Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

Note: For the first article in this series please go to Issues in Strategy Implementation.
Continuing with our discussion on strategy implementation, we turn our attention to internal company polices and procedures. Changes to the strategy usually entails some form of change in internal operations. People are set in their ways of doing things. You are [...]

Note: For the first article in this series please go to Issues in Strategy Implementation.
It does seem intuitive that you need to allocate resources to the strategy you committed to, doesn’t it?. But how much do you need to allocate and to what project? Allocate too much and you are wasting it; allocate too little [...]

Every organization has a unique structure. An organizational structure is the reflection of the company’s past history, reporting relationships and internal politics. As a CEO, you need to take a very close look at your organization structure and evaluate if it supports your strategy. You may need to customize your organizational structure to fit your strategy. The following points can help you identify the appropriate structure needed for strategy implementation

We discussed leadership and how important it is for the leader to drive the strategy implementation within the organization. When looking for a competitive advantage in this area, the best strategy is to build core competencies and organizational capabilities that your competitors cannot easily duplicate. Successful strategy implementation depends on competent employees and their capabilities. They are important for your organization to develop core competencies. Building a capable organization should be one of the top priorities for your organization.

A small business had a very chaotic style of functioning. I will focus on the development team in this example. Work of the day depended on which customer complained the loudest to the CEO. This caused the pending task list to grow exponentially. And when the current customer was a bit satisfied, they turned their attention to the next screaming customer, and so on. This is a vicious cycle. When you throw in new customers into the mix, the cycle keeps growing. The development and customer support team were a demotivated lot. No new R&D was taking place. It got to a point where the support team just fixed one bug; it in turn introduced 10 other bugs. There was no pride in ownership of work. It was only a matter of time when the good people would leave. - Strategy and marketing consultants for businesses in Halifax Nova Scotia

In this multi-part series, I will explore strategy implementation and the hurdles entrepreneurs or CEOs face in this process. This is not going to be checklist of things to do in strategy execution. There is no such thing. Strategy execution is like a multi-horse chariot - if all the horses do not pull in one direction, you are not going anywhere. Your job as an entrepreneur or a CEO is to ensure all stakeholders are pulling your organization in the same direction.

How many times in your career have you heard “This is the way it has always been done”? If your organization has this culture, you are doomed to remain in the “also-ran club”. I keep saying this to small business owners, you cannot innovate until you break rules.

As I was mulling the best strategy, it dawned to me that I was a sales person offering a service. The product - Me! As any seasoned sales person will tell you, you cannot win an argument on price alone. If you are asking $20 for your product and the prospect only offers you $10, you have a perception problem. You have not been able to convey the value of your product to the customer. The same principle applies to any product or service your organization offers. You need to answer the question, “What value does my service provide?”.

Your business was initially an idea. Your idea may be as complex or as simple as your creativity. You can either take an existing product and better it. Your idea gets reinforced with every success your business achieves. Typically, companies evolve themselves as the market forces change.

Your organization’s success does not depend on external factors - it solely rests on your shoulders as a leader. An organization fails because of errors in implementing strategy. It is easy to formulate strategy, but very difficult to implement one.