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When leaders really walk the talk: Making strategy work through people
Abstract
Turning strategic plans into tangible business results can
frustrate even the most seasoned manager. Management are now realizing that the only way to effectively implement growth strategies is through people. But getting people to act on a chosen strategy has been elusive. What really makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful strategy deployment is the way management motivates and educates its people to act on a business strategy.
... Another limitation to the achievement of 'fit' is the implied assumption that presupposes that the achievement of dynamic fit between strategy and HR practices occurs in an environment free of obstacles and that it happens quickly, efficiently and effectively. Galpin (1998) identifies a serious lack of leadership when implementing and changing HR procedures. He reports that the mistakes most often made during strategy deployment are related to a lack of focus, little co-ordination and a belief that a well-designed strategy will implement itself (Galpin, 1998: 38-9). ...
... This seems to imply that the task of adopting HR practices consistent with an organisation's needs requires leadership. Galpin (1998) (1997) found that HR executives were weak in their ability to take their firm's strategic and operational goals and translate them into HR activities and goals. Andrewatha (1998: 5) is even more critical of HRM, suggesting that it has yet to define itself as qualified with 'people stuff'. ...
... He goes on to say that HRM has never defined how it can manage people in a way that captures real commitment to competitive advantage. Galpin (1998) Sisson and Storey (2000) comment that developing a strategic approach to managing human resources is not easy, and it may merely be a symbolic label in many organisations (Johnson, 2000), followed, in a piecemeal fashion, by only a minority of organisations usually the largest ones. Although the strategic approach to HRM suggests that managers should match preferred HRM practices to strategy, there is no compelling evidence to suggest that they will or can (Snell, 1992). ...
... Business culture is supported and strengthened by the day-to-day managerial processes adopted by the firm. Galpin (1998) refers to these as the organizational influence systems. Although ways to implement each of the essential managerial practices are theoretically many and varied, in practical terms aligning the organizational influence system requires that the managerial practices are not only congruent with the firm's phase of development, but also consistent with each other. ...
... An example might be a firm that over-emphasizes profits at all cost, neglecting to manage sustainability, giving insufficient weight to its stated values, or ignoring its ethical responsibilities. As Galpin (1998) pointed out, a necessary change to one of the influence systems unavoidably affects others. To that end an appropriate model is needed against which to explore the critical path of business-level culture development. ...
With frequent corporate collapses and global market failures, the financial and economic systems of the Western world are coming under ever increasing scrutiny. These events, and a deeper introspection, call into question the roles played by firms in embracing sustainability practices. A firm's resources are combined to apply its unique capabilities to the challenges of the external environment, industry forces and its competitors. In so doing firms must meet the twin strategic objectives of maximizing shareholder returns to create a sustainable future (for the firm) AND maintaining a responsible approach to sustainable development in areas impacted by the firm. Whereas resources may be classified as tangible or intangible, it is the intangible resources, including the firm's reputation, organizational effectiveness, and innovation propensity that comprise the foundation for sustainable competitive advantage. The development of business-level culture has been portrayed as a six-step journey(Robinson, 2007). Systemic constraints may inhibit the development of organizational culture just as personality disorders may afflict individuals. It is asserted that the so-called big five individual personality traits (McCrae and Costa, 2003) can be related to three categories of organizational pathology (Robinson, 2010), which in turn impede effective sustainability management practices. Additionally, it is proposed that sustainability practices in firms may take one of three forms, namely non-sustainability, weak sustainability, and strong sustainability. Whilst it is clear that all firms ultimately need to embrace a culture that supports and encourages strong sustainability, to date very few have managed to do so, being either unwilling or unable to go beyond the non-sustainable or weak sustainability levels. This paper relates the importance of organizational wellness as a prerequisite for strong sustainability. In so doing it forms a bridge across the fields of organizational psychology and business sustainability by relating the problems encountered in firms as they face the challenges of consistently having to align day-to-day managerial practices in such a way as to form business cultures that are congruent with strong sustainability. Inconsistency or mal-alignment of practices, over-emphasis on the negative aspects of management style, and/or an unwillingness to adapt are impediments to the adoption of an effective sustainability strategy
(PDF) Overcoming Organizational Impediments to Strong Sustainability Management. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348420470_Overcoming_Organizational_Impediments_to_Strong_Sustainability_Management [accessed May 06 2022].
