Implementation Of Strategic Decisions Research Articles

The impact of organisational politics and trust in the top management team on strategic decision implementation success: A middle-manager's perspective

The implementation of strategic decisions is a complex and demanding process that requires an open and lateral communication of free-flowing information to make sense of and champion a firm's intended changes. For the process to be effective, middle managers need to operate within an environment that nurtures a pro-social mindset and helps to cope with stressors caused by the possibility of harm done by the intended changes to their vested interests. Drawing from the job demands-resources model, we argue that organisational politics represent an organisational demand, which may hinder the implementation of strategic decisions. To cope with this demand, implementers recruit organisational resources (i.e. trust in the top management team) that may moderate the negative effects of dysfunctional politics. To test our hypotheses, we drew on a sample of 228 middle managers from 114 private Greek firms with more than 100 employees across various industries. We found that when organisational politics were high during the implementation process, implementation success diminished. However, their negative impact was reduced when trust in the top management team was high. Conversely, when organisational politics were low, middle managers reported a higher implementation success regardless of how highly the top management team was trusted. Our study is the first to test the influence of organisational politics on the success of the implementation process from a middle manager's perspective. In addition, we show that implementation success can be viewed through a demands-resources lens, which provides a meaningful contribution to research on strategy implementation.

Barriers to the Implementation of Strategic Decisions: Evidence from Hotels in a Developing Country

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to examine potential barriers to the implementation of strategic decisions in hotels located in Antalya, Turkey. Empirical data were collected from questionnaires given to managers from three-, four-, and five-star hotels in Antalya. By analyzing the data from the questionnaires, researchers identified the most and least important barriers related to hotel performance and operation time, and extracted seven factors driving the implementation of strategic decisions. The research findings reveal significant relationships between specific factors and performance indicators. This article provides specific theoretical and practical implications of the research, the limitations of the study, and potential areas for future research.

Strategic decision implementation in an emerging market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the institutional context impacts on strategic decision implementation in an emerging market. Previous studies of strategic decision making in emerging markets have not examined decision implementation. Given the changes in the world economy during the past decade, and in particular the growing importance of emerging market multinationals, this is an increasingly salient issue. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were delivered to general managers in all Jordanian publicly quoted industrial firms. A 53.7 per cent response rate was achieved. The structure of the questionnaire built on earlier studies in developed markets and, in particular, Alexander’s (1985) seminal study. Findings – The strategic decision implementation problems which are found in Jordan are similar to those found in developed economies. However, external shocks are a more important influence on strategic decision implementation that has been found to be the case in developed economies. The success of companies in the emerging market of Jordan is associated with the frequency and extent of their experience of strategic decision implementation problems. Formal strategic planning helps Jordanian firms to deal with these problems more effectively. Research limitations/implications – It was difficult to explore some of the “why” questions related to the implementation of strategic decisions in the sampled firms since most respondents agreed to complete the questionnaire but not to be interviewed. Single, rather than multiple, respondents participated in the research. A larger sample size would be desirable, although the results are statistically robust. Practical implications – The results will help managers to make and implement strategic decisions, both in the context of market entry and market maintenance, in the Middle East and in other emerging markets. Originality/value – Context (institutional) factors are found to be less influential in the case of decision implementation than strategic decision making itself. This is the first study of the problems associated with the implementation of strategic decisions in Jordanian firms and one of the first in any emerging market.

Middle Level Managers and Strategy: Exploring the Influence of Different Roles on Organisational Performance

The purpose of this paper is to explore how middle level managers contribute to the formulation and implementation of strategic decisions and to measure the influence of different roles on organisational performance. Discussions with around 15 middle level managers in an Indian Power Transmission Company helped to present a narration of various roles of middle level managers. 200 middle level managers from a few Indian public sector organisations completed a survey assessing their involvement in various roles. Central tendencies were identified and regression analysis was undertaken to understand the influence of different roles on organisational performance. It was found that the most prominent role of the middle level managers is that of an implementer and the role has a strong influence on organisational performance. The role of an entrepreneur emerged strong with respect to influence on organisational performance, hinting at the entrepreneurial mindset that is present in public sector employees. The study fills a gap in literature by measuring the influence of different roles of middle level managers on organisational performance in public sector organisations. The extant literature lacked similar mixed-method research.

