Product Manager

Translating strategy into effective implementation: dispelling the myths and highlighting what works

John Sterling

John Sterling is a partner and co-founder of Smock Sterling – Strategic Management Consultants, located in Lake Forest, Illinois (Jsterling@smocksterling.com)). The rm specializes in strategic planning and management. Sterling’s previous Strategy & Leadership case study (Vol. 30 No. 6, November/December 2002) explained how Rubicon Technology, a high tech start-up, successfully practices strategic focus.

ou have heard this advice a hundred times – ‘‘effective implementation of an average strategy, beats mediocre implementation of a great strategy every time’’. Yet companies nonetheless often fail to operationalize their strategies in ways that improve the likelihood that they will be implemented effectively. A 1999 study (Corboy & O’Corrbui, Management Accounting) found that nearly 70 percent of strategic plans and strategies are never successfully implemented. Arguably, many of the most commonly cited causes for implementation failure are either myths or excuses that have gained credibility from being repeated often (see Box, ‘‘Excuses for strategy failure: dispelling the myths’’). By discrediting the myths, we can more clearly look at a number of approaches that greatly enhance the effectiveness of strategy implementation. These suggested practices are supported by research and the experience of a number of effective CEOs interviewed for this article.

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The real reasons strategies fail and how to avoid the pitfalls

The real reasons that strategies fail are varied. Fortunately, the causes can often be anticipated and the pitfalls can be avoided. Unanticipated market changes Strategies often fail because the market conditions they were intended to exploit change before the strategy takes hold. Product life cycles are shorter, disruptive technologies emerge with greater frequency, and nancial markets can be ckle. And, many markets are...