nce managers have decided on a strategy, the emphasis turns to converting it into actions and good results. Putting the strategy into place and getting the organization to execute it well require different sets of managerial skills compared to crafting strategy. Whereas crafting strategy is largely an analysis- driven activity focused on market conditions and the company's resources and competitiveness, executing strategy is primarily an operations-driven activity, revolving around the management of people, resources, day- to-day operations, business processes, and needed organizational restructuring. Whereas successful strategy making depends on business vision, solid industry and competitive analysis, and shrewd entrepreneurship, successful strategy execution depends on doing a good job of working with and through others, building and strengthening competitive capabilities, motivating and rewarding people in a strategy-supportive manner, instituting policies and practices that will facilitate good strategy execution, and instilling a discipline of getting things done. Executing strategy is an action-oriented, make-things-happen task that tests a manager's ability to direct organizational change, achieve improvements in day-to-day operations, create and nurture a strategy- supportive culture, and meet or beat performance targets. Experienced managers are well aware that it is a whole lot easier to develop a sound strategic plan than it is to execute the plan and achieve targeted outcomes. A recent study of 400 CEOs in the United States, Europe, and Asia found that executional excellence was the number one challenge facing their companies. According to one executive, It's been rather easy for us to decide where we wanted to go. The hard part is to get the organization Ideally, senior managers need to create a companywide crusade to implement and execute the chosen strategy as fast and effectively as possible. to act on the new priorities." It takes adept managerial leadership to convincingly communicate a new strategy and the reasons for it, overcome pockets of doubt and disagreement, secure the commitment and enthusiasm of concerned parties, identify and build consensus on all the hows of implementation and execution, and move forward to get all the pieces into place and deliver results. Company personnel must understand-in their heads and hearts why a new strategic direction is necessary and where the new strategy is taking them. Just because senior managers announce a new strategy doesn't mean that organizational members will agree with it and move forward enthusiastically to implement it. Hence one of the big leadership challenges for senior managers in implementing strategy is to communicate the case for strategic and organizational change so clearly and persuasively to organizational members that a determined commitment takes hold throughout the ranks to institute operating practices conducive to good daily strategy execution and to meeting performance targets. Instituting change is, of course, easier when problems with an underperforming strategy have become painfully obvious and/or the company's performance has precipitated a financial crisis. But what really makes executing strategy a tougher, more time-consuming management challenge than crafting strategy is the wide array of managerial activities that must be attended to, the many ways to put new strategic initiatives in place and keep their implementation moving forward, and the number of bedeviling issues that always crop up and have to be resolved. It takes first-rate "managerial smarts" to zero in on what exactly needs to be done and how to get good results in a timely manner. Excellent people-management skills and perseverance are needed to get a variety of initiatives underway and integrate the efforts of many different work groups into a smoothly functioning whole. Depending on how much consensus building and organizational change is involved, the process of implementing strategy changes can take several months to several years. And executing the strategy with real proficiency takes even longer. CORE CONCEPT Like crafting strategy, executing strategy is a job for a company's whole management team, not just a few senior managers. While the chief executive officer and the heads of major units (business divisions, functional departments, and key operating units) are ultimately responsible for seeing that strategy is executed successfully, the process typically affects every part of the firm-all value chain activities and all work groups. Top-level managers must rely on the active support and cooperation of middle and lower managers to institute whatever new and different operating practices are needed in the various functional areas and operating units to achieve proficient strategy execution. Middle and lower-level managers must ensure Good strategy execution requires a team effort. All managers have strategy-executing responsibility in their areas of authority, and all employees are active participants in the strategy execution process. that frontline employees become proficient in performing strategy-critical value chain activities and produce operating results that allow company performance targets to be met. Consequently, all company personnel are actively involved in the strategy execution process in one way or another. < Previous Question 6 Next > Which one of the following statements falsely characterizes the managerial task of executing strategy? Copyright by Glo-Bus Software, Inc. Copying, distributing, or 3rd party website posting inexpressly prohibited and constitutes copyright violation. What really makes executing strategy a tough, time-consuming management challenge is the long, drawn out process of trial-and-error experimentation required to identify and implement effective approaches to strategy execution. Executing strategy is an action-oriented, make-things-happen task. Executing strategy is a job for a company's whole management team, not just a few senior managers. O Successful strategy execution depends on doing a good job of working with and through others, building and strengthening competitive capabilities, motivating and rewarding people in a strategy-supportive manner, and instilling a discipline of getting things done. O Ideally, senior managers need to create a companywide crusade to implement and execute the chosen strategy as fast and effectively as possible.