... Though it is not surprising that achieving sustainability in the organisation is a real and constantly evolving challenge (Borkowski, Welsh & Wentzel 2010;Fraser 2011), it is one that companies can no longer afford to ignore. The debate has now moved from whether or not firms should invest in sustainability to how this is best done (Galpin 1988). ...
... There are attempts to broaden the scope of accounting to include sustainability reporting and the introduction of mechanisms to measure a triple bottom line (Fraser 2011;Galpin 1988). However, the business section of today's newspapers is rife with stories on business decisions, strategies, profit results, outsourcing, downsizing, cost cuttings, mergers and acquisitions, and other decision making based primarily on financial or managerial accounting information. ...
This paper relates the importance of CEO decision making and healthy culture as a prerequisite for sustainability in the organisation. Further, it is argued an excessive fixation on the accumulation of company profits can lead an unsustainable course for organisations and the broader community. Three levels of sustainability are identified: non-sustainability, weak sustainability and strong sustainability. The challenge is for companies to meet two strategic objectives: maximising shareholder returns to create a sustainable future for the entity, and maintaining a responsible approach to sustainable development in areas impacted by the firm. Key to the direction an organisation takes and its position on sustainability, are the decisions made by senior management and influential chief executive officers (Robinson & Boulle 2012) in particular. This article draws on secondary research from a survey of 56 Australian CEO’s in The Weekend Australian newspaper (Durie 2011), to gain an insight into the areas of concern forefront in their minds. In particular, evidence is sought for CEO attention to financial, growth, sustainability, environmental and societal issues. As hypothesised, financial considerations were the most mentioned responses, thus indicating a focus on the bottom line. Further, this paper discusses the influence of CEO characteristics on organisational culture, as well as the influence of culture on developing sustainability practices. Keywords: sustainability, strong sustainability, decision making, accounting, chief executive officer, values journey, organisational culture
... Strategic Leadership Literature in general argues that strategy implementation is a difficult task in practice. The problems in strategy implementation include unfeasibility of the strategy, weak management role, lack of communication, lacking commitment to the strategy, unawareness of misunderstanding of the strategy, unaligned organizational systems and resources, poor co -ordination and sharing of responsibilities, inadequate capabilities, unexpected obstacles, corrupting activities, delayed schedule, uncontrollable environmental factors and negligence of daily business (Alexander, 1991, Giles, 1991, Galpin, 1998, Lares -Mankki, 1994, Beer and Eisenstat, 2000. ...
... The authors further observe that in nearly all organizations that have successfully implemented corporate strategies, particularly turn around strategies, the organizations concerned replace senior management who cannot perform up to organization's standards or who fail to commit to the organisation's new strategic direction. Galpin (1998) states what makes the difference between successful and unsuccessful strategy deployment is the way management motivates and educates its people to act on a business strategy. In support of the foregoing, (Kaplan and Norton, 2001:42) state that successful change management must be mobilized through executive leadership. ...
This paper investigated how operators of Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe implement business strategies to enable their organizations to survive the prevailing stiff competition within the market. The objective of the research paper was to find out whether Zimbabwean SMEs implement strategies in their business operations. The sample size of this research paper consisted of 1000 SMEs located in 5 out of a total of 10 Zimbabwean Provinces, namely Bulawayo Metropolitan, Harare Metropolitan Province, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Midlands. The research instrument used was the self-administered questionnaire. Data collected was analyzed using both inferential and descriptive statistical tools. Results obtained from the study revealed that strategic management is not fully practiced in these SME organizations and the fact that strategic management is not in fully operational simply point out that strategy formulation is not done. Once strategies are not formulated it eventually means that strategy implementation is not embraced in these SME organisations. The paper recommended the use of formal strategic management processes by for the success of these SME organizations.
... The last 15 years have witnessed greater emphasis on the criticality of effective strategy execution. Existing literature clearly demonstrates that sound strategy is no guarantee of superior performance and strategy execution is at least as important as strategy formulation (Galpin, 1998;Martin, 2010). Classically, strategy execution has been addressed as the process of aligning organization design with strategy (Gupta and Govindarajan, 1984;Giles, 1991;Higgins, 2005). ...
... This has been one of the most important reasons for corporate failures across business contexts (Giles, 1991;Franken et al., 2009). Such a state of corporate performance resulted in the realization that strategy execution is at least as crucial as strategy formulation (Bonoma, 1984;Egelhoff, 1993;Galpin, 1998;Martin, 2010). Though it is difficult to determine the rate of strategy execution failure (Cândido and Santos, 2015), various studies have highlighted a high rate of strategy execution failure (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). ...
