STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION: MNG3702 2016
Learning Unit 1:
Introduction to strategy implementation
Explain the importance of effective leadership in strategy implementation. In your view, what are the
consequences of poor leadership in an organisation competing in a rapidly changing business environment?
Provide a practical example. TB p205
Leaders are those who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority
Leadership occurs at all levels of an organisation, it is top-level executives who are ultimately responsible for the
success and sustainability of the organisation
Top-level executives need to demonstrate strategic leadership; they must have the following competencies or
prerequisites:
they must be able to think strategically
they need to be emotionally intelligent, have a range of behaviours at their disposal and have the wisdom to
apply the right combination of behaviours at the right time − in other words they must possess the ability to
apply both transactional and transformational leadership
effectively set organisational direction
drive the strategy; staff the organisation;
building and using organisational competencies
creating a supportive organisational culture;
Ensuring alignment between structure and strategy; and leading and managing change, all of which should
contribute to effective strategy implementation.
Explain the six principles of strategic leadership. Provide practical examples to support your explanation
Principle 1: Strategic leaders are future oriented and anticipate change
-look beyond the present and anticipate change to help them see opportunities before competitors do or employ
strategies to protect their business interest
-encourage future thinking through future dialogue and scenario planning to prepare for the unexpected
-allocate sufficient budget to resource research projects and reward employees to come up with new ideas
Principle 2: Strategic leaders get things done
-implement best solutions to make a difference
-decisive action is based on careful reflection and examination of the problem
-Know the difference between practical solutions and ambitious dreams
Principle 3: Strategic leaders open new horizons
-they look beyond the obvious to recognise patterns, interpret different events and synthesise various outputs to gain
new insight
-work with all and relevant stakeholders to create new opportunities for innovative practice, and to experiment with
new ,exciting and more effective ways of meeting clients need
Principle 4: Strategic leaders reach out to stakeholders
-they value input of stakeholders
-they use proactive communication and frequent engagements to build trust and get their support
-must be skilled at managing conflict positively and at framing dynamic relationships in ways that are productive
Principle 5: Strategic leaders are fit to lead
-they need to be physically and mentally healthy, resilient, flexible, reliable and resourceful
-be able to deal with high pressure and mentally prepared to exploit opportunities which arise unexpectedly, to cope
with uncertainty and make things happen
Principle 6: Strategic leaders do the “next” right thing and learn from past experiences
-they believe in “doing the next right thing” (ethical leadership)
-they “do not shoot from the hip”, but balance rigour (harsh) with speed, and consider both short and long term
goals
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 1
,-they recognise the value of organisational learning
Explain how organisational culture can support and enhance strategy implementation. SG p11
Organisational culture is defined as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its
problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered as valid
and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those
problems
Note that organisational culture serves important functions in an organisation that include serving
the vision and strategy of the organisation
the means through which to attain strategic objectives
an individual’s role orientation
quality assurance
common language and effective communication
the means for corrective actions and intervention
With reference to the cultural web, organizational culture could support and enhance strategy implementation in the
following manner:
Using stories to convey the organization’s values, and beliefs.(success stories) For example Whitey Basson’s
story regarding the 1600 forms that was required to be filled in in order to ship goods to Maputo the first
time.
Rituals and routines: Reinforcing the organization’s culture by, for example, holding a ceremony for long
service awards, to celebrate staff retention.
Symbols: a trophy awarded for a department for good scores on their key performance areas, is a symbol
that will serve to motivate staff to behave in a manner that supports the strategy.
Control systems: controlling the strategy implementation with tools such as the Balanced Scorecard.
Organizational structures: The organization can tweak its structure into one that best serves its strategy, for
example decentralizing its decision making in order to decrease its turn-around time on customer requests.
Power structures: without top management demonstrating the values that is expected from employees, the cultural
change to implement the strategy will fail. Top management should lead by example, and talk the talk, and also walk
the walk
-Strategic leadership and organisational culture are closely aligned and enhance factors that accommodate change
and therefore strategy implementation. Leaders of an organisation play a critical role at ensuring their organisation
successfully adapt to dynamic and changing environments.
