Executing Strategic Change: Understanding the Critical Management Elements That Lead to Success

Despite the availability of many methodologies, management approaches, and literature on strategy execution, research suggests that seven out of ten organizations fail to successfully execute their strategies. However, three out of ten organizations do appear to succeed. To find out what these organizations do differently, ten key management elements for successful strategy execution were identified from the literature as well as seven business benefits that could be realized if these elements were performed effectively. Next, 93 organizations were surveyed, followed by focus group meetings with senior managers. While mastery of formal methodologies and development of business cases are important, successful strategy execution is critically dependent on having a portfolio of change programs that are explicitly aligned with the organization's strategy. Further, this portfolio needs to be supported by the strategic leadership team and managed within a culture conducive to change. There are specific actions that organizations need to take to identify which elements of their strategy execution capability need to improve in order to take their performance to the next level.

[1]  Barry M. Staw,et al.  Knee-deep in the Big Muddy: A study of escalating commitment to a chosen course of action. , 1976 .

[2]  Gina Kanouse,et al.  Making the strategy work , 1980 .

[3]  Richard Whittington,et al.  Exploring Corporate Strategy , 1988 .

[4]  M. Beer,et al.  Why change programs don't produce change. , 1990, Harvard business review.

[5]  G. Johnson.  Managing strategic change--strategy, culture and action. , 1992, Long range planning.

[6]  Robert A. Burgelman,et al.  Strategic Dissonance , 1996 .

[7]  R. E. Miles,et al.  Organizing in the knowledge age: Anticipating the cellular form , 1997 .

[8]  David J. Morrison,et al.  The Profit Zone: How Strategic Business Design Will Lead You to Tomorrow's Profits , 1997 .

[9]  Gordon R. Sullivan,et al.  Hope Is Not a Method , 1997 .

[10]  H. Raiffa,et al.  The hidden traps in decision making. , 1998, Harvard business review.

[11]  D. Abell,et al.  Competing Today While Preparing for Tomorrow , 1999 .

[12]  R. Charan,et al.  Why CEOs fail. , 1999, Fortune.

[13]  David S. Pottruck,et al.  Clicks and Mortar: Passion Driven Growth in an Internet Driven World , 2000 .

[14]  N. Nohria,et al.  Cracking the code of change. , 2000, Harvard business review.

[15]  Ram Charan,et al.  Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done , 2002 .

[16]  A. G. Sheard,et al.  From loose groups to effective teams: The nine key factors of the team landscape , 2002 .

[17]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Delusions of success. How optimism undermines executives' decisions. , 2003, Harvard business review.

[18]  James M. Higgins,et al.  If you want strategic change, don't forget to change your cultural artifacts , 2004 .

[19]  Rune Lines,et al.  Influence of participation in strategic change: resistance, organizational commitment and change goal achievement , 2004 .

[20]  Michael A. Roberto,et al.  The Art of Making Change Initiatives Stick , 2005 .

[21]  Michael C. Mankins,et al.  Turning great strategy into great performance. , 2005, Harvard business review.

[22]  Heike Bruch,et al.  Strategic change decisions: doing the right change right , 2005 .

[23]  Elizabeth Daniel,et al.  Benefits management : delivering value from IS & IT investments , 2005 .

[24]  Julia Balogun,et al.  Managing Change: Steering a Course between Intended Strategies and Unanticipated Outcomes , 2006 .

[25]  Sally Maitlis,et al.  The Underlying Structure of Continuous Change , 2006 .

[26]  Gerald Bradley,et al.  Benefit Realisation Management: A Practical Guide to Achieving Benefits Through Change , 2006 .

[27]  Christopher G. Worley,et al.  Designing organizations that are built to change , 2006 .

[28]  Jeanne W. Ross,et al.  Editors' Comments - Special Issue on IS Capabilities , 2007, MIS Q. Executive.

[29]  J. Balogun.  The practice of organizational restructuring: from design to reality , 2007 .

[30]  John M. Ward,et al.  Managing the Realization of Business Benefits from IT Investments , 2007, MIS Q. Executive.

[31]  D. Lovallo,et al.  Deals without delusions. , 2007, Harvard business review.

[32]  Rob Cross,et al.  Managing Change through Networks and Values , 2007 .

[33]  J. Camillus.  Strategy as a Wicked Problem , 2008 .

[34]  B. Carroll.  How it really works , 2008, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[35]  Finding meaning in the organization , 2008 .

[36]  J. Kotter.  Leading change: why transformation efforts fail , 2009, IEEE Engineering Management Review.