Purpose
Understanding a lack of strategy execution research, especially a lack of execution frameworks, this research work focuses on building a model of one of the most classic aspects of effective strategy execution, i.e. Alignment. The proposed framework of alignment demonstrates linkages among different factors of Alignment and suggests a managerial action plan to successfully convert strategic goals into execution performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develops an empirically tested framework of ‘Alignment’ that can be used to plan effective strategy execution. The research context of the study is the firms operating in infrastructure sector India. A multi-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, has been adopted with emphasis on the interpretation of the framework to suggest managerial actions.
Findings
This study shows that structure-strategy linkage is most fundamental task of strategy execution. However, there are other aspects of alignment also that are critical. Also, there exist hierarchical relationships among different alignments. The structural understanding of alignment is required to set strong foundation for execution process.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to firms in infrastructure sector in India. A questionnaire survey approach may invite some bias in response. Also, a large sample size could have been more useful to generalise findings. The proposed framework in this study suggest that alignment of structure with strategy is important but not sufficient for effective strategy execution. There exist hierarchical relationships, among the factors of alignment, showing a dependence-driving relationship.
Practical implications
Strategy execution is one of the biggest challenges that corporations have been facing. The existing literature has identified many issues leading to effective strategy execution. The ‘Alignment’ aspect of execution has been the most talked about. There are different levels of alignment required for successful strategy execution. Literature suggests some of the key areas of alignment. However, there has been a lack of frameworks demonstrating linkages among different alignments to facilitate effective strategy execution.
Originality/value
There is a lack of strategy execution frameworks, especially reflecting on the alignment aspect of strategy execution. This study focuses not only on ‘how’ of the framework development but also on the ‘why’ aspect of the same. The interpretation approach also helps in pondering on the contextual realities.
... Johnson verwijst in haar artikel (2004) naar onderzoek van Ernst m&o 2016 5 de kloof tussen 'praten over doen ' en 'doen' & Young, dat aantoont dat 66 procent van de strategische plannen nooit wordt uitgevoerd. Talloze auteurs verwonderen zich erover dat zoveel zinvolle veranderideeën en strategieën nooit geïmplementeerd worden (Galpin, 1998;Pfeffer & Sutton, 1999;Beer & Eisenstat, 2000;Brannen, 2005;Welbourne, 2005;Hrebeniak, 2005;Köseöglu, Barca & Karayormuk, 2009;Grundy, 2012;Radomska, 2014). Hoe kunnen we de kloof tussen praten over doen en doen begrijpen? ...
... Ook Johnson (2004) noemt een 'tell and sell'-managementstijl in plaats van een faciliterende managementstijl, evenals het niet bijhouden van de voortgang door het management, als belangrijke bottlenecks voor realisatie. Galpin (1998) voegt hieraan toe dat leiders geen strategie weten te formuleren die medewerkers motiveert en hen wijst hoe zij naar de strategie kunnen handelen. ...
De vraag hoe verandering in organisaties te realiseren, blijft een lastige opgave. Goede plannen laten zich kennelijk moeilijk omzetten naar praktijk. In dit artikel kijkt de auteur vanuit drie theoretische brillen – het veranderkundige, systeemtheoretische en conversatietheoretische perspectief – naar deze kloof tussen praten over doen en écht doen. Zij beschrijft waarom het zo moeilijk is deze kloof te overbruggen en welke handelingsmogelijkheden veranderaars hebben om het verschil te maken. Ten slotte gaat zij in op twee diepere vragen bij praten over doen, waar de drie perspectieven onvoldoende antwoord op lijken te hebben.
... Alexander (1985Alexander ( , 1991 developed various strategic decisions for the successful operation of industries. Galpin (1998) worked with leadership styles for making strategy to work through people. An extensive study about the role of leaders toward strategy implementation success in various industries has been developed by Schaap (2006). ...
