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Summary MNG3702 - Notes Lesson 01 to 08
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Strategic Implementation and Control IIB Lesson 01 to 08
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MNG3702 – Strategic Implementation and Control IIBLesson 1: Introduction to strategy implementation and control (Chapter 1 to 7)
TRANSLATING LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES INTO ANNUAL OBJECTIVES
FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND TACTICS IN STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Strategic management is the process for planning, implementing and controlling strategy for the organisation.
Strategy deployment
Aligning organizational units with strategic direction
Corporate, business & functional dimensions all need to be aligned &
support each other for success.
Successful
implementation of
strategic iniatives
Mobilization: corporate, business & functional dimensions are
awakened & kept moving until they find their place
Strategic plan = cup that provides structure
Strategy deployment = act of filling the cup with whatever is needed.
Successful Successful Aligning individual behavior with strategic direction
alignment of alignment of 5 tools:
individual organisational
behaviour with units with 1. Recruitment process: employ people that support the
strategic direction strategic direction companies direction.
2. Training & development: knowledge, skills & attitudes of
employees match the direction of the business.
3. Policies & procedures: changes might need new policies to
replace old ones.
4. Cascading objectives: used as a framework for setting
objectives lower down the organization.
5. Reward systems: tailored to reward behaviors &
achievements and support strategic direction.
Strategic initiatives
↘ key projects focused on achieving specific objective or improving performance in order to achieve a performance
target
Enablers of strategy deployment
SD is underpinned by 3 enablers:
Communication of strategy
4 main objectives:
I. Ensure everyone knows what the strategy is & how it will affect them
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II. Resolve ambiguity & uncertainty
III. Explain assumptions & judgements that were made during the analysis process & explain decisions made
IV. Ensure coordination
Ability to learn & adapt
Strategic direction is developed, implemented & repeatedly and continuously modified in response to changes in
environment.
Success comes from having necessary discipline to change when it’s not working & change the strategy without
abandoning the vision of the business.
Experimenting is a key to making adjustments successful
3 basic components:
a) Conducting the experiment
b) Studying the success or failure of the experiment
c) Transferring lessons learnt to the business
Allocation of resources
When requesting funds, business must take the following into account:
o Extent to which the proposed resources contribute towards the mission & objectives.
o Extent to which they support strategic direction & key initiatives.
o Risk associated with the proposal.
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND LEADERSHIP IN STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Organizational culture
↘ collection of values & norms shared by people & groups who work together.
Culture can be conceived by different layers:
o Values: Beliefs, traits & behavioral norms that management has determined should guide the pursuit of its
vision & mission
o Beliefs: reflect someone’s sense of what ought to be & can typically be discerned in how people talk about
issues
o Behaviors: day-to-day ways the business operates
o Taken-for-granted assumption: when a solution to a problem works repeatedly & gets taken for granted
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 interventions
Strategic leadership
Leaders of organisations play a critical role in ensuring that their organisations pre-
emptively and successfully adapt to dynamic and changing environments. Leadership
occurs at all levels of an organisation, but top-level executives are ultimately
responsible for the success & sustainability of the organisation.
Leaders: people able to influence others and who possess managerial authority.
Leadership is about influencing the behaviour of other people. To be successful, top-
level executives need to demonstrate strategic leadership (think strategically; be
, MNG3702 – Strategic Implementation and Control IIB
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)
Good strategic leaders have the following characteristics:
• Vision, eloquence, consistency
• Articulation of the business model
• Commitment
• Being well informed
• Willingness to delegate and empower
• Smart use of power
• Emotional intelligence
The following six principles allow for better understanding of the skills required to be a strategic leader and how these
skills can be mastered in a way that allows strategic leaders to think strategically and navigate the unknown effectively.
I. Strategic leaders are future orientated and anticipate change
A leader needs to look beyond the present and anticipate change to help them see opportunities before competitors do.
Effective leaders are constantly scanning the environment and are focused on uncovering opportunities inside and
outside the organization. They consider the complex and unpredictable nature of the future and develop broader
networks to gain insights into the perspective of customers, competitors and partners. Leaders know the importance of
formalizing the collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of market and business intelligence (learning skills
can be developed to identify and take advantage of opportunities). Active participation and leadership is required to find
out what works and recognize achievements of performers and reward those who come up with innovative ideas and
practices.
