Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Long Range Planning, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 102 to 109, 1987
Printed in Great Britain
0024-6301/87 S3.00+.0()
Pergamon Journals Ltd.
Successful strategy d e v e l o p m e n t and i m p l e m e n tation relies on the quality o f the available i n f o r m a tion. Further, this i n f o r m a t i o n is often seen as a vital
resource w h i c h can m a k e or break a firm's chance o f
success. T h e availability o f i n f o r m a t i o n to senior
managers, h o w e v e r , is usually n o t the p r o b l e m . O n
the contrary, they are generally inundated w i t h
data. 1
Thus, in this increasingly c o m p l e x and i n f o r m a t i o n oriented w o r l d , the main challenge confronting
managers is the identification, selection and m o n i toring o f i n f o r m a t i o n w h i c h is related to the
strategic p e r f o r m a n c e o f the c o m p a n y ) Also, the
right i n f o r m a t i o n requested and c o m m u n i c a t e d b y
the managers will help shape the w a y in w h i c h other
m e m b e r s o f the organization define their tasks,
interpret the firm's strategy, and determine w h a t is
i m p o r t a n t and w h a t is not.
103
Top Management
Vision
and
Strategy
Project
Plansl
Budgets
Action
.I Divisional/Departmental
L
" Managers and Subordinates "
104
August 1987
elements
which
will
~r Competitive forces. Postures of competitors, suppliers, customers, potential new entrants as well
as those elements which firms following similar
strategies in related industries need to be alert to.
These may include certain quality standards,
product mix, cost control, etc.
105
~,~ -
%o
~
x"o-
,- ,~
~,L.~
x.~
.~o-
Marketing
Personnel
O
'6
eI.L
Production
Project 1
~
Project2
O..
Product I
~
P r o d u c t II
Goal l
~
Goal II
106
August 1987
Disruption of
parts supply
Securing
distributors
in new markets
Marketing."
Distribution
Promotion
10
10
2
8
10
2
1
1
4
1
Personnel."
Design
Management
Production
10
8
8
2
6
4
1
1
1
1
10
1
5
8
8
Production:
Assembly dry spreaders
Design liquid spreaders
Manufacture spare parts
1
10
1
10
1
10
1
1
6
1
1
1
10
10
10
10
1
10
1
1
2
8
1
1
8
8
10
1
1
2
10
3
3
10
3
2
7
Decentralization
of management
Expansion of
facilities
Projects:
Plant construction
Products:
Dry spreaders
Liquid spreaders
Goals."
Controlled growth
Reduced time commit.
CEO
Customer service
1 = Little or no impact. 10=Substantial
or critical
impact.
Customer services
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Manager of Distribution
Managers of Production Planning
Managers Service Department
"~ Manufacturing costs--reduction by 22 per cent
Vice President of Operations
Chief Cost Accountant
Plant Superintendents
Managers of Production Planning
"/~ New 'low-priced' products
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Senior Market Analyst
Manager of Product Development
"A" Sales growth of 17 per cent
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Manager of Advertising
Four Senior Salesmen
W o r k Force Development
Vice President of Personnel
Manager of Training and Development
T w o Foremen
Union Representative
It should be noted that because some critical factors
are long range in nature, different key individuals
may be identified over time as conditions change.
While more than one individual may be designated
as responsible for the achievement of a critical
factor, each individual typically has appropriate
strategic performance indicators or responsibilities
assigned so that his performance can be monitored
separately, as discussed in the following section.
This analysis of key individuals may also highlight
certain organizational problems. For example, the
individuals selected to fulfill certain responsibilities
must have authority and resources to take the
necessary steps required for the successful implementation of the strategy. This authority should be
clearly articulated to match accountability. Any
organizational problems which exist should be
explicitly addressed.
107
to
(OSFs).
The strategic information plan must develop an
approach for obtaining the information which is not
immediately available from existing sources. Since
information systems are not created in 1 day, an
interim system may be installed using some surrogate information until the sources called for in the
information plan are established and procedures
completed.
(2) Preliminary system design plan. The functional
and technical requirements of the reporting system
and of the necessary hardware/software are identified during the preliminary design phase. The
primary objective is to bring to the surface all
associated design issues prior to the installation of
systems and the establishment of procedures. For
example 'What constraints do the firm's existing
data systems impose? Can the barriers be overcome
or do we have to undertake major redesign?'
(3) Procedure~systems installation plan. This phase
involves the detailed design, installation and testing
of procedures and systems. The technical part of the
process for computerized systems includes developing programming specifications, developing logically structured programs and required procedures;
108
August 1987
W e recommend that these implementation recommendations be handed out to all participants. The
implementation must be presented to support team
spirit, not to alienate employees.
IV. Conclusion
Strategies are formulated based on a number of
assumptions. During strategy execution, however,
these premises and other factors are likely to change
as time passes, Therefore, getting the right information on developments in critical issues and the firm's
strategic progress is essential to the directors and
managers of any business. Furthermore, this specifically identified information is used in communicating and monitoring strategic progress, and to
measure key personnel on vital aspects of the firm's
strategy and providing powerful motivators for the
firm as a whole.
Research suggests that relatively few firms are
engaged in systematic monitoring of factors critical
to the firm's strategic success. However, the firms
which have adopted these more sophisticated
methods for strategy formulation and monitoring
of strategic progress seem to achieve better performance. The planning process and procedures described in this article provide a framework which
firms can use to bridge the gap between the vision of
top management and successful strategy execution.
With the method presented here, the directors and
the top management team are able to clearly
Acknowledgements--Thestudy
References
(1) L. Calingo, J. CamiUus, P. Jensterand T. Raghunathan, Strategic
management and organizational action: a conceptual synthesis,
43rd National Conference of Academy of Management (1983).
109
(4) Rockart, Chief executives define their own data needs, Harvard
Business Review, March-April (1979).
(5) P. Jenster, Divisional monitoring of critical success factors
during strategy implementation, Doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh (1984).