The issues of environmental pollution due to several industrial set up are the basic focus of interest throughout the globe. This article deals with a pollution sensitive production-transportation supply chain (SC) model based on Binomial (via Bernoulli trials) and Gaussian (standard normal) strategic fuzzy game approach. We develop an average inventory cost minimization problem in a SC model with the effect of pollution due to production and transportation. In fact, we discuss the emissions of pollutants like carbon dioxide (CO2), Sulphur dioxide (SO2) etc. during industrial manufacturing and various types of transportation. The amount of pollution exhausted from production plant is estimated by the percentage via some pollution function. We split the original problem into equivalent game problem in which the producer plays the role of player I in one side and the customer plays the role of player II in the other side exclusively. The general fuzzy and fuzzy game theoretical approach have also been incorporated for comparative study. The numerical illustrations are done with the help of a solution algorithm. A comparative study reveals that Gaussian strategy suppresses the Binomial strategy to optimize the proposed SC problem. Finally, sensitivity analysis and graphical illustrations are made to justify the novelty of the proposed model.
... Dynamic managers influence the employees through effective correspondence; display both intelligence and experience; ensure the 27 development of necessary activities; and take appropriate action to complete a procedure. They practice suitable controls, instigate critical thinking, and encourage their employees to act sensibly (Abdalla and Al-Homoud, 2001;Beer and Eisenstat, 1996;Galpin, 1998;Lares-Mankki, 1994). For an innovative transformation program to prosper, it is imperative that managers support the reforms and are enthusiastically involved in influencing and executing them (Kanter, 2006;Kotter, 2000;Schein, 1985). ...
The research investigated the role of managers’ attitude in mediating the relationship between managers’ behavior and managers’ intentions to retain older employees in the corporate sector in Libya. Discrimination of age is one of the most challenging aspects of the workforce. This study examined the influence of stereotypical belief, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and organizational goals on intention to retain older employees by examining the managers’ attitude as a mediator. This research was conducted through a quantitative approach by using a questionnaire. A total of 296 respondents were randomly selected. The statistical package of social science (SPSS) software was used to run factor analysis, reliability analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. AMOS program was used to carry out the structural equation model as well as testing the research hypotheses. The study contributes to the body of knowledge in human resources specifically the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) that can predict the influence of managers’ behavior on managers’ intention to retain older employees in the Libyan corporate sector. Statistically significant relationships were found between stereotypical belief, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and organizational goals and managers’ intention to retain older employees. The relationship between managers’ attitude and managers’ intention to retain older employees was statistically significant too. A test of the mediated relationship confirmed that the managers’ attitude has a mediating role in the relationship between managers’ behavior and managers’ intentions to retain older …
... However, at the same time, the scholars found that many of the firms fail because of poor execution of a stated strategy (Bossidy and Charan, 2002;Hrebiniak, 2006). Both the scholars and the practitioners have realized that a sound strategy is not enough for superior firm performance and effective strategy execution is as important as effective strategy formulation (Galpin, 1998;Neilson, et al., 2008;Sushil, 2009;Martin, 2010). A lack of strategy execution frameworks was one of the most important reasons of execution failure (Hrebiniak, 2006). ...
... Factors determining this alignment have not yet been extensively studied in relation to CRM in sport. Therefore, we draw upon strategy implementation theory (Čater & Pučko, 2010;Galpin, 1998;Giles, 1991;Noble, 1999;Okumus, 2001), and the model of Okumus (2003), to study determinants that potentially explain variance in intended and enacted CRM strategy in sport. The model of Okumus (2003) was constructed based on a review of previously defined frameworks (Aaltonen & Ikävalko, 2002;Dobni, 2003;Freedman, 2003;Kazmi, 2008;Linton, 2002) that use a similar range of macro-and meso-level determinants. ...
Research Question: Research on cause related marketing (CRM) in sport has mostly focused on conceptualization rather than on implementation. The purpose of this paper is to add to that knowledge by exploring the specific CRM implementation decisions an organization attempts to make, and to what extent these are in line with the defined strategy.
Research Methods: Employing a qualitative method and drawing on the analysis of 16 interviews in four European countries, this research explored managerial decision-making with regards to CRM strategy implementation in European professional basketball.
Results and Findings: The findings reveal that the majority of the teams studied have marketing expectations behind their CRM engagement, but inconsistencies in implementation prevent them from leveraging CRM to its maximal potential. Depending on the type of CRM strategy adopted, ‘mis-alignment’ between strategy and implementation is caused by environmental, organizational or individual determinants.
Implications: The proposed framework allows (sport) managers to view CRM strategy formulation and implementation simultaneously, rather than separately. It can assist sport managers to better integrate CRM projects, align them with strategy, and attain maximal win-win outcomes for both the organization and society.