-For that success to occur, top-level executives need to demonstrate strategic leadership, which means that they
must be able to think strategically; they need to be emotionally intelligent; have a range of behaviours at their
disposal and have the wisdom to apply the right combination of behaviours at the right time
- in other words they must possess the ability to apply both transactional and
transformational leadership
- Leaders could also use the cultural web to shape or change organisational culture
Explain the merits (advantages, disadvantages and constraints) of policies and procedures for strategy
implementation. SG p13
Policies are specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms and administrative practices established to support
and encourage work towards stated goals
Policies are characterised by setting boundaries, constraints and limits on all kinds of administrative actions. They
clarify what can and cannot be done in pursuit of organisations objectives, simplify decision making and promote
delegation of decision- making to appropriate managerial levels. An organisation’s policies can either assist or block
good strategy implementation
New policies and procedures with a change in strategy or when a new strategy is being considered could enhance
strategy implementation in the following ways:
Instituting new policies and procedures provides top-down guidance regarding how, by whom and by when
certain tasks need to be done.
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 2
, Policies and procedures provide the necessary consistency in how particular strategy critical activities are
performed, thus reducing or eliminating uncertainty.
Well-conceived policies and procedures promote the creation of a work climate that facilitates effective
strategy implementation.
Policies ensure quicker decisions by standardising answers based on previous experience.
Policies offer predetermined answers to routine problems.
Policies save managerial time and afford managers a way of avoiding hasty decisions in changing conditions.
Critically discuss factors that contribute to strategy implementation failure in organisations
Implementation failure means that a new strategy was formulated but was not implemented, or was implemented in
such a way that the implementation was incomplete, strategic objectives were not attained, or the implementation
was unacceptable to key stakeholders.
Strategy implementation failure may start with the strategy formulation process. If strategic objectives are too
complex or poorly understood, lack consistency and do not provide clear future direction to members of the
organisation that have to implement them, it is unlikely that implementation will be successful.
Strategy implementation failure may occur when:
There are unexpected occurrences or misreading and misinterpreting the external environment
There is an ineffective implementation management processes (or the lack of such processes)
There is ineffective leadership
organisations dwell on past successes, losing sight of and not adapting to changing market realities and
changed requirements for competitive advantage to cope with new realities .Inability to adapt and learn (The
so-called Icarus paradox)
there are deficiencies, poor or misalignment of the various elements of the organisation (leadership,
organisational structure, policies and resources)
poor implementation rather than poor formulation is the main cause of strategies failing
Explain what strategy implementation entails, and how it relates to the strategic management process.
Strategy Implementation/Execution- It’s the second phase in traditional strategic management process. It’s the doing
part where both human and non-human factors in the organisation are applied to ensure that the strategy is
executed in line with the devised plans. It is about the processes and actions to ensure that all aspects of the internal
environment are aligned with the chosen strategic direction and strategy.
These are the key elements to be considered:
Leadership and culture- a strategic leader must ensure that the culture of the organisation is aligned with
strategic choice
Managing change- requires managing change and change initiatives. Strategy is not about business as usual
Learning organisation-The organisation must be a learning organisation through its staff and be willing to
share knowledge
Organisational architecture and structure- To create a cohesive strategy, the implementation components
need to be integrated well and the organisation needs appropriate structure to successfully execute the
strategy – structure follows strategy
Strategy deployment- is the process of managing the strategy implementation process and the strategic
initiatives through programme or project management
Strategic control and risk- Controls systems are needed to ensure both strategic implementation process and
the content of strategy is reviewed. Managing risk gives an organisation a better chance of implementing
strategy successfully
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 3
, There are four perspectives or approaches on strategy implementation:
1. Strategy implementation as organisational architecture. This perspective views the organisation as an
interrelated set of sub-systems, which must all aligned, in balance and consistent if a strategy is to be
implemented successfully
2. Strategy implementation is about managing planned change (Kurt Lewin and John Kotter’s model)
3. Strategy implementation as a process of selecting and managing strategic initiatives that contribute towards
the achievement of strategic objectives (strategy deployment)
4. Strategy implementation as organisational adaptation, organisations learn and adapt organically rather than
as part of formal process
Explain and demonstrate the link between short-term objectives, functional tactics and resource allocation in
strategy implementation.