The relationship between cartels and economic fluctuations

Various actions of market players, which violate fair competition, are harmful to the economy. But the most dangerous are cartels. It is recognized that cartels make a great harm to all market players and adversely affect national economy and its competitiveness. The question is whether the companies are more likely to make the cartel agreement in growing economy, or on the contrary – in recession? Various authors’ studies present different conclusions: 1) the economic downturn and demand uncertainty promotes the formation of cartels and 2) the economy increases, especially in emerging markets, firms tend to increase profits by making cartels. Probably there is no single answer, what relationship exists between the cartels and economic fluctuations, as it can be affected by various factors. This paper analyzes the situation of cartels in the country of small economy with developing culture of competition and evaluates the relationship between the cartels and the economic fluctuations. The empirical analysis is based on Lithuanian cases. This country is chosen because it corresponds to the features of the small economy with developing culture of competition. The specific of Lithuanian cartels justifies the necessity of evaluation the relationship between the cartels and the economic fluctuations. The lack of information is an obstacle to efficient and successful implementation of strategic decisions directing to the minimization of the number of cartel agreements and their negative impact on the economy. The research has shown that there is a moderate linear correlation between the cartels and the Lithuanian economic fluctuations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.26.3.7331

Commissariats of Military Industry during the Great Patriotic War

Strengthening national defense by building up military and economic potential was the most important vital task of the Soviet Union during the whole period of its existence. The price of enormous effort of labor, research and design teams, huge material and financial costs in the course of the prewar five-year plans in the Soviet Union was paid and incurred to create the military-industrial complex (MIC) - sector of social production, designed to provide security for the state in armed struggle. The core of the DIC were four industry: Commissariat of Aviation Industry (NCAP), the People’s Commissariat of ammunition (NBC) weapons Commissariat (IEC) and the People's Commissariat of the shipbuilding industry (NCSP), formed in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on January 11, 1939 by separation of the People's Commissariat of Defense Industry of the USSR. They became a separate group of central government, designed to provide measures for the implementation of strategic decisions of the military and political leadership of the country. Objective assessment of commissariats effectiveness were the results of their operations in wartime. From this point of view it is necessary to ascertain performance of its mission - to supply front with modern means of warfare. Largely due to this fact, the Soviet Union won in serious confrontation with the military-industrial complex military industry of Nazi Germany and its satellites. On the basis of archival documents and testimony of contemporaries the article shows the contribution of the defense industry in the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Role of middle managers in strategic decisions - a triad perspective

Previous research has tried to bring out the critical role played by middle managers in formulation and implementation of strategic decisions. The current research builds and extends the typology of middle management role proposed by previous research. No previous study has tried to present a triad perspective to these roles. This research through an in–depth case study of an Indian power solution company has tried to present three perspectives, of top, middle and operational level management, of the role of middle level managers in strategic decisions. Although the paper suffers from the limitation of reporting findings from a single case study, it contributes to literature by bringing out similarities and differences in the mentioned perspectives. It also presents the relative importance of the different roles of middle level managers. The study serves as an indicator to the top management of the efforts to be made to include middle managers in different strategic decisions. It can also serve as a motivator to the middle managers by bringing out clarity in roles played by them.

Strategic corporate governance stakeholder complexities in strategic decision implementation (sdi): The shipbuilding industry in Abu Dhabi

This paper explores the complexity of SDI and the conflicting roles of government as the main client, partner and stakeholder in the naval shipbuilding industry in two main shipyards in United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi. This industry was recently established in this highly Westernized part of the Middle East, and constructs naval vessels under the auspices of Abu Dhabi government. The industry envisaged developing private clients in the future, but before achieving this, some issues identified in this study need to be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the industry and the clients. The literature indicates that strategic decisions taken by one partner in the enterprise can lead to problems that are difficult to resolve. Hence, to gain an in-depth understanding of the complexities, an explorative qualitative research with a case-study approach was carried out over a period of two years in order to track progress in this industry. It was found that government collaboration can lead to many challenges in strategy implementation within the industry itself due to a lack of communication and coordination between the two. The main managerial actors were interviewed to obtain a sense of their involvement and their individual perception of control in the implementation process to the outcomes of which they were wedded, and the extent to which they felt they were successful. To provide specific focus, this article focuses exclusively on the impact of government salaries and policies on shipbuilding strategy and implementation within two shipyards. Strategy appears easier to formulate than to implement. It was found that there were contradictions in strategies as devised by the industry and the policies which the government wished it to implement. The article makes recommendations about three prime ways in which the industry and its main sponsors, now and in the future, may more harmoniously collaborate to attain mutual success. Reciprocal communication lies at the core of the solution. The article is limited by its constraint of using only two cases, and the findings are indicative of a greater need to examine similar policy, formulation, and implementation issues in Abu Dhabi specifically, and between industry/client generally wherever such a situation may occur.

An Exploratory Study of the Determinants of the Quality of Strategic Decision Implementation in Turkish Industrial Firms

This paper investigates the determinants of quality of decision implementation. By drawing on a sample of 116 firms located in Turkey, the authors test whether the features of important team processes (i.e. trust and participation), of the organisation (i.e. past performance) and of implementation (i.e. its speed and uncertainty) exert an influence on the quality with which decisions are implemented. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to test the validity of the measures, while path analysis was used in hypotheses testing. The results suggest that quality of decision implementation is positively related to trust, participation and past performance, and negatively to implementation speed and uncertainty. The implications of these findings for theory, practice and general management are discussed.