... The theory also demonstrates that while there is no single type of organizational culture, the organizational cultures may vary widely from one organization to the next, commonalities do exist, and there are theories developed to describe different cultures. Galpin (1998) demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect behaviour of organizations. While O'Reilly, Cardick, & Newton (1991, 2005 based their belief on the premise that cultures can be distinguished by values that are reinforced with organizations. ...
The 2010 Constitution of Kenya created 47 county governments which became functional after its promulgation on 27 th August 2010, and were actualized after the general elections of 2013. The counties were to write strategic plans that would guide them in respect to development programs in the county and how to carry out the devolved functions from the national government. This study sought to establish the influence of organizational culture on implementation of strategies by county governments in Kenya. The target population was 506 senior personnel drawn in all the five counties who included; County Executive, Sub-county Administrators, Members of County Assembly, and Ward Administrators from whom a sample size of 215 was drawn through stratified probability sampling based on different strata and then random sampling from each strata. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide. The data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative responses were analysed using content analysis. Descriptive and inferential analysis techniques were used. The descriptive technique involved generation of frequencies, mean and percentages while inferential analysis technique involved establishing significant linear relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Pearson's correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed under the inferential analysis. The ANOVA F-statistic was used to test the research hypothesis for the regression coefficients for each variable to be equal to zero. An analysis to determine the combined influence of all the independent variables was done. The data was presented in form of tables, graphs, and charts. The findings imply that organizational structure has a significant influence on strategy implementation by County Governments in Kenya. The regression analysis and the ANOVA results on the above hypothesis indicated that Adjusted R square was 0.221 implying that 22.1% of Strategy implementation by County Governments in Kenya is explained by organizational culture. From the ANOVA results there was a negative and a significant relationship between Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation by county Governments. A unit increase in Organizational culture decreases Strategy Implementation by County Governments by 0.430 Units. Since the p-value is less than 0.05 it meant that there is a negative relationship between organizational culture and Strategy implementation by county governments. Based on these study findings it can safely be concluded that norms and beliefs have a great significant positive influence on strategy implementation by county governments in Kenya at 97.9% and only 2.1% indicated that norms and beliefs had no influence on strategy implementation. These study findings give a conclusion that the level of teamwork has a significant positive influence on strategy implementation by County Governments in Kenya at a rate of 69.4%. The study findings also found out that 84.6% of the respondents indicated that commitment to strategy implementation had a significant influence on strategy implementation by county governments in Kenya. The organizational culture of the county governments should be improved in order to facilitate strategy implementation. The county governments should therefore improve on the level of teamwork among the county government staff. This can be done by encouraging interdepartmental coalition and interaction of the staff from different departments. On norms and beliefs, the county governments should adopt change management techniques to induct its staff and give them a good orientation to their new roles.
... The theory also demonstrates that while there is no single type of organizational culture, the organizational cultures may vary widely from one organization to the next, commonalities do exist, and there are theories developed to describe different cultures. Galpin (1998) demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect behaviour of organizations. While O'Reilly, Cardick, & Newton (1991, 2005 based their belief on the premise that cultures can be distinguished by values that are reinforced with organizations. ...
ABSTRACT
The 2010 Constitution of Kenya created 47 county governments which became functional after its promulgation on 27th August 2010, and were actualized after the general elections of 2013. The counties were to write strategic plans that would guide them in respect to development programs in the county and how to carry out the devolved functions from the national government. This study sought to explore the influence of organizational structure on strategy implementation by county governments in Kenya. The target population was 506 senior personnel drawn in all the five counties who included; County Executive, Sub- county Administrators, Members of County Assembly, and Ward Administrators from whom a sample size of 215 was drawn through stratified probability sampling based on different strata and then random sampling from each strata. Data was collected using a semi- structured questionnaire and an interview guide. The data collected was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative responses were analysed using content analysis. Descriptive and inferential analysis techniques were used. The descriptive technique involved generation of frequencies, mean and percentages while inferential analysis technique involved establishing significant linear relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variables. Pearson’s correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed under the inferential analysis. The ANOVA F-statistic was used to test the research hypothesis for the regressor coefficients for each variable to be equal to zero. An analysis to determine the combined influence of all the independent variables was done. The data was presented in form of tables, graphs, and charts. The questionnaires that were picked from the respondents and which were dully filled in and used for data analysis were 190. This was a response rate of rate of 88.37% % was very good for carrying out analysis and inferential conclusions. The findings imply that organizational structure has a significant influence on strategy implementation by County Governments in Kenya. The regression analysis from the responses of the respondents demonstrated that the coefficient of determination as indicated by the adjusted R square was 0.443 implying that 44.3% of the Strategy Implementation by County Governments is explained by Organizational Structure. The ANOVA test was used to show the overall model significance. Since the p-value is less than 0.05, then organizational structure had a significant explanatory power on strategy implementation by county governments in Kenya (F=140.709 and p-value <0.05). The regression equation was written as: Y= 1.773+ 0.604 X4; Where X4 is Organizational Structure and Y is Strategy Implementation by County Governments. It can therefore be concluded that the aspects of organizational structure of the county governments had a positive significant influence. These aspects were; line of command (78.3%), responsibility and authority (76.1%), as well as job definition (71.8%) while the sum of the influence of organizational structure influence was 95.3%. as analysed in Table 4.16. These study findings implied that organizational structure of the county governments in Kenya has a significant influence on their strategy implementation. Organizational structure of the county governments should be aligned to the strategy being implemented. The county government should train middle level management on the new strategy that is being introduced. It is also important for county governments to institute organizational structure that supports strategy implementation and one that ensures that there is overall coordination in inter-departmental linkages and flow of communication.
