Strategy
strategy execution: the discipline of getting things done
Competence in strategy has two parts:
- Strategic thinking and strategy formulation, and
- Strategy execution
Both are critical to the success of an organization.
Broadly speaking, strategy is an integrated set of decisions designed to produce success for an organization. But the question is: decisions on what and how do we best make these decisions? The set of decisions required for a commercial organization may be different from those for a public sector organization or a non-profit organization. Even within one organization, the decisions required at the corporate level may be different from those at the business unit or functional levels.
The strategic thinking and strategy formulation process must therefore provide a means of identifying the right strategic questions to answer for different organizations and for different levels within an organization. Once the right strategic questions have been identified, the process must also help the decision makers to find the best answers to the questions.
Once the strategy has been formulated, it needs to be executed effectively otherwise success will still elude the organization. Research has shown that many organizations fail not because of poor strategies but because of poor execution. The key requirements for successful strategy execution are fairly well understood: help employees to understand and buy in to the strategy; motivate them to execute the strategy; enable them to execute the strategy (right skills, culture, organizational structure, change management, etc.); and monitor and guide their execution efforts. However, meeting these requirements well is a major challenge for most organizations.
AMA has a select number of programs to develop the necessary strategy competence in organizations, both in strategic thinking/strategy formulation and in strategy execution.
These include the following:
- Moving from an Operational Manager to a Strategic Leader
- Strategic Planning: An Issues-Based Approach
- Strategy Execution: Getting It Done
- Leadership for Senior Managers: How to Get Your Strategy Implemented throughout Your Organization
- Leadership for Post-Merger Integration
If you are interested in any of these programs, please contact the relevant Quintegral office for further information.