MNG3702-unisa exam qa

TOPIC 1 – STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION Question 1 - Comment on the importance of strategy implementation as a component of the strategic management process. (5) [A1-Jun13] 1. The importance of strategy implementation in strategic management process is more about creating change that is timely and appropriate. 2. Organisations could in the past make incremental changes to keep pace, but change is increasingly revolutionary and disruptive. 3. Organisations have to deal with products being made obsolete in a very short space of time, and products have shorter life cycles. Moreover even if they are the leading competitor the disruption may come not from the competitors in the same industry, but from organisations in other industries that have a business model that is unexpected. 4. Overall strategic change that is not managed well will have little value if plans are not implemented timely. 5. As plans themselves may be obsolete by the time a strategic plan is implemented. Explain what strategy implementation entails. (5) [A1-Nov12 + A1-Nov10 + A1-Jun09] 1. Strategic implementation is the process that turns strategic plans into a series of actions tasks and ensures that these tasks are executed in such a way that the objectives of the strategic plan are achieved. 2. It entails the communication, interpretation, adoption and enactment of strategic plans. 3. It is the phase in which management aligns strategic leadership, organisational culture, organisational structures, reward systems, policies and resource allocation with the chosen strategy. 4. It involves taking management form thinking to actually doing. 5. It involves management developing short term objective and policies. 6. It is the most important phase in the strategic management process. Question 2 - Discuss five (5) reasons why strategy implementation in an organisation might fail. (5) [A1-Nov13 + A1-Jun12 + B1.1-Jun09] 1. Vision barrier: a. The workforce does not understand the vision and strategy. b. Vision may be poorly conveyed and lower levels of management may not understand their role in the execution of the organisation’s strategy. 2. Management barrier: a. Management teams may be too focused on solving short-term problems and not enough time is spent on strategic issues. 3. Resource barrier: a. Organisations do not link their resource allocation plans or budgets to the chosen strategy. 4. People barrier: a. Managers have not linked rewards to strategy, which creates no incentives to change activities to align with the organisation’s strategic plan. 5. Other reasons why strategy implementation fail may include: a. Inadequate resources. b. Poorly communicated strategy. c. Implementation actions are not clearly defined. d. Unclear accountability for implementation actions and initiatives. e. The existence of organisational silos and a culture that resists change. f. Inadequate performance targets. g. Inadequate rewards. h. Poor leadership