Strategy Implementation
Lecture notes
Lecture 1 – 1/2/2022
Strategic planning is the process of deciding on the programs that the organization will undertake
and on the approximate amount of resources that will be allocated to each program over the next
several years
Focus -> it is not about the strategy formulation but about strategy implementation
Strategic management process
When you only have a strategic choice, nothing will happen. You need to take action via the
implementation. In this step you can make it practical
Implementing the strategy is difficult because of the scope, need for coherence and
complexity (number of interactions and number of elements)
Strategy creation focuses on;
- Analysis and planning
- Thinking
- Initiate
- At the top
- Entrepreneurial
- Goal-setting
Implementation looks at;
- Execution
- Doing
- Follow through
- Top-to-bottom
- Operational
- Goal-achieving
Alignment for implementation you need to consider the
following aspects that all have an influence on the strategic goals
Alignment checklist
,Possible supporting activities of a firm to the strategy, can be;
- Low fares
- Customer service level
- Lean staff
- Reputation
Lecture 2 – 4/2/2022
Alignment for implementation is about;
- People
- Leadership
- Structure
- Incentives
- Supporting activities
- Culture
All around the strategic goals of the company
Most failures in change management occur due to a lack of clearly defined and/or achievable
milestones and objectives to measure progress, there is no method to implement the change.
Hereafter, the biggest failure comes of the lack of commitment by senior management
Employee resistance and insufficient funding do have an impact, but are smaller factors
Why organizations need to change is because of
the strategic drift, organizations adjust by steps.
Steps are taken because they need time to adjust
and stabilize after the change, and you want to
make sure that people do not get tired of the
amount of change.
If the organization does not change, it will
become in flux and thus a big difference between
where the environment is and the level of the organization is. When this gap is very large a huge
change has to be made and this is more difficult than regular smaller changes
A large change can for instance be M&A’s
1) At beginning or announcement of M&A people do not know if they will keep their
jobs and thus stability is not certain anymore
2) Biggest failure in M&A =
Daimler – Chrysler
, As the rate of change in the business environment continues to increase, the premium on
organization’s being able to change is growing every more significant. Organizations are built to be
stable, as a result most efforts at designing and managing organizational change are dismal failures
What can you do to help the organization organize the change;
1) Off-the-shelf solutions or change agent’s preferences
o Depends on the change context
2) Implementation strategy
3) Change outcomes
Example scenario / simulation model
- Change context = environmental sustainability in a high or low urgency situation
o the context for change depends if the situation has a high or low urgency
- Players authority = mid-level manager or CEO
o Does the person has a high or lower authority that authorizes the change
- Change strategy = 18 change levers
There are 4 scenarios depending on the power of the
change agent which can be either low vs. high and on the
urgency for results also either low vs. high
The urgent scenario (high – high = 4) is the one
that the organization is capable of doing it the
quickest
Change can be;
1. Reactive change = closing a performance gap.
What is and what should be
2. Proactive change = closing an opportunity gap. What is and what could be
The 3 distinct organizational change phases of Lewin
1) Mobilization phase - unfreeze
o Make the case for the change initiative
o Build the organizational capacity for change
2) Movement phase - change
o Build momentum for change initiative
o Preserve and continue to build organizational capacity for change
3) Sustain phase - refreeze
o Institutionalize change initiative (make it stick)
Kotter 8 steps change management process =
1) Creating the climate change - unfreeze
1. Establish sense of urgency
2. Form a powerful coalition
3. Create a vision for change
2) Engaging and enabling the organization - change
4. Communicate the vision
5. Empower action
6. Create quick wins
3) Implementing and sustaining change - refreeze
7. Build on the change
8. Make it stick
Lecture notes
Lecture 1 – 1/2/2022
Strategic planning is the process of deciding on the programs that the organization will undertake
and on the approximate amount of resources that will be allocated to each program over the next
several years
Focus -> it is not about the strategy formulation but about strategy implementation
Strategic management process
When you only have a strategic choice, nothing will happen. You need to take action via the
implementation. In this step you can make it practical
Implementing the strategy is difficult because of the scope, need for coherence and
complexity (number of interactions and number of elements)
Strategy creation focuses on;
- Analysis and planning
- Thinking
- Initiate
- At the top
- Entrepreneurial
- Goal-setting
Implementation looks at;
- Execution
- Doing
- Follow through
- Top-to-bottom
- Operational
- Goal-achieving
Alignment for implementation you need to consider the
following aspects that all have an influence on the strategic goals
Alignment checklist
,Possible supporting activities of a firm to the strategy, can be;
- Low fares
- Customer service level
- Lean staff
- Reputation
Lecture 2 – 4/2/2022
Alignment for implementation is about;
- People
- Leadership
- Structure
- Incentives
- Supporting activities
- Culture
All around the strategic goals of the company
Most failures in change management occur due to a lack of clearly defined and/or achievable
milestones and objectives to measure progress, there is no method to implement the change.
Hereafter, the biggest failure comes of the lack of commitment by senior management
Employee resistance and insufficient funding do have an impact, but are smaller factors
Why organizations need to change is because of
the strategic drift, organizations adjust by steps.
Steps are taken because they need time to adjust
and stabilize after the change, and you want to
make sure that people do not get tired of the
amount of change.
If the organization does not change, it will
become in flux and thus a big difference between
where the environment is and the level of the organization is. When this gap is very large a huge
change has to be made and this is more difficult than regular smaller changes
A large change can for instance be M&A’s
1) At beginning or announcement of M&A people do not know if they will keep their
jobs and thus stability is not certain anymore
2) Biggest failure in M&A =
Daimler – Chrysler
, As the rate of change in the business environment continues to increase, the premium on
organization’s being able to change is growing every more significant. Organizations are built to be
stable, as a result most efforts at designing and managing organizational change are dismal failures
What can you do to help the organization organize the change;
1) Off-the-shelf solutions or change agent’s preferences
o Depends on the change context
2) Implementation strategy
3) Change outcomes
Example scenario / simulation model
- Change context = environmental sustainability in a high or low urgency situation
o the context for change depends if the situation has a high or low urgency
- Players authority = mid-level manager or CEO
o Does the person has a high or lower authority that authorizes the change
- Change strategy = 18 change levers
There are 4 scenarios depending on the power of the
change agent which can be either low vs. high and on the
urgency for results also either low vs. high
The urgent scenario (high – high = 4) is the one
that the organization is capable of doing it the
quickest
Change can be;
1. Reactive change = closing a performance gap.
What is and what should be
2. Proactive change = closing an opportunity gap. What is and what could be
The 3 distinct organizational change phases of Lewin
1) Mobilization phase - unfreeze
o Make the case for the change initiative
o Build the organizational capacity for change
2) Movement phase - change
o Build momentum for change initiative
o Preserve and continue to build organizational capacity for change
3) Sustain phase - refreeze
o Institutionalize change initiative (make it stick)
Kotter 8 steps change management process =
1) Creating the climate change - unfreeze
1. Establish sense of urgency
2. Form a powerful coalition
3. Create a vision for change
2) Engaging and enabling the organization - change
4. Communicate the vision
5. Empower action
6. Create quick wins
3) Implementing and sustaining change - refreeze
7. Build on the change
8. Make it stick
