Strategic Management

Macmillan and Tampoe OUP

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Implementing Strategy
Building the Culture for Successful Strategy Implementation

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Cultures consequences

Failure to build a culture that supports the new strategic direction will result in the strategy failing Effective culture extracts the best efforts of people Culture is about the values and beliefs people hold Culture shapes the way people behave Culture change is often vital to the success of new strategic intent
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Nine steps to change business processes

Sell the new strategic intent Interpret the new organizational culture Develop group decision-making skills Introduce innovative mindsets that welcome change Develop skills and knowledge base Encourage staff to feel secure Develop means of helping staff deliver consistent performance Enable accessibility to management during change Encourage thinking that focuses on the outside world
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Step 1 - Sell the Strategic Intent

Justify the need for change Convince people that the new direction is right Allow time for debate and internalisation Explain the consequences of change Soften the personal cost of change Maintain goodwill of all people affected Show cause and effect Treat people as adults
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Step 2 interpret the organizational culture

Identify the type of culture that exists in the organization (see page 236 for types) by survey Assess whether it is right for the new strategy and intent by defining the culture that is most appropriate Identify shortfalls Bridge the gaps

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Step 3 develop group decision-making skills

Speed of decision making is vital in a fast changing environment This means delegating decision making to the point closest to the action Decisions must be broad based and involve all those affected Get maximum involvement in decision making to get buy-in to the decision during implementation Have open communication channel that inform all those involved
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Step 4 Introduce innovative thinking

Create mental agility and willingness to discard outdated and redundant habits, processes, and cultures to embrace new ones Encourage people to think outside the box Loosen the bonds of tradition and inertia Develop new skills so that people can adopt new ideas and behaviours
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Step 5 Develop Skills and Knowledge Base

Changes to process, culture and structure usually require staff skills to be updated Self-learning can be slow and uneven in its effect for various reasons Formal learning is by far the most effective such as change workshops Support tools whos who for example, further support the adoption of new ways and smooth communications across the new organization Help desks and bulleting boards that give staff access to received wisdom can also help solve new problems encountered
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Step 6 Encourage sense of security

Change always makes people insecure Treat those leaving with dignity and provide financial and psychological support to help them Offer training and mentoring for those who want it Help staff re-evaluate their worth to the organization and the wider market
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Step 7 Help staff improve performance

Uncertainty of the future cause staff to focus more on themselves than the job they have to do This results in a drop in productivity Helping staff maintain high performance increases self-worth and sense of security and drives motivated effort Provide help with establishing new networks and using new processes effectively

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Step 8 Enable greater access to all management levels

Change upset the power balance in organisations This results in decision processes & lines of reporting getting blurred Managers, due to their own insecurity, withdraw delegated authority and hold back information This can cause insecurity in staff To overcome this the communications channels to senior managers must be open and unhindered and the responses honestly and sensitively treated

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Step 9 encourage outward focus

Change tends to make people introspective Getting people to be customer focused helps put their vision in perspective If they have already benefited from the previous steps introspection can be avoided
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