Business strategy is the way an
organization chooses to respond to its external environment. It can be
explicit or implicit. It includes such things as mission, goals,
customer definition and segmentation, product and service definition,
business model, delivery channels and approaches, etc. In today's world,
business strategy must change frequently because the external
environment for most businesses is changing rapidly.
Most of the research suggests
that a high percentage of business strategies fail. Sometimes this is
due to poor strategy, but more often it is due to poor execution or
implementation. The rigors of implementation are either taken for
granted or greatly underestimated, and executive follow-through is often
absent. This is particularly true if many different departments must
collaborate to successfully implement the strategy.
Assuming the business strategy
has already been defined, below is a high-level view of the process I
advocate for strategy implementation.
- Clarifying the strategy and scoping the project
- Planning the project and organizing the
implementation effort including sponsors, teams, task planning and
resource estimating, timelines and decision milestones, etc.
- Identifying organizational capabilities needed
to successfully execute the strategy, and analyzing the capabilities of
the current organization for capability gaps and surpluses
- Identifying changes needed to bring real
organizational capabilities in line with the business strategy,
including changes to processes, practices, structure, skills and
expertise, technology, metrics, rewards and recognition, etc.
- Designing the changes
- Planning the communication and implementation
for the changes
- Implementing, tracking, and making corrections
- Assessing the results
With support from my associates,
I help set up the entire process, establish a project plan, and
facilitate teams of leaders and stakeholders through the steps of the
process. Paying attention to the sociopolitical factors is as important
as following the technical steps of the process effectively. Different
resistance dimensions will come into play at each stage of the process
and must be anticipated, detected, and dealt with successfully. Some of
the tactics for dealing with sociopolitical factors include
- Chain of sponsors
- Key stakeholders involved in implementation
teams
- Multilevel, targeted communications to
stakeholder groups
- Resistance-sensing mechanisms
- Training
- Coaching
- Public and private conversations
Your business strategy is your
blueprint for competitive success in your business context. Don't
jeopardize your success by failing to implement well.
