Strategic Management

Course code: MGT 687

Assignment- 02

Submitted To:
Prof. DR. Md. Serajul Islam
Adviser (Dean)

Southeast Business School

Submitted By:
Name: Md. Jannatun Nayeem
ID: 2019010001016
1. Why is execution of strategy more important than making of crafting strategy?

Answer: Execution is the result of thousands of decisions made every day by employees acting
according to the information they have and their own self-interest. In our work helping more
than 250 companies learn to execute more effectively, we’ve identified four fundamental
building blocks executives can use to influence those actions—clarifying decision rights,
designing information flows, aligning motivators, and making changes to structure. (For
simplicity’s sake we refer to them as decision rights, information, motivators, and structure.)
In efforts to improve performance, most organizations go right to structural measures because
moving lines around the org chart seems the most obvious solution and the changes are visible
and concrete. Such steps generally reap some short-term efficiencies quickly, but in so doing
address only the symptoms of dysfunction, not its root causes. Several years later, companies
usually end up in the same place they started. Structural change can and should be part of the
path to improved execution, but it’s best to think of it as the capstone, not the cornerstone, of
any organizational transformation. In fact, our research shows that actions having to do with
decision rights and information are far more important—about twice as effective—as
improvements made to the other two building blocks.
If believing that strategy is more important than execution, going to want to nail down one
that's close to perfect  (which, again, is impractical) before even start moving forward with
implementation. That type of planning could demand weeks, if not months, of time (or at least it
should, right?), at which point you risk over planning and hindering execution. Unsuccessful
implementation is often the result of planning for planning’s sake rather than planning with
execution in mind. If we believe you already have a perfect strategy, we will never see the need
to go back and revise it once you start working toward your larger goals. So instead of risking
wasted time and failed execution, consider leaner planning, which will allow you to establish a
solid strategy in a shorter amount of time with minimal brainstorming. Prioritizing execution
requires you to think of your business strategy a living, evolving entity, meaning we will
routinely revisit, reanalyze and make updates based on how things are going in real-time. In
other words, we will be able to course-correct more frequently, and with better results.
When it comes down to it, think of your company’s growth as parallel to nature. If ideas are the
seeds, think of execution as the water. Without water, a seed will never grow. So no matter how
brilliant your idea may seem at the time, an idea alone is never enough to guarantee the growth
of your business -- but execution can. 

2. As a manager how can you make your strategy so that you can win?
Answer: To win at anything worthwhile, we need a game plan. Professional sports teams know
this, and this idea applies to your organization, your department, your team – and even to
yourself as an individual.
To be successful means knowing how to use our talent and resources to best advantage, and it's
very difficult to "win" if you don't have this game plan in place.
In a for-profit company, for which competition and profitability are important, our goals will
differ from those of a nonprofit or government department. Likewise, objectives for a
department or team will have a different scope from objectives for our organization as a whole.
 For example, and depending on scope and circumstances, you may want to develop strategies
to:
 Increase profitability.
 Gain more market share.
 Increase approval ratings, or boost customer satisfaction.
 Complete a project under budget.
To determine our strategy, we must understand fully the internal and external environmental
factors that affect us. With that understanding, we can identify your clear advantages and use
these to be successful. From there, we can make informed choices and implement our strategy
effectively.
So, strategy creation follows a three-stage process:
 Analyzing the context in which you're operating.
 Identifying strategic options.
 Evaluating and selecting the best options.
We'll look at this process, and review some useful tools that can help develop our strategy.
Stage 1: Analyzing Your Context and Environment
Stage 2: Identifying Strategic Options
Stage 3: Evaluating and Selecting Strategic Options
It's no good developing a strategy if we don't implement it successfully, and this is where many
people go astray.
When we are putting our strategy in place, consider the Three Cs of Implementing Strategy –
Let’s look at each one in a little more detail.
Clarify our Strategy
Our strategy needs to be understood by people at all levels of our organization, not just in the
boardroom. Make sure that we can express it in terms that are easy to connect with, and be
sure to avoid business jargon and “corporate speak.”
Communicate our Strategy
Use every means at your disposal to communicate your strategy to your organization, both
electronically and face-to-face. Our strategy will affect everyone, so it’s vital that they
understand our new focus and direction, and how it will inform their own work.
Cascade our Strategy
Work out the “nuts and bolts” of implementing your strategy throughout the organization.
Consult with managers and task them with the practicalities of applying it to their own
departments, including any training requirements or process improvements that need to be
made. This is how our strategy becomes reality.

3.
Answer: The managerial process of crafting and executing strategy has five phases, which
includes developing a strategic vision; setting objectives; crafting a strategy to achieve the
objectives and vision; implementing and executing the strategy; and monitoring developments,
evaluating performance and making corrective adjustments.
1 - Developing a strategic vision: strategic vision as the route a company intends to take in
developing and strengthening its business. In this step, a strategic vision of where the company
needs to head and what its future is in regard to its products, customers, market and technology
focus is sort and detailed. This managerial step provides long-term direction, infuses the
organization with a sense of purposeful action, and communicates to stakeholders what
management's aspirations for the company are. A clear strategic vision crystallizes an
organization’s long-term direction; reduces risk of rudderless decisionmaking; creates a
committed enterprise where organizational members enthusiastically pursue efforts to make
the vision a reality; provides a beacon to keep strategy-related actions of all managers on
common path; and helps an organization prepare for the future.
2) Setting objectives: objectives are quantifiable aims in line with a mission. Pearce and
Robinson (2011) define objectives as the end results of planned activities. They should be stated
as action verbs and tell what is to be accomplished by when and quantified. Objectives are
different from goals as a “goal” is an operation ended statement of what one wants to
accomplish with no quantification of what is to be achieved and no time criteria for completion.
Financial objectives focus on improving financial performance while strategic objectives focus on
improving competitive vitality and future business position. The objectives will be used to track
performance and see if the company is still on the right track. These are mostly set by the
business and operational strategies in line with the vision. Objectives should be set at levels that
stretch an organization to perform at its full potential, deliver the best possible results, push
firm to be more inventive, exhibit more urgency to improve its business position and be
intentional and focused in its actions. Crafting the Strategy is primarily a market driven activity.
It involves identifying the desired competencies and capabilities to 4 build into the strategy and
help achieve competitive advantage..
3) Crafting strategy is concerned principally with forming responses to changes under way in the
external environment, devising competitive moves and market approaches aimed at producing
sustainable competitive advantage, building competitively valuable competencies and
capabilities, and uniting the strategic actions initiated in various parts of the company.
Successful strategy making depends on the business vision, perceptive analysis of the situation,
attracting and pleasing customers, and outcompeting rivals
4) Implementing and executing the chosen strategy efficiently and effectively

5) Monitoring developments and including corrective adjustments in the company’s long term
direction, objectives, strategy or execution in light of the company’s actual performance,
changing conditions, new ideas and new opportunities .