Without effective execution, no business strategy can succeed. This second edition delivers a powerful framework every leader can use to overcome the obstacles to successfully deploying business strategy. In this book, leading consultant and Wharton professor Lawrence Hrebiniak offers a comprehensive, disciplined process model for making strategy work in the real world. Drawing on his unsurpassed experience, Hrebiniak shows why execution is even more important than many senior executives realize, and sheds powerful new light on why businesses fail to deliver on even their most promising strategies. He offers a systematic roadmap for execution that encompasses every key success factor: organizational structure, coordination, information sharing, incentives, controls, change management, culture, and the role of power and influence in your business. With three new chapters, expanded coverage, and new examples, the Second Edition of this highly successful book is the definitive guide for turning strategy into action.

Table of Contents:
Introduction to the Second Edition     xxiii Acknowledgments     xxv Introduction to the First Edition     xxvii Learning from Experience     xxviii What You Need to Lead     xxviii The Big Picture     xxviii Effective Change Management     xxix Applying What You Learn     xxix The Bottom Line     xxx On a Final Note     xxx A Few Thanks     xxx PART I:  KEY FACTORS IN STRATEGY EXECUTION     1 Chapter 1  Strategy Execution Is the Key     3 Execution Is a Key to Success     5    Making Strategy Work Is More Difficult Than the Task of Strategy Making     6    A Focus on Making Strategy Work Pays Major Dividends     8    Managers Are Trained to Plan, Not Execute     9    Let the “Grunts” Handle Execution     10    Planning and Execution Are Interdependent     11    Execution Takes Longer Than Formulation     14    Execution Is a Process, Not an Action or Step     17    Execution Involves More People Than Strategy Formulation     18 Additional Challenges and Obstacles to Successful Execution     19    Wharton-Gartner Survey and Executive Education Data Collection . . . .20 The Results: Obstacles to Successful Strategy Execution     22    Execution Outcomes     26    The Execution Challenge     28    Having a Model or Guidelines for Execution     29    Strategy Is the Primary Driver     29    Choosing an Organizational Structure     29    Coordination and Information Sharing     30    Clear Responsibility and Accountability     30    The Power Structure     30    Incentives, Controls, Feedback, and Adaptation     31    The Right Culture     31    Leadership     31    Managing Change     32    Applications and Special Topics     33    The Next Step: Developing a Logical Approach to Execution Decisions and Actions     33 Summary     35 Endnotes     36 Chapter 2  Overview and Model: Making Strategy Work     37 Common Versus Unique Execution Solutions     38 A Need for Action     40    A Model of Strategy Execution     41    Corporate Strategy     43    Corporate Strategy and Structure     45    Need for Integration     50    Executing Business Strategy     53    “Demands” of Business Strategy    55    Integrating Strategy and Short-Term Operating Objectives     56    Incentives and Controls     61    Incentives     63    Controls     64 Another View of the Model of Strategy Execution     65 Context of Execution Decisions      67    The Execution Context     68    Managing Change     69    Culture     69    The Organizational Power Structure     70    The Leadership Climate     71    Need for a Disciplined Approach     72 Summary     73 Endnotes     74 Chapter 3  The Path to Successful Execution: Good Strategy Comes First     77 Is the Impact of Strategy Overrated?     78 Issue #1: The Need for Sound Planning and a Clear, Focused Strategy     80    Corporate-Level Planning     81    Corporate Strategy: Some Corporate Examples, Good and Bad     82    Business Strategy     86 The Service Business     93 Issue #2: The Importance of Integrating Corporate and Business Strategies     95    The Role of the Business Is Unclear     97    Inappropriate Performance Metrics     98    Battles Over Resource Allocations     99    Assessments of Business Performance Create Additional Problems     99    The Strategy Review     100 Issue #3: Thinking Short Term—The Need to Define and Communicate the Operational Components of Strategy     103    Integrating Strategic and Short-Term Objectives     105    Need for Measurable Objectives     106 Issue #4: Understanding the “Demands” of Strategy and Successful Execution     108    Low-Cost Producer     109    Differentiation Strategies     111    Developing the Right Capabilities     112    The Demands of Global Strategy     115    A Final Point     116 Summary    117 Endnotes     118 Chapter 4  Organizational Structure and Execution     119 The Challenge of Structural Choice     120    Johnson & Johnson     120    Citibank, ABB, and Other Large Global Players     122    Service Organizations and Nonprofits     123 The Critical Structural Issues     124    Structural Issue #1: Measuring Costs and Benefits of Structure     126    Structural Issue #2: Centralization Versus Decentralization     131    Structural Issue #3: The Strategy-Structure Relationship and Effective Execution     144 Summary     157 Endnotes     160 Chapter 5  Managing Integration: Effective Coordination and Information Sharing     163 The Importance of Integration    165    Boeing     165    Hewlett-Packard     165    General Motors     166    Royal Dutch/Shell Group     167    Law Firms and Integration     168 Interdependence and Coordination Methods     169    Types of Interdependence     169    Coordination Processes and Methods     174    The GE “Work Out”     178 Facilitating Information Sharing, Knowledge Transfer, and Communication     181    Creating, Using, and Sharing Knowledge     181    Methods, Tools, or Processes for Information Sharing     184    Informal Forces and Information