II. Strategic leaders get things done
Strategic leaders implement the best solutions to make a difference, they talk about what they might do and do it.
Actions are based on careful reflection and examination of a problem through many lenses.
III. Strategic leaders open new horizons
To uncover possibilities beyond the mundane and open new horizons and directions for their firms, strategic leaders are
expected to look beyond the obvious to see patterns, interpret different events and synthesize various outputs to gain
new insight. These leaders will work with all stakeholders and understand how their work interweaves with that of their
colleagues and relevant stakeholders to create opportunities for innovative practice. Opening new horizons means
helping others see beyond established orthodox means and experimenting with new, exciting and more effective ways
of meeting customer needs.
IV. Strategic leaders reach out to stakeholders
Strategic leaders value the input of stakeholders and understand their importance when it comes to implementing new
strategies, so they use proactive communication and frequent engagements to build trust and get their support. They
are sensitive to different cultures and cross-cultural issues, and respectfully confront issues and have perspectives that
may differ from dominant thinking. Strategic leaders need to be skilled at managing conflict positively and at framing
dynamic relationships in ways that are productive.
V. Strategic leaders are fit to lead
Strategic leaders are confronted by various obstacles and environmental changes that pose threats and risks for the firm.
These changes create increased levels of anxiety and stress so to deal with this they need to be flexible, reliable and
resourceful. Being fit to lead is also about being mentally prepared to exploit opportunities which arise expectantly, to
cope with uncertainty and make things happen with limited resources. Strategic leaders need to manage their physical
and mental wellbeing.
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VI. Strategic leaders do the ‘next’ right thing and learn from experiences
Strategic thinkers need to insist on multiple options and should not get locked into simplistic yes/no choices. They
recognize the importance of balancing precision with speed, consider the tradeoff involved and take both short- and
long-term goals into account. Successful leaders recognize the importance of organizational learning and consider
lessons learned from both successful and unsuccessful goals to be important for future decisions.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Organisational design: process of deciding how an organisation should create, use and combine organisational structure,
control systems & organisational culture to pursue its business model and long-term objectives.
Organisational structure: the means through which a company assigns employees to specific tasks and roles and
specifies how these tasks and roles are linked together to increase efficiency, quality, innovation & responsiveness.
The purpose of organisational structure is to coordinate & integrate the efforts of employees at all levels − corporate,
business and functional – and across an organisation’s functions and business units so that all levels work together in a
way that allows the organisation to achieve its long-term objectives.
Structures traditionally adopted by organisations, depending on their specific requirements:
• Simple organisational structure- includes an owner & a few employees, in which management tasks,
responsibilities and communication are highly informal.
• Functional organisation structure- necessary to have different people handling different tasks (marketing,
finance, operations), thus working in functional groups which are relatively more formal and require formal
planning, organisation, coordination and control.
• Divisional structures- occur when an organisation diversifies its product or service lines and serves a number of
geographic areas and heterogeneous customer groups, resulting in functional structures becoming inadequate.
• Matrix organisational structures- characterised by dual channels of authority, performance responsibility,
evaluation and control, and are largely adopted by large, project-oriented organisations.
POLICIES, SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES IN STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
Policies: specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms and administrative practices established to support and
encourage work toward 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 an organisation’s objectives, simplify decision-making, and promote
delegation of decision-making to appropriate managerial levels. Policies can either assist or block good strategy
implementation.
RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES IN STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
An organisation’s strategy will require either to exploit existing capabilities, or to explore and develop new capabilities,
or to do both. A new strategy will undoubtedly require additional resources and capabilities − or a reallocation of
current resources from existing low-opportunity activities to new, potentially high-opportunity activities and strategic
priority areas. Planning and budgeting for additional resources and capabilities must occur early in or concurrently with
the strategy formulation process.
Resources and capabilities
Resources are grouped into 5 categories:
A. Financial capital: organizations ability to generate funds, internally or through loans & investments
B. Physical capital: operational & manufacturing equipment, location & access to raw materials
C. Human capital: knowledge, management & employee insight, intellect, relationships, training & experience
D. Organizational capital: reporting structure & management, planning, coordinating, controlling & networks
E. Technological capital: ICT systems
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