Short-term objectives can be defined as measurable outcomes achievable or intended to be achieved in one year or
less. Short term objectives are translated from long term objectives; they should comply with the SMART
requirements. Short term objectives formulated at lower levels of the organisation should annually contribute to the
organisation ultimately achieving its long-term, strategic objectives
They aid strategic implementation by:
-Operationalizing long term objectives
-Acts as a strong motivational force and a means of avoiding conflict and disagreement with the organisation
-serves a standards for measuring progress and outcomes, providing opportunity for timeous corrective action where
needed
Functional tactics are defined as detailed statements of the means or activities that will be used by an organisation to
achieve short term objectives and establish competitive advantage. They are necessary to implement competitive
business strategies, because they ensure that all department/functional areas (marketing, finance, human resource,
etc.) in the organisation work towards achieving the same goals in the same way.
Functional tactic have three dimensions that shows the link between short term objectives
Time horizon- Functional strategies are based on and generally have to achieve annual objectives in the
immediate future through short-term action plans, because they focus the attention of functional managers
on what is critical and needs to be accomplished and because they allow functional managers to adjust to
changing conditions
Specificity- Functional strategies based on short-term objectives are more specific that longer-term business
strategies. The tactics and action plans for each functional are identity how managers in each of the areas
can accomplish their tasks and achieve objectives in the short term
Who participates in developing the strategies/tactics-Top management delegate’s responsibility for the
development and implementation of functional strategies to functional managers? Functional and
operational manager will then develop short-term action plan
Top management will be responsibility for resource allocation such as capital, human, physical and technological in
for a successful strategy implementation.
Annual objectives are derived from long-term objectives and cascaded down to middle or functional management
levels, where action plans are implemented in order to achieve such objectives in the respective divisions or
functional departments (finance, R&D, marketing, operations, human resources and purchasing).
See practical example on SG p8
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 4
Learning Unit 1:
Introduction to strategy implementation
Explain the importance of effective leadership in strategy implementation. In your view, what are the
consequences of poor leadership in an organisation competing in a rapidly changing business environment?
Provide a practical example. TB p205
Leaders are those who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority
Leadership occurs at all levels of an organisation, it is top-level executives who are ultimately responsible for the
success and sustainability of the organisation
Top-level executives need to demonstrate strategic leadership; they must have the following competencies or
prerequisites:
they must be able to think strategically
they need to be emotionally intelligent, have a range of behaviours at their disposal and have the wisdom to
apply the right combination of behaviours at the right time − in other words they must possess the ability to
apply both transactional and transformational leadership
effectively set organisational direction
drive the strategy; staff the organisation;
building and using organisational competencies
creating a supportive organisational culture;
Ensuring alignment between structure and strategy; and leading and managing change, all of which should
contribute to effective strategy implementation.
