between individuals or business units responsible for strategy execution
6. Unclear communication of responsibility or accountability for execution decisions or actions
7. Lack of feelings of ownership of a strategy or of execution steps or plans among key employees
8. Lack of understanding of the role of organizational structure and design in the execution process

In the efforts of raising awareness and closing competency gaps on strategy management, Said Al Harthy, the Executive Director of Tanfidh Training & Consulting and in partnership with world renowned firms in strategy, are committed to delivering highly comprehensive consulting advisory and training programs on strategy execution with a balanced scorecard tool around the Globe.

The post The Obstacles Which Can Hinder Strategy Execution appeared first on Management Consultants Oman.

The strategy execution problems faced by many organizations are remarkably similar to those viewed by many Leaders in the world. The obstacles to effective strategy execution are still real and formidable. While strategy planning is difficult and challenging, as always, it’s still obvious that leaders feel more than ever that the successful execution of strategy is more problematic than the formulation of a chosen strategy and even more important for organizational performance. It is still clear that making strategy work is more difficult and challenging than formulating strategy.

Strategy execution represents a disciplined process and a logical set of connected activities that enables an organization to take a strategy and make it work. Without a careful, planned approach to execution, strategic plans and objectives cannot be attained. Developing such a logical approach, however, represents a formidable challenge to management.

It is still obvious that the execution of strategy is not nearly as clear and understood as the formulation of strategy and other management issues like change and risk. Much more is known about formulation than making strategy work.

Is execution of strategy truly worth leader’s time, efforts and attention?

The answer is clearly yes. Factors such as strategic change management, risk management, building internal capabilities, local culture, organizational structure, and aspects of operational execution are vital to organization success. With success measured by total return to shareholders, focusing on execution is definitely worthwhile, leading to increased profitability. Certainly, these outcomes can only be sponsored and supported by leaders.

An executive whose relentless focus is on execution and the building of internal capabilities it is the man of the hour. Making strategy work and achieving desired results are the mark of the successful leader.

Every organization, of course, has some separation of planning and doing, of formulation and execution. However, when such a separation becomes dysfunctional when planners see themselves as the smart people and treat the doers as “grunts” there clearly will be execution problems. When the “elite” plan and see execution as something below them, detracting from their dignity as top leaders, the successful implementation of strategy obviously is in jeopardy.

Ownership of execution and the change processes are vital to execution and necessary for success. Change is impossible without commitment to the decisions and actions that define strategy execution.

The post Strategy Formulation VS Strategy Execution appeared first on Management Consultants Oman.