The following are some of the benefits that organizations reap by having a sound strategy execution processes.
- 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.