What are the three key actions in building an organization capable of good strategy execution choose every correct answer?

Three ways is organization can be perceived by the rest of the organization that influence is strategy are:_________

In the ________ view of leadership, the leader is the key force in determining the success of an organization.

Law enforcement agencies may be much more capable of processing _________________ than an organization that has been victimized

What is the term for the use of specific actions that cause changes in the actions or moods of others?

The actions taken by management to specify the intermediate goals and objectives of the organization are _____.

__________ are key to any investigation and are a very important part of the process when confirming the actions that took place during an investigati ...

Which three levels of organization in the human body are studied in gross anatomy?

Organizations tend to increase the amount of planning and control closer to the point of execution when:_____.

Identify one key similarity and one key difference between societies that developed

The genealogical method is used to examine what building block in the social organization of nonindustrial societies?

The Idea in Brief

A brilliant strategy may put you on the competitive map. But only solid execution keeps you there. Unfortunately, most companies struggle with implementation. That’s because they overrely on structural changes, such as reorganization, to execute their strategy.

Though structural change has its place in execution, it produces only short-term gains. For example, one company reduced its management layers as part of a strategy to address disappointing performance. Costs plummeted initially, but the layers soon crept back in.

Research by Neilson, Martin, and Powers shows that execution exemplars focus their efforts on two levers far more powerful than structural change:

• Clarifying decision rights—for instance, specifying who “owns” each decision and who must provide input

• Ensuring information flows where it’s needed—such as promoting managers laterally so they build networks needed for the cross-unit collaboration critical to a new strategy

Tackle decision rights and information flows first, and only then alter organizational structures and realign incentives to support those moves.

The Idea in Practice

The following levers matter most for successful strategy execution:

Decision Rights

• Ensure that everyone in your company knows which decisions and actions they’re responsible for.

Example: 

In one global consumer-goods company, decisions made by divisional and geographic leaders were overridden by corporate functional leaders who controlled resource allocations. Decisions stalled. Overhead costs mounted as divisions added staff to create bulletproof cases for challenging corporate decisions. To support a new strategy hinging on sharper customer focus, the CEO designated accountability for profits unambiguously to the divisions.

• Encourage higher-level managers to delegate operational decisions.

Example: 

At one global charitable organization, country-level managers’ inability to delegate led to decision paralysis. So the leadership team encouraged country managers to delegate standard operational tasks. This freed these managers to focus on developing the strategies needed to fulfill the organization’s mission.

Information Flow

• Make sure important information about the competitive environment flows quickly to corporate headquarters. That way, the top team can identify patterns and promulgate best practices throughout the company.

Example: 

At one insurance company, accurate information about projects’ viability was censored as it moved up the hierarchy. To improve information flow to senior levels of management, the company took steps to create a more open, informal culture. Top executives began mingling with unit leaders during management meetings and held regular brown-bag lunches where people discussed the company’s most pressing issues.

• Facilitate information flow across organizational boundaries.

Example: 

To better manage relationships with large, cross-product customers, a B2B company needed its units to talk with one another. It charged its newly created customer-focused marketing group with encouraging cross-company communication. The group issued regular reports showing performance against targets (by product and geography) and supplied root-cause analyses of performance gaps. Quarterly performance-management meetings further fostered the trust required for collaboration.

• Help field and line employees understand how their day-to-day choices affect your company’s bottom line.

Example: 

At a financial services firm, salespeople routinely crafted customized one-off deals with clients that cost the company more than it made in revenues. Sales didn’t understand the cost and complexity implications of these transactions. Management addressed the information misalignment by adopting a “smart customization” approach to sales. For customized deals, it established standardized back-office processes (such as risk assessment). It also developed analytical support tools to arm salespeople with accurate information on the cost implications of their proposed transactions. Profitability improved.

You’ve set organizational goals and formulated a strategic plan. Now, how do you ensure it gets done?

Strategy execution is the implementation of a strategic plan in an effort to reach organizational goals. It comprises the daily structures, systems, and operational goals that set your team up for success.

Even the best strategic plans can fall flat without the right execution. In fact, 90 percent of businesses fail to reach their strategic goals, which researchers believe is due to a gap between strategic planning and execution.

“If you’ve looked at the news lately, you’ve probably seen stories of businesses with great strategies that have failed,” says Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons, who teaches the online course Strategy Execution. “In each case, we find a business strategy that was well formulated but poorly executed.”