Explain the six principles of strategic leadership. Provide practical examples to support your explanation
Principle 1: Strategic leaders are future oriented and anticipate change
-look beyond the present and anticipate change to help them see opportunities before competitors do or employ
strategies to protect their business interest
-encourage future thinking through future dialogue and scenario planning to prepare for the unexpected
-allocate sufficient budget to resource research projects and reward employees to come up with new ideas
Principle 2: Strategic leaders get things done
-implement best solutions to make a difference
-decisive action is based on careful reflection and examination of the problem
-Know the difference between practical solutions and ambitious dreams
Principle 3: Strategic leaders open new horizons
-they look beyond the obvious to recognise patterns, interpret different events and synthesise various outputs to gain
new insight
-work with all and relevant stakeholders to create new opportunities for innovative practice, and to experiment with
new ,exciting and more effective ways of meeting clients need
Principle 4: Strategic leaders reach out to stakeholders
-they value input of stakeholders
-they use proactive communication and frequent engagements to build trust and get their support
-must be skilled at managing conflict positively and at framing dynamic relationships in ways that are productive
Principle 5: Strategic leaders are fit to lead
-they need to be physically and mentally healthy, resilient, flexible, reliable and resourceful
-be able to deal with high pressure and mentally prepared to exploit opportunities which arise unexpectedly, to cope
with uncertainty and make things happen
Principle 6: Strategic leaders do the “next” right thing and learn from past experiences
-they believe in “doing the next right thing” (ethical leadership)
-they “do not shoot from the hip”, but balance rigour (harsh) with speed, and consider both short and long term
goals
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 1
,-they recognise the value of organisational learning
Explain how organisational culture can support and enhance strategy implementation. SG p11
Organisational culture is defined as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its
problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered as valid
and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those
problems
Note that organisational culture serves important functions in an organisation that include serving
the vision and strategy of the organisation
the means through which to attain strategic objectives
an individual’s role orientation
quality assurance
common language and effective communication
the means for corrective actions and intervention
With reference to the cultural web, organizational culture could support and enhance strategy implementation in the
following manner:
Using stories to convey the organization’s values, and beliefs.(success stories) For example Whitey Basson’s
story regarding the 1600 forms that was required to be filled in in order to ship goods to Maputo the first
time.
Rituals and routines: Reinforcing the organization’s culture by, for example, holding a ceremony for long
service awards, to celebrate staff retention.
Symbols: a trophy awarded for a department for good scores on their key performance areas, is a symbol
that will serve to motivate staff to behave in a manner that supports the strategy.
Control systems: controlling the strategy implementation with tools such as the Balanced Scorecard.
Organizational structures: The organization can tweak its structure into one that best serves its strategy, for
example decentralizing its decision making in order to decrease its turn-around time on customer requests.
Power structures: without top management demonstrating the values that is expected from employees, the cultural
change to implement the strategy will fail. Top management should lead by example, and talk the talk, and also walk
the walk
-Strategic leadership and organisational culture are closely aligned and enhance factors that accommodate change
and therefore strategy implementation. Leaders of an organisation play a critical role at ensuring their organisation
successfully adapt to dynamic and changing environments.
-For that success to occur, top-level executives need to demonstrate strategic leadership, which means that they
must be able to think strategically; they need to be emotionally intelligent; have a range of behaviours at their
disposal and have the wisdom to apply the right combination of behaviours at the right time
- in other words they must possess the ability to apply both transactional and
transformational leadership
- Leaders could also use the cultural web to shape or change organisational culture
Explain the merits (advantages, disadvantages and constraints) of policies and procedures for strategy
implementation. SG p13
Policies are specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms and administrative practices established to support
and encourage work towards stated goals
Policies are characterised by setting boundaries, constraints and limits on all kinds of administrative actions. They
clarify what can and cannot be done in pursuit of organisations objectives, simplify decision making and promote
delegation of decision- making to appropriate managerial levels. An organisation’s policies can either assist or block
good strategy implementation
New policies and procedures with a change in strategy or when a new strategy is being considered could enhance
strategy implementation in the following ways:
Instituting new policies and procedures provides top-down guidance regarding how, by whom and by when
certain tasks need to be done.
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 2
, Policies and procedures provide the necessary consistency in how particular strategy critical activities are
performed, thus reducing or eliminating uncertainty.
Well-conceived policies and procedures promote the creation of a work climate that facilitates effective
strategy implementation.
Policies ensure quicker decisions by standardising answers based on previous experience.
Policies offer predetermined answers to routine problems.
Policies save managerial time and afford managers a way of avoiding hasty decisions in changing conditions.
Critically discuss factors that contribute to strategy implementation failure in organisations
Implementation failure means that a new strategy was formulated but was not implemented, or was implemented in
such a way that the implementation was incomplete, strategic objectives were not attained, or the implementation
was unacceptable to key stakeholders.
Strategy implementation failure may start with the strategy formulation process. If strategic objectives are too
complex or poorly understood, lack consistency and do not provide clear future direction to members of the
organisation that have to implement them, it is unlikely that implementation will be successful.
