Newsletter: October 2007

In his superb book ‘Who says Elephants Can’t Dance’ Louis Gerstner explains how he masterminded IBM’s historic turnaround. There are many fascinating insights but one of the more interesting was his view that:

• most businesses are not able to develop strategies that are unique and allow them to operate in uncontested market space
• therefore many businesses are effectively attempting to execute similar strategies
• and as a result the winners can only be those that execute more effectively than the competition

Apodi’s whole mantra is based on helping our clients execute more effectively. We have benchmarked best practice around the world and developed services based on these best practices.

This has led us to developing a model for helping businesses execute. This model has been refined for some specific challenges faced by SMEs (Small, medium sized enterprises):

Step 1
The development of a clear and focused strategy.
Step 2
The development of short term actions plans to support the execution of the strategy.
Step 3
The consideration of the demands of Step 1 and Step 2 on organisational resources and capabilities.
SME issue – often we come across strategic issues in clients where there just aren’t the resources to execute. For example if one of the strategic issues is to recruit and retain the best people we ask who will execute in this area – the answer is sometimes ‘we don’t have anybody’.
Step 4
The consideration of the most appropriate organisational structure for a business.
For larger diverse businesses this can involve some complex decisions regarding centralisation v decentralisation etc. For SMEs the decision is often less complicated.

Step 5
The implementation of effective co-ordination and information sharing processes.
For SMEs this issue is just as important as for larger businesses. We have found examples of poor information sharing with people sat next to each other in an office.
Step 6
The implementation of effective incentives and controls to support and reinforce execution.
Incentives motivate behaviour and controls provide guidance on roles and responsibilities, feedback about performance etc.
Step 7
The consideration of the issue of managing change which is often required during the execution process.
Issues such as the pace of change and the tactics required to execute are critical.
Step 8
A review of power and influence within an organisation.
We have found that attempts to implement a strategy that goes against the power structure of the organisation always face difficulties and often fail.
Re SMEs – this can be a very relevant issue. We have seen this happen with lack of support from shareholders, partners etc.

Key lessons
Great execution is down to a disciplined process that enables a business to take its strategy and make it happen.

Execution is hard, much harder than the development of a strategy. Don’t pretend otherwise.

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