Framework For Implementation Of Strategies Research Articles

THE CORE DETERMINANTS OF EFFECTIVE STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION: THE CASE OF RURAL AND COMMUNITY BANKS IN GHANA

Purpose: This study investigates significant factors that influence strategy implementation in the rural banks in Ghana. It focused on leadership commitment, organizational structure, and employee involvement as the core variables influencing strategy implementation.
 Methodology: The researcher used random stratification to select fifteen (15) rural banks from the southern belt, (15) from the middle belt, and 360 participants from these rural and community banks in Ghana. The study used a five-point-Likert scale designed questionnaire to elicit information for data analysis.
 Findings: The results revealed that some of the moderator variables of the predictor variables significantly influenced strategy implementation. Under leadership commitment; the variables found to be significant in influencing strategy implementation were leadership communicating a clear vision to the understanding of employees with statistical significance accepted at P=0.001>0.05, leadership prioritizing the release of resources with statistical significance accepted at P=0.000>0.05, and leadership behaviours with statistical significance accepted at P=0.001>0.05. Under organizational structure; release of sufficient resources for organisational restructuring had the statistical significance of P=0.000>0.05; clearly defined roles and responsibilities P=0.000>0.05; Knowledge sharing’ P=0.001>0.05; employee involvement in the structural reforms P=0.006 >0.05, and inability to provide technical information on the job had P=0.005>0.05. Under employee involvement: the right environment, good reward systems, and training were variables found to be statistically significant in influencing strategy implementation. The statistical significance was accepted at P=0.001>0.05, P=0.005>0.05, and P=0.030>0.05 respectively. 
 Contribution to theory, practice, and policy/recommendation: The theoretical contribution made in this study is the investigation into strategy implementation in the rural and community banks in Ghana. There is no current literature that has examined strategy implementation in the rural and community banks in Ghana and examined the key variables used in this study to make predictions and conclusions on factors influencing strategy implementation. The study provides a framework for strategy implementation for the RCBs, with a universal applicability in the varying context of strategy implementation, contributing to the repository of knowledge in strategy implementation. The study recommends that leadership create a conducive environment to encourage creativity and idea generation to facilitate proper strategic activities to advance an effective strategy implementation, a clear vision to establish the nature, form, and content of the organizational structure that will fit the strategy, the release of resources, and a reward package for employee effort in the strategic process.

Towards a communication strategy implementation framework for higher education institutions in Lesotho

Towards a communication strategy implementation framework for higher education institutions in Lesotho

Coherence between Firm Innovation Strategy and Structuring Innovation Projects: A Framework

While organizational, economic, and innovation scholars have long understood the importance of coherence between a firm's overall strategy and structure (e.g., Chandler, 1962), much less is known about the link between a firm's innovation strategy and how innovation projects are structured within the firm. Given that a firm's innovation strategy can include multiple types of innovations (e.g., incremental improvements to existing products or substantially new innovations), we focus on different ways that management structures a firm's innovation projects (i.e., selecting organizational unit, project leader, investment timing, decision rights, organizational linkages, resource authority, and performance incentives). We introduce coherence between the type of innovation the firm pursues and how the innovation projects are structured. Coherence is proposed as a mechanism for explaining why some projects succeed while other projects fail. We argue that coherence increases when greater uncertainty in the innovation strategy (e.g., new technology) is accompanied by greater flexibility in the project structure (e.g., assigning project to a new organizational unit). To construct our arguments, we draw from prior literature on innovation management, together with exploratory evidence from 22 case studies across 9 large firms. We discuss the implications of our strategy implementation framework for organizational R&D, inertia, and learning.

Relationship between Strategy Implementation and Performance of Kenya Wildlife Service