Strategy implementation failure may occur when:
There are unexpected occurrences or misreading and misinterpreting the external environment
There is an ineffective implementation management processes (or the lack of such processes)
There is ineffective leadership
organisations dwell on past successes, losing sight of and not adapting to changing market realities and
changed requirements for competitive advantage to cope with new realities .Inability to adapt and learn (The
so-called Icarus paradox)
there are deficiencies, poor or misalignment of the various elements of the organisation (leadership,
organisational structure, policies and resources)
poor implementation rather than poor formulation is the main cause of strategies failing
Explain what strategy implementation entails, and how it relates to the strategic management process.
Strategy Implementation/Execution- It’s the second phase in traditional strategic management process. It’s the doing
part where both human and non-human factors in the organisation are applied to ensure that the strategy is
executed in line with the devised plans. It is about the processes and actions to ensure that all aspects of the internal
environment are aligned with the chosen strategic direction and strategy.
These are the key elements to be considered:
Leadership and culture- a strategic leader must ensure that the culture of the organisation is aligned with
strategic choice
Managing change- requires managing change and change initiatives. Strategy is not about business as usual
Learning organisation-The organisation must be a learning organisation through its staff and be willing to
share knowledge
Organisational architecture and structure- To create a cohesive strategy, the implementation components
need to be integrated well and the organisation needs appropriate structure to successfully execute the
strategy – structure follows strategy
Strategy deployment- is the process of managing the strategy implementation process and the strategic
initiatives through programme or project management
Strategic control and risk- Controls systems are needed to ensure both strategic implementation process and
the content of strategy is reviewed. Managing risk gives an organisation a better chance of implementing
strategy successfully
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 3
, There are four perspectives or approaches on strategy implementation:
1. Strategy implementation as organisational architecture. This perspective views the organisation as an
interrelated set of sub-systems, which must all aligned, in balance and consistent if a strategy is to be
implemented successfully
2. Strategy implementation is about managing planned change (Kurt Lewin and John Kotter’s model)
3. Strategy implementation as a process of selecting and managing strategic initiatives that contribute towards
the achievement of strategic objectives (strategy deployment)
4. Strategy implementation as organisational adaptation, organisations learn and adapt organically rather than
as part of formal process
Explain and demonstrate the link between short-term objectives, functional tactics and resource allocation in
strategy implementation.
Short-term objectives can be defined as measurable outcomes achievable or intended to be achieved in one year or
less. Short term objectives are translated from long term objectives; they should comply with the SMART
requirements. Short term objectives formulated at lower levels of the organisation should annually contribute to the
organisation ultimately achieving its long-term, strategic objectives
They aid strategic implementation by:
-Operationalizing long term objectives
-Acts as a strong motivational force and a means of avoiding conflict and disagreement with the organisation
-serves a standards for measuring progress and outcomes, providing opportunity for timeous corrective action where
needed
Functional tactics are defined as detailed statements of the means or activities that will be used by an organisation to
achieve short term objectives and establish competitive advantage. They are necessary to implement competitive
business strategies, because they ensure that all department/functional areas (marketing, finance, human resource,
etc.) in the organisation work towards achieving the same goals in the same way.
Functional tactic have three dimensions that shows the link between short term objectives
Time horizon- Functional strategies are based on and generally have to achieve annual objectives in the
immediate future through short-term action plans, because they focus the attention of functional managers
on what is critical and needs to be accomplished and because they allow functional managers to adjust to
changing conditions
Specificity- Functional strategies based on short-term objectives are more specific that longer-term business
strategies. The tactics and action plans for each functional are identity how managers in each of the areas
can accomplish their tasks and achieve objectives in the short term
Who participates in developing the strategies/tactics-Top management delegate’s responsibility for the
development and implementation of functional strategies to functional managers? Functional and
operational manager will then develop short-term action plan
Top management will be responsibility for resource allocation such as capital, human, physical and technological in
for a successful strategy implementation.
Annual objectives are derived from long-term objectives and cascaded down to middle or functional management
levels, where action plans are implemented in order to achieve such objectives in the respective divisions or
functional departments (finance, R&D, marketing, operations, human resources and purchasing).
See practical example on SG p8
MNG3701 SELF ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS 2016 Page 4