How can you equip yourself and your team to implement the plans you’ve crafted? Here are five keys to successful strategy execution you can use at your organization.

Keys to Successful Strategy Execution

1. Commit to a Strategic Plan

Before diving into execution, it’s important to ensure all decision-makers and stakeholders agree on the strategic plan.

Research in the Harvard Business Review shows that 71 percent of employees in companies with weak execution believe strategic decisions are second-guessed, as opposed to 45 percent of employees from companies with strong execution.

Committing to a strategic plan before beginning implementation ensures all decision-makers and their teams are aligned on the same goals. This creates a shared understanding of the larger strategic plan throughout the organization.

Strategies aren’t stagnant—they should evolve with new challenges and opportunities. Communication is critical to ensuring you and your colleagues start on the same page and stay aligned as time goes on.

2. Align Jobs to Strategy

One barrier many companies face in strategy execution is that employees’ roles aren’t designed with strategy in mind.

This can occur when employees are hired before a strategy is formulated, or when roles are established to align with a former company strategy.

In Strategy Execution, Simons posits that jobs are optimized for high performance when they line up with an organizational strategy. He created the Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) that individuals can use to assess whether their organization's jobs are designed for successful strategy execution.

The JDOT assesses a job’s design based on four factors, or “spans”: control, accountability, influence, and support.

“Each span can be adjusted so that it’s narrow or wide or somewhere in between,” Simons writes in the Harvard Business Review. “I think of the adjustments as being made on sliders, like those found on music amplifiers. If you get the settings right, you can design a job in which a talented individual can successfully execute your company’s strategy. But if you get the settings wrong, it will be difficult for any employee to be effective.”

3. Communicate Clearly to Empower Employees

When it comes to strategy execution, the power of clear communication can’t be overlooked. Given that a staggering 95 percent of employees don’t understand or are unaware of their company’s strategy, communication is a skill worth improving.

Strategy execution depends on each member of your organization's daily tasks and decisions, so it’s vital to ensure everyone understands not only the company's broader strategic goals, but how their individual responsibilities make achieving them possible.

Data outlined in the Harvard Business Review shows that 61 percent of staff at strong-execution companies believe field and line employees are given the information necessary to understand the bottom-line impact of their work and decisions. In weak-execution organizations, just 28 percent believe this to be true.

To boost your organization’s performance and empower your employees, train managers to communicate the impact of their team's daily work, address the organization in an all-staff meeting, and foster a culture that celebrates milestones on the way to reaching large strategic goals.

4. Measure and Monitor Performance

Strategy execution relies on continually assessing progress toward goals. For this to be possible, key performance indicators (KPIs) should be determined during the strategic planning stage, and success should be defined numerically.

A numeric goal allows you and your team to regularly track and monitor performance and assess if any changes need to be made based on that progress.

For instance, your company’s strategic goal could be to increase its customer retention rate by 30 percent by 2022. By keeping a record of the change in customer retention rate on a weekly or monthly basis, you can observe data trends over time.

If records show that your customer retention rate is decreasing month over month, it could signal that your strategic plan requires pivoting because it’s not driving the change you desire. If, however, your data shows steady month-over-month growth, you can use that trend to reasonably predict whether you’ll reach your goal of a 30 percent increase by 2022.

5. Balance Innovation and Control

While innovation is an essential driving force for company growth, don’t let it derail the execution of your strategy.

To leverage innovation and maintain control over your current strategy implementation, develop a process to evaluate challenges, barriers, and opportunities that arise. Who makes decisions that may pivot your strategy’s focus? What pieces of the strategy are non-negotiable? Answering questions like these upfront can allow for clarity during execution.

Also, remember that a stagnant organization has no room for growth. Encourage employees to brainstorm, experiment, and take calculated risks with strategic goals in mind.

Related: 23 Resources for Mobilizing Innovation in Your Organization

Developing Your Strategic Toolkit

Setting strategic goals, formulating a plan, and executing a strategy each require a different set of skills and come with their own challenges. Keeping in mind that even the best formulated strategy can be poorly executed, consider bolstering your execution skills before setting strategic goals and putting a plan in place.

Are you interested in designing systems and structures to meet your organization’s strategic goals? Explore our eight-week Strategy Execution course and other online strategy courses to hone your strategic planning and execution skills. To find the right HBS Online Strategy course for you, download the free flowchart.