Cases of a direct strategic direction–performance link may be found in numerous accounts of improvements of organizational performance attributed to changes in leadership. The same case applies to structural adaptations, human resource management, and technology. However, empirical studies into the links between these elements and performance have been lacking. However, Kenya wildlife services have experienced a lot of challenges in achieving its desired objectives more so local customer satisfaction. This study has investigated the effect of strategy implementation on organizational performance in the Kenya Wildlife Service. Four specific objectives guided the researcher and they included to establish the influence of strategic direction on performance; to assess how structural adaptations affect performance; to determine the influence of human resource management on performance; and to find out how technological requirements influence performance in the Kenya Wildlife Service. Theories that were reviewed included organizations theory, dynamic capabilities view, Okumu’s strategy implementation framework, and Higgins’ 8-S strategy implementation framework. The researcher employed a descriptive case study research design with a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The population of interest in this study included all the management staff involved in formulation and implementation of strategy at the Kenya Wildlife Service. The Kenya Wildlife Service has seven deputy directors with 43 management staff under them. This study targeted all of them which translated into a population of 50 respondents in the organization. This study used a census technique which is a procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population as a whole. A total of 50 members of management staff therefore took part in this study. A questionnire was used to collect data through drop-and-pick later method. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and the results presented in tables and charts. The regression analysis results show that strategic direction, structural adaptations, technology requirements and human resource explains 96.3% of change in performance. Strategic direction has a positive relationship with performance and contributes by a factor of 0.343 to the change in the dependent variable. Structural adaptations also have a positive relationship with performance and contributed to the change in the dependent variable. Human resource management was found to have a negative relationship with performance and contributed to change in the dependent variable. This relationship was however not statistically significant.Technology requirements have a positive relationship with performance and it contributed to the change in the dependent variable. Performance of an organization largely depends on its external and internal customers. KWS seems to have concentrated more on the external customer forgetting its internal customers; the employees. Employee satisfaction is critical for KWS performance and therefore the need to focus on employees’ needs as the organization seeks to satisfy its customers. Motivated employees will have better individual productivity and this will yield improved overall oragizational performance. KWS should review its human resource policy and practices. Its new policy should take good care of employees; motivate them through rewards and incentives. KWS should adopt current technology for better operational performance. It should also be in a position to respond to frequent technological changes in its field.

A Study on Overseas Investment Opportunities of Chinese Iron and Steel Enterprises from the Perspective of Globalization Strategy*

The global steel industry is a highly internationalized industry, globalization strategy is the inevitable choice of Chinese steel enterprises to improve the international competitiveness, and many factors make it feasible for Chinese iron and steel enterprises to implement globalization strategy. This paper made an analysis on the overseas investment opportunities of Chinese steel enterprises from the perspective of globalization strategy, involving the resource-based commodity investment, the establishment of overseas production bases and R&D center, controlling trade channels and building strategic alliance, then sketched out the globalization strategy implementation framework of Chinese iron and steel enterprises.

Proposing the balanced scorecard framework for competency identification: an Iranian case study in software support industry

Although some methods have been proposed so far for the development of competency models in the HRM literature, it has been argued that many of these methods are still subjective and lack systematic procedures. Based on balanced scorecard (BSC) as a strategy implementation framework, this paper proposes a method on how competency models can be developed. Using this method, a competency model is formed in relation to key business processes, organisational and information capitals in order to implement strategies. This approach links competency model development to strategy implementation process in a systematic way. The model was then implemented for software support personnel in a large Iranian company. The feasibility of its helpfulness was examined using a qualitative study by interviewing best performers in software support and a sample of informants of this company. This study provided a competency model and some ideas for further research expanding the model proposed in this paper for competency identification. In addition, this approach can also be used for training needs assessment in relation to strategic analysis.

Strategy Implementation Framework Used by SMEs in Zimbabwe

The field of strategic management has been expanding to embrace new concepts and models with a view to better understanding the field. One area of strategic management which is gaining currency is strategy implementation. Many a scholar and practitioner is exploring ways in which strategy implementation can be enhanced for organisations to function effectively. Several approaches have been proffered including the development of implementation models and frameworks. This study seeks to enhance strategy implementation knowledge among SMEs in Zimbabwe by developing a new framework that seeks to shed light on how the SMEs implement strategy. The development of the framework seeks to explain why, despite government policies to support economic growth, SMEs in Zimbabwe have failed to drive economic growth yet evidence from literature has indicated the significant role played by SMEs in growing economies in other countries. In depth interviews were used to gather the data from multiple case studies. The major finding of this study was that the framework used by SMEs in Zimbabwe emphasized both self and family survival. There appears to be a significant focus on inward behaviour that focuses on relationships and family anchored business survival. This could be the underlying reasons for the somewhat underperformance of SMEs in delivering strong economic growth in Zimbabwe despite a plethora of state driven assistance programmes. There is therefore need to test the applicability of this model in a longitudinal study and make adaptations to make the current framework have a more business focussed approach.

