SFI.Chap10

Good strategy execution requires

• a team effort with all managers having strategy executing responsibility in their areas of authority, and making all employees active participants in the strategy execution process

• incremental changes to current operating practices be implemented to ensure existing resource capabilities are not impacted too severely

• little consensus building, despite the magnitude of the proposed changes, because employees know the benefits gained from the planning process

• the strategy-critical value chain activities to be simplified so that all company personnel can be cognizant of the benefits of the execution parameters

The two best signs of good strategy execution are

• whether the company is challenging its current performance targets and whether value chain activities are fully integrated within the strategic response criteria

• whether managers are personally leading the change process and whether they are meeting deadlines set for budgetary requirements

• whether the company is meeting or beating its performance targets and whether they are performing value chain activities in a manner that is conducive to company wide operating excellence

• whether managers are fully behind the changes and whether the company's value chain managers are executing them diligently

Which one is NOT one of the THREE components of building a capable organization?

• Staffing the organization—putting together a strong management team, and recruiting and retaining talented employees

• Putting a centralized decision-making structure in place, determining who should have responsibility for each value chain activity, and aligning the corporate culture with key policies, procedures, and operating practices

• Acquiring, developing, and strengthening the resources and capabilities required for good strategy execution

• Structuring the organization and work effort—organizing value chain activities and business processes, establishing lines of authority and reporting relationships

What is the advantage of acquiring capabilities through merger and acquisition?

• Price, as it is always cheaper to buy a whole company and pull out the capabilities individually

• Empowerment, since you can capture the essence of the capability and refocus the firm

• Speed, since developing new capabilities internally can take many years of effort

• Assets, as it the basis of the sale

• All of these

Three important execution-related benefits

• Improve employee quality; Reduce costs; Ability to react quickly

• Improves chances & distinctive competence; Streamlining of internal operations; Partnerships

• Higher employee morale; Partnerships; Increased revenue

• Improves chances & distinctive competence; Improved customer satisfaction; Higher employee morale

Multidivisional Structure is

• a central executive handles all major decisions & oversees all operations

• organized along functional lines, where a function represents a major component

• a combination structure in which the organization is organized two or more dimensions at once

• a decentralized structure operating divisions organized

Putting Together a Strong Management Team include

• Tying rewards directly to the achievement of performance objectives.

• All employees are active participants in the strategy execution process

• All managers have strategy-executing responsibility in their areas of authority

• Know how to motivate and lead the company down the path for first-rate strategy execution 

• All of these

When strategies fail, it is often because of

• poor execution of the strategy

• inadequate support for the management team responsible for the planning process

• shortfalls exposed with the strategic management design process

• secondary operating practices that hinder the required changes

• all of these

Superior strategy execution capabilities are the only source of sustainable competitive advantage

• when strategies are easy for rivals to copy

• because such capabilities are socially complex and develop with experience over long periods of time and thus are hard to mimic

• because there is no substitute for superior strategy execution

• when the only way to achieve success is to ensure the firm out-executes its competitors

• all of these

Outsourcing value chain activities to strategic partners can yield such advantages as

• Lower costs, less internal bureaucracy, speedier decision making, more flexibility, and heightened strategic focus.

• Quick creation of distinctive competencies, enhanced product quality, and better customer service.

• Lower cost adoption of best practices.

• Facilitating the capture of cross-functional strategic fits and resource fits.