Key Words: Organizational Structure, strategy implementation
... However, at the same time, the scholars found that many of the firms fail because of poor execution of a stated strategy ( Bossidy and Charan, 2002;Hrebiniak, 2006). Both the scholars and the practitioners have realized that a sound strategy is not enough for superior firm performance and effective strategy execution is as important as effective strategy formulation (Galpin, 1998;Ng et al., 2006;Neilson, et al., 2008;Sushil, 2009). A lack of strategy execution frameworks was one of the most important reasons of execution failure (Hrebiniak, 2006). ...
... Studies by Beer and Eisenstat (2000) identified laissez-fare senior management style, vague strategy, an ineffective senior management team, poor vertical communications, poor coordination across functions and inadequate low-level leadership skills and development as the six silent killers of strategy implementation. Alexander (1991) ;Galpin 1998;and Thompson and Strickland (2003) view weak management role, unfeasibility of the strategy, misunderstanding of the strategy, unaligned organizational systems and resources, lack of communication, lacking commitment to the strategy, poor coordination and sharing of responsibilities, inadequate capabilities and uncontrollable environmental factors as the main causes of failure in strategy implementation. In the same vein , Li Yang et al.(2008) reviewed sixty peer-reviewed journal articles on strategy implementation and identified the strategy formulation process, the strategy executors, organizational structures, communication activities, level of commitment towards the strategy, consensus regarding the strategy, relationships among different units or departments and different strategy levels, implementation tactics used and administrative system in place as the key factors that affect strategy implementation. ...
The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of strategic success or failure in Zimbabwean Profit and Non-Profit Organizations. The convergent parallel mixed methods research design was adopted as the guiding model for the data collection, analysis and interpretation process in this study. This explains why data was collected through a concurrent parallel methodological triangulation of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 while the analysis of qualitative data was performed using the NVivo 10 data analysis software. The study established that there is a high rate of strategy implementation failure in Zimbabwean Profit and Non-profit Organizations. The failure to build the distinctive competences and resource capabilities needed for successful strategy implementation was identified as the main cause of strategic failure in these Organizations.
... Studies by Beer and Eisenstat (2000) identified laissez-fare senior management style, vague strategy, an ineffective senior management team, poor vertical communications, poor coordination across functions and inadequate low-level leadership skills and development as the six silent killers of strategy implementation. Alexander (1991) ;Galpin 1998;and Thompson and Strickland (2003) view weak management role, unfeasibility of the strategy, misunderstanding of the strategy, unaligned organizational systems and resources, lack of communication, lacking commitment to the strategy, poor coordination and sharing of responsibilities, inadequate capabilities and uncontrollable environmental factors as the main causes of failure in strategy implementation. In the same vein , Li Yang et al.(2008) reviewed sixty peer-reviewed journal articles on strategy implementation and identified the strategy formulation process, the strategy executors, organizational structures, communication activities, level of commitment towards the strategy, consensus regarding the strategy, relationships among different units or departments and different strategy levels, implementation tactics used and administrative system in place as the key factors that affect strategy implementation. ...