Afghanistan's national strategy for improving quality in health care

Quality problem or issueWhen the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan began reconstructing the health system in 2003, it faced serious challenges. Decades of war had severely damaged the health infrastructure and the country's ability to deliver health services.Initial assessmentA national health resources assessment in 2002 revealed huge structural and resource disparities fundamental to improving health care. For example, only 9% of the population was able to access basic health services, and about 40% of health facilities had no female health providers, severely constraining access of women to health care. Multiple donor programs and the MoPH had some success in improving quality, but questions about sustainability, as well as fragmentation and poor coordination, existed.Plan of actionIn 2009, MoPH resolved to align and accelerate quality improvement efforts as well as build structural and skill capacity.ImplementationThe MoPH established a new quality unit within the ministry and undertook a year-long consultative process that drew on international evidence and inputs from all levels of the health system to developed a National Strategy for Improving Quality in Health Care consisting of a strategy implementation framework and a five-year operational plan.Lessons LearnedEven in resource-restrained countries, under the most adverse circumstances, quality of health care can be improved at the front-lines and a consensual and coherent national quality strategy developed and implemented.

A Processual Operational Framework for Implementation of Strategies and Policies: An Iterative Grounded Approach

Successful implementation of strategies is the key to good performance. Research clearly highlights the role of implementation variables in explaining performance. Despite this critical importance, research in public or business policy has shown a greater emphasis on formulation. The little research on implementation has generated frameworks with concepts which have little agreed definitions and associated difficulty in operationalizing them. The result is that research on implementation is fragmented with lack of theory building. A lack of a dominant framework addressing needs of practioners and researchers has left them without a reference point to guide them in their endeavors. Thus there is a need to develop a framework at the operational level which would address the needs of the practioner, bridge the gap between theory and practice and enable an integration of the perspectives on implementation. This paper attempts to bridge this gap. To operationalize a concept means to define it in terms of observable physical operations. Using this definition, the paper attempts to generate an operational framework for implementation. Using a practioners narrative as cases, the paper links the actions taken to implement Health care programmes in the rural context in India into identifiable patterns and knit them into an operational framework. Successful strategy implementation means effective organizational adaptation over time. Strategic flexibility, represented by flexible resources, capabilities and broad strategic schemes creates potential in organizations to enable them to adapt to wider variations in the environment. Flexibility also means preparedness. The paper attempts to show that the key to successful implementation lies in identification and management of key strategic resources and therefore is a function of the organizational property of strategic flexibility. The paper further shows that flexibility is a managerial task involving identification of strategic resources (includes capabilities) and creation of processes to manage them. It also involves an ability to understand and adapt to changing contexts. This identification becomes more critical in case of strategies which are meant for delivery of services where human resources are the key strategic resources and key capabilities reside in them. The implication of such an operational framework is that practicing managers would be in a position to rely on an empirically derived instrument which would guide them in successful implementation of strategies.

A proposed framework for strategy implementation in the Indian context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature on strategy implementation with a view to highlight the pitfalls and use these to build a new framework that could be more relevant to the conditions existing in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a review of strategy implementation frameworks available both in strategy literature and in strategy texts to identify the main pitfalls in effective strategy implementation and then proceeds to propose a framework that could be more suitable to the Indian context. This proposed framework is then applied and described in the context of a case study of the Reliance group of companies of India.FindingsThe proposed strategy implementation framework covers many of the aspects hitherto neglected in the frameworks suggested by researchers and authors more attuned to the Western context. Two of the major issues in strategy implementation not covered in the existing framework are of procedural and project implementation that may be considered as relevant in the Indian context.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework is demonstrated in the case of only one Indian company. The efficacy of the framework need to be further investigated.Practical implicationsApplication of the proposed framework is likely to result in a more comprehensive coverage of the vital issues in strategy implementation that are expected to do away with the pitfalls that are commonly experienced in the process of strategy implementation.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a new framework of strategy implementation based on the unique requirements of the Indian context.

Towards a strategy implementation framework

Aims to develop an implementation framework. Further to a critical review of previous research, ten implementation variables were identified and a conceptual framework constructed. The implementation process of a strategic decision was investigated in two international hotel groups via in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews, observations and documentation analysis. The initial conceptual framework was found to be useful as it grouped key variables together and illustrated their roles when implementing strategic decisions. Three new variables, however, emerged from the findings; namely, multiple project implementation, organisational learning and working with external companies. A revised framework was then proposed and further explanations provided. Concludes by emphasising the importance of contextual variables in implementation and dispels the strategic management notion of “fit”.

A data based strategy implementation framework for companies in the restaurant industry

The purpose of this study was to conduct an exploratory investigation of strategy implementation in multi-unit restaurant firms. A preliminary model comprised of ten variables was developed on the basis of a review of the theory and prescription about implementation. Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze the data from three firms. The findings of this investigation included 14 propositions and a new framework consisting of 14 variables which explain the associations between the variables found to be integral to implementation in the three firms.