Sharing     187    Additional Informal Factors Affecting Information Flow and Knowledge Transfer     190 Clarifying Responsibility and Accountability     197 Responsibility Plotting and Role Negotiation     198 Summary     202 Endnotes     204 Chapter 6  Incentives and Controls: Supporting and Reinforcing Execution     207 Role of Incentives and Controls     208 Incentives and Execution     209    A Basic Rule: Don’t Demotivate People     209    Good Incentives     210    Reward the Right Things     214 Controls: Feedback, Learning, and Adaptation     216    The Control Process     216    Develop and Use Good Objectives     221    Controls Require Timely and Valid Information     222    Use and Act on the Information     223    Face the Brutal Facts Honestly     225    Reward the Doers, the Performers     226    Reward Cooperation     227    Clarify Responsibility and Accountability     228    Leadership, Controls, and Execution     229 The Strategy Review: Integrating Planning, Execution, and Control     232    Step 1: Strategy Formulation     234    Step 2: The Execution Plan     238    Step 3: Initiating the Control Process     239    Step 4: Cause-Effect Analysis and Organizational Learning     240    Step 5: Feedback and Change     241    Step 6: Follow Up and Continue the Process     242 Summary     243 Endnotes     245 Chapter 7  Managing Change     247 Managing Change: A Continuing Challenge     247 Steps in Managing Change     251 A Model of Change and Execution      253    Components of the Model     253    Relating Change to Execution Problems     255    Sequential Change     260    Complex Change     266    Other Factors Affecting Change     278 Summary     278 Endnotes     280 Chapter 8  Managing Culture and Culture Change     283 What Is Culture?     284    Culture Is Important for Execution     285    Culture Is Not Homogeneous     286    Culture Affects Performance     286    Organizational Performance Affects Culture     289 A Model of Culture and Cultural Change     291    The Top Line: The Effects of Culture     291    The Bottom Line: Changing Culture     295 Summary     309    Rule 1: The Reasons for Change Must Be Clear, Compelling, and Agreed Upon by Key Players     309    Rule 2: Focus on Changing Behavior—Not Directly on Changing Culture     310    Rule 3: Effective Communication Is Vital to Culture Change     310    Rule 4: Adequate Effort Must Be Expanded to Reduce Resistance to Change     310    Rule 5: Beware of Excessive Speed     310 Endnotes     311 Chapter 9  Power, Influence, and Execution     313 A View of Power and Influence     315    Strategy and Environment     316    Problems or Dependencies     317    Organizational Structure     318    Uneven Resource Allocations     319    Internal Dependencies and Power     320    Using Power and Influence     322    Coming Full Circle: Conclusions About Power     325 Power and Execution     325    Define Power Bases and Relationships     326    Form Coalitions or Develop Joint Ventures with Those in Power     328    Focus on Value-Added, Measurable Results     329    A Final Note on Power: The Downside     336 Summary     343 Endnotes     344 PART II:  APPLICATIONS     347 Chapter 10  Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work     349 Making Merger and Acquisition Strategies Work     350    Why Focus on Mergers and Acquisitions?     350    Why Do So Many Mergers and Acquisitions Fail or Founder?     355 Using the Present Model and Approach to Execution     360    Corporate Strategy     360    Corporate Structure     363    Cultural Integration in M&A     367    Business Strategy and Short-Term Objectives     373    Business Structure/Integration     377    Project Management     378    Incentives and Controls     379 Managing Change     383 Managing Culture and Culture Change     387 The Critical Role of Leadership     391 Summary     392 Endnotes     394 Chapter 11  Making Global Strategy Work     397 Types of Global Growth and Execution Decisions     399    Early or Basic International Presence     399    The Multidomestic Global Organization     400    The Coordinated Global Strategy     405    Strategic Alliances     410 Summary     414 Endnotes     415 Chapter 12  Executing Strategy in Service Organizations     417 Similarities: Executing Strategy in Service Businesses     419    Strategy     419    Organizational Structure     422    Talent, Capabilities, and Need for Training/Skill Development Programs     424    Incentives and Controls     426    The Logical Conclusion?     427 Service Businesses: Possible Differences Affecting Strategy Execution     428    Production and Consumption of Services     428    Are Services Personal?     429    The Measurement Issue     430 Categories or Types of Service Organizations     432    Definition of Goals and Strategies     434    Professional Versus Administrative Controls     436    Knowledge and Power     438    Conclusion: A Difficult Setting for Strategy Execution     439 Strategy Execution in People-Based Professional Service Organizations     440    The Setting for Action: A Case of Reciprocal Interdependence     440    Deciding on Strategy and Goals     442    Defining Measurement Metrics and Cause-Effect Clarity     444    Structure and Coordination Processes     446    Effective Incentives     448    The Verdict: Execution in People-Based, Professional Service Organizations     449 Summary: Strategy Execution in Service Organizations     451 Endnotes     454 Chapter 13  Project Management and Strategy Execution     457 Possible Benefits of a Project Management Approach     458 An Example: Project Management and Making Strategy Work     460    Defining the Projects and Key Objectives     461 Potential Pitfalls with Project Management     466    Degree of Formality     466    Tension Between Routine and Autonomy     468    Managing Culture and Change     469    Evidence of Value Added     469 Summary     471 Endnotes     472 Appendix     473 Index     479