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to identify the determinants of strategic success or failure in Zimbabwean Profit and Non-Profit Organizations. The convergent parallel mixed methods research design was adopted as the guiding model for the data collection, analysis and interpretation process in this study. This explains why data was collected through a concurrent parallel methodological triangulation of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0 while the analysis of qualitative data was performed using the NVivo 10 data analysis software. The study established that there is a high rate of strategy implementation failure in Zimbabwean Profit and Non-profit Organizations. The failure to build the distinctive competences and resource capabilities needed for successful strategy implementation was identified as the main cause of strategic failure in these Organizations.
Keywords: Strategic Management, Environmental Scanning, Strategy Formulation, Strategy
Implementation, Evaluation and Control, Strategic Success, Strategic Failure
... Some researchers have revealed a number of ISSN 1675ISSN -5022 2008 Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia problems in strategy implementation: e.g. weak management roles in implementation, a lack of communication, lacking a commitment to the strategy, unawareness or misunderstanding of the strategy, unaligned organizational systems and resources, poor coordination and sharing of responsibilities, inadequate capabilities, competing activities, and uncontrollable environmental factors (Giles, 1991;Galpin, 1998;Lares-Mankki, 1994;Beer and Eisenstat, 2000). Though several researchers have identified the organization factors and managerial capabilities in many industries, little has been done of the organization and managerial capabilities in construction industry particularly in professional firms and for that, we have taken the quantity surveying firm as a sample. ...
This article reviews the organizational demography (size and structure) and managerial factors (experience, knowledge of strategic planning, degree of involvement) relating to the implementation of strategic planning in quantity surveying firms and its growth. It is generally thought that strategic planning of the firm in the construction industry is less developed than in other industries. Based on organizational factors and managerial perspective, we suggest that organization‘s structure and managerial capabilities are the determining factors in implementation of strategic planning in quantity surveying firms. Strategic planning is the mechanism needed for organizations to stay competitive and enhance performance of the firm. However, the literature on strategic planning is mostly for large organizations in other industries and not directly applicable to the context of professional firms in construction industry. This research aims to 1) to identify the organizational demography of Malaysian quantity surveying firms. 2) to identify the managerial capabilities towards the implementation of strategic planning process and 3) to establish the relationship between the strategic planning process and quantity surveying firms‘ growth.The data is obtained from literature review, semi-structured interviews with 15 directors of quantity surveying firms and final survey. This paper concludes that Malaysian quantity surveying firms is mostly small and medium size operation, mechanistic in its operation, and significantly correlated with the implementation of strategic planning. In fact, being small and growing firms is not the barrier in implementing strategic planning and there is a significant correlation between strategic planning implementation and growth. In addition, this paper also concludes that the degree of involvement by the director/owner/senior manager in strategic planning in quantity surveying firms is high, has sufficient knowledge in strategic planning and vast experience in their skills and construction environment and therefore, significantly correlated with the implementation of strategic planning.
... The most important reason for the failure of the organization is the obstacles encountered while implementing strategies. The literature presents many problems encountered while implementing strategies (Okumuþ, 2001, Dobni, 2003, Dooley et al. 2000, Freedman, 2003, Beer & Eisenstant, 2000, Hoag et al. 2002, Dobni, 2003, Galpin, 1998. For instance, Alexander (1991) mentions various reasons as obstacles: i) Implementation took more time than originally planned, ii) Unanticipated major problems arose iii) Activities were ineffectively coordinated, iv) Competing activities and crises took attention away from implementation, v) The involved employees had insufficient capabilities to perform their jobs, vi) Lower-level employees were inadequately trained, vii) Uncontrollable external environmental factors created problems, viii) Departmental managers provided inadequate leadership and direction, ix) Key implementation tasks and activities were poorly defined, x) ...
This study attempts to investigate the reasons behind the failure of implementing strategies. The fail-ure of the strategies is evaluated according to results of their formulation and implementation proc-esses. In order to find out the reasons behind the failure of the strategies, questionnaires were ad-ministered to 418 managers. In light of the findings, the reasons behind the failure of the strategies seem mostly to stem from the formulation process, and the most important issues in the implementa-tion process are found out to be organizational, individual, and managerial.
... weak management roles in implementation, a lack of communication, a lacking commitment to the strategy, unawareness or misunderstanding of the strategy, unaligned organizational systems and resources, poor coordination and sharing of responsibilities, inadequate capabilities, competing activities, and uncontrollable environmental factors. (Alexander 1991, Giles 1991, Galpin 1998, Lares-Mankki 1994, Beer & Eisenstat 2000. ...
