PRESENTATION PHD THESIS ON STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

The successful implementation of strong and robust strategies gives any organization a significant competitive edge. However, well-formulated strategies only produce superior performance for organizations when they are successfully implemented. For decades survey after survey reveal that most strategy implementations fail. Fewer than 15 percent of organizations around the world report that they are successful at strategy implementation. This presentation of my PhD thesis on strategy implementation presents the Strategy Execution Framework consisting of 18 success factors related to the process, content and context of the implementation effort. Collectively, these factors help organizations develop and implement their strategies to achieve sustainable organizational success. The 18 success factors emerged from a qualitative survey with in-depth interviews of executives and managers with strategy implementation responsibilities in a wide variety of organization in the public and private sector.

STRATEGY EXECUTION BEST PRACTICES BASED ON RIGOROUS RESEARCH
This presentation is based on my PhD research on Strategy Execution at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University – one of the top business schools in Europe with one of the top strategy departments in the world. Research reports that between 60 to 90 percent of strategies fail. Most strategies fail in the execution phase. Despite its crucial importance to every organization, research on strategy execution remains limited. Strategy research has traditionally focused on strategy formation and neglected strategy execution. To fill this crucial knowledge gap, I investigated why strategies succeed or fail. My PhD research identified 20 success factors that influence the success of a strategy implementation effort in public and private organizations. The success factors are based on over a hundred in-depth interviews with executives and managers in a wide variety of organizations around the world, both in the private and public sector. The insights and practices that emerged from the interview where subsequently synthesized into the Strategy Management framework. Successful strategy execution is the result of the interplay of five mutually reinforcing practices: developing the strategy, executing the strategy, controlling the strategy, mobilizing the people who have to deliver the strategy, and aligning the organization to the strategy.