The paper presents the key findings of a study on strategy implementation. A qualitative study of 298 interviews was conducted in 12 service organizations. In the paper, the key findings are introduced, and the challenges of strategic communication and action, the identification of and support for strategic actors, and structure and systems aligned with strategy, are discussed.
Global trade, increased levels of automation and ambitions to apply lean production increases the demand for effective maintenance of production equipment. Still, the maintenance function is often regarded as having mainly a tactical role for the assets. The fact that many companies have no clear goals for their maintenance activities is serious since goals and strategies are driving forces for increasing the maintenance effectiveness. Several studies have recognized that the absence of clear strategies obstruct maintenance development initiatives. Also, maintenance strategies should support the corporate strategy and business drivers considered critical success factors of the company. Maintenance development is the discipline of development of strategies, methods, and tools to be applied in any organization. However, well defined maintenance strategies have to be well implemented in order to contribute to the competitiveness of the company. The aim of this paper is to identify some of the driving forces and obstacles that have to be dealt with when implementing maintenance strategies. In the paper, three industrial cases are presented to exemplify which implications to be dealt with when implementing maintenance strategies. The paper is based on interviews and direct observations in three manufacturing companies in Sweden. All three companies have used the same method, within the same time frame to formulate maintenance strategies, fully aligned with their overall strategic goals. All three companies have their own specific challenges, but share the ambition to improve their maintenance programs. The case studies show that implementation of maintenance strategies to a large amount resembles a typical change project with all its challenges. However, some of the obstacles, and also some of the driving forces are more likely to appear in the maintenance context such as the organizational and cultural barriers between the maintenance and production departments.
This book is the first to combine the much talked about topics of leadership and sustainability, and provides readers with a comprehensive overview and pragmatic approach to leading sustainable organizations.
Organizations have learned to evaluate their performance from the viewpoint of their customers to achieve competitive advantage. However, environmental turbulence remains the main challenge for organizations to succeed, requiring more attention to emerging opportunities and threats under strategically thinking and planning. The aim of this study was to explore the barriers in implementing strategic plan at Mashhad Electric Energy Distribution Company (MEEDC). To achieve research goal, a qualitative research method was sought to collect data from a panel of experts consisting of eleven top managers of MEEDC. A semi-structured interview was utilized and performed based on snowball technique. Collected data was deliberately classified and analyzed using NVIVO software. The result ended with eight distinct groups of barriers including cultural, Structural, managerial, environmental, human resource management, and lack of effective performance measures, insufficient resources, and inadequate strategy formulation. Finally, suggestions to ease or eliminate implementation barriers were provided to MEEDC managers and decision makers.
Communication, often conducted in the form of meeting, is critical to the success of collaboration in project-based and human-intensive business activities. This paper reviews current literature in the areas of group and organizational communication and argues the need of (1) a holistic perspective in planning and organizing project-based group communications, (2) establishing and sustaining a continuous venue for communication, and (3) taking advantage of meetings and introducing the meeting-flow (MF) concept to facilitate the macro-level planning of communication and its venue.
This paper focuses on strategy realization at the micro level of organization. The aim is to describe strategic actions at all organizational levels, including operative level. More precisely, the research question is: what kinds of actions and practices are asso-ciated with the strategy by individuals in various organizational positions? Several classic strategy implementation models are reviewed from the strategic action view-point. Based on an empirical study in four organizations, a new strategic action typol-ogy is created. Differences with traditional models are pointed out. The planned fol-low-up research on the change of strategic actions is discussed briefly.
Using a unique international data set from a 1989-90 survey of 62 automotive assembly plants, the author tests two hypotheses: that innovative HR practices affect performance not individually but as interrelated elements in an internally consistent HR "bundle" or system; and that these HR bundles contribute most to assembly plant productivity and quality when they are integrated with manufacturing policies under the "organizational logic" of a flexible production system. Analysis of the survey data, which tests three indices representing distinct bundles of human resource and manufacturing practices, supports both hypotheses. Flexible production plants with team-based work systems, "high-commitment" HR practices (such as contingent compensation and extensive training), and low inventory and repair buffers consistently outperformed mass production plants. Variables capturing two-way and three-way interactions among the bundles of practices are even better predictors of performance, supporting the integration hypothesis. (Abstract courtesy JSTOR.)
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