Strategic decision implementation speed and firm performance

We extend prior literature on speed and performance in high velocity environments by investigating the relationship between speed of decision implementation and new venture performance and the mode...

Software architecture evolution through evolvability analysis

Software evolvability is a multifaceted quality attribute that describes a software system's ability to easily accommodate future changes. It is a fundamental characteristic for the efficient implementation of strategic decisions, and the increasing economic value of software. For long life systems, there is a need to address evolvability explicitly during the entire software lifecycle in order to prolong the productive lifetime of software systems. However, designing and evolving software architectures are the challenging task. To improve the ability to understand and systematically analyze the evolution of software system architectures, in this paper, we describe software architecture evolution characterization, and propose an architecture evolvability analysis process that provides replicable techniques for performing activities to aim at understanding and supporting software architecture evolution. The activities are embedded in: (i) the application of a software evolvability model; (ii) a structured qualitative method for analyzing evolvability at the architectural level; and (iii) a quantitative evolvability analysis method with explicit and quantitative treatment of stakeholders’ evolvability concerns and the impact of potential architectural solutions on evolvability. The qualitative and quantitative assessments manifested in the evolvability analysis process have been applied in two large-scale industrial software systems at ABB and Ericsson, with experiences and reflections described.

WHY DOES STRATEGIC PLANS IMPLEMENTATION FAIL? A STUDY IN THE HEALTH SERVICE SECTOR OF IRAN

This research aims to identify effective factors on the failure of strategic decisions implementation in the Iranian health service sector. Reviewing the literature and using experts' opinion, 16 variables were identified. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, variables were categorized in the form of 4 factors. This model, in the order of effect, identifies context dimension (0.94), content dimension (0.87), operational dimension (0.71) and structural dimension (0.67) as effective factors on the failure of strategic decisions implementation in Iranian health service sector. Key words: Strategy, strategic decision implementation, strategic decision failure, health service sector and factor analysis.

Paths to Success for 7-Eleven in Thailand

This paper reports on an empirical study aimed at elucidating reasons for success in the implementation of strategic decisions by 7–Eleven in Thailand. The 7–Eleven convenience store is a business format franchising operation, which includes the product or service, the brand name or trademark, and the operating system developed by the franchisor and it has experienced significant growth. The Charoen Pokphand (CP) All Public Company Limited (PCL) is the operator of the 7-Eleven convenience stores in Thailand and it has been involved, therefore, with creating opportunities in the franchise system for that market. Potential franchisors have staff trained and support provided for all aspects of their businesses. To have better chances for success, 7-Eleven needs to evaluate itself in order to improve its systems. People are one key success factor in the franchise business, particularly in terms of the representative of the franchisor, who as an agent of the company reflects the company’s image. For the company to achieve sustainable growth, emphasis should be placed on organizational and human resource development. Both parties in the business must provide high levels of cooperation to each other. The franchise business is a special relationship in which the parties can mutually share the benefits.

Strategy’s Negotiability, Reasonability, and Comprehensibility

This article presents results of an embedded comparative case study about central strategists realizing strategies in a large nonprofit organization characterized by decentralized and inverse structures. Inverse structures lead to a paradoxical situation in which strategists of a nonprofit’s central office have to make deliberate decisions about resource allocation while having no authority over the implementation of strategic decisions. Legitimation is a crucial element in the creation and realization of new strategies. The authors thus ask the question: How do strategists achieve the legitimation and realization of strategies without formal authority? The findings show that, in all of the observed four strategies—also in the process of formalization—strategists of the central office built on emergent strategies that they supported in their legitimation by three steps: Strategists supported the strategy’s negotiability (pragmatic legitimation), continued supporting its reasonability (moral legitimation), and finally its comprehensibility (cognitive legitimation).

Alianças estratégicas para o desenvolvimento sustentável

O artigo trata de avaliar o impacto da implementação da Estratégia de Desenvolvimento Regional Sustentável DRS proposta pelo Banco do Brasil na Cooperativa das Bordadeiras de Alagoa Nova COOBAN. Assim, foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico, complementado de uma coleta de dados junto aos agentes envolvidos no processo e que fazem parte da cooperativa. Como resultado, pode-se identificar que os impactos da aliança estratégica proporcionada pela DRS do Banco do Brasil, enquanto articuladora, junto à Cooperativa das Bordadeiras de Alagoa Nova são positivos, apresentando problemas em aspectos isolados, que poderão ser superados com ações corretivas por parte das Instituições inseridas no processo. Sugere-se, no entanto, a adoção e implementação de medidas estratégicas como curso de administração financeira e gestão de negócio, oferecidos pelo SEBRAE; contínuo apoio do Governo do Estado e Prefeitura tanto no que diz respeito à ampliação da participação das artesãs em Feiras de Artesanato como também no monitoramento da gestão da cooperativa para que a mesma torne-se, verdadeiramente, auto-sustentável o que impulsiona o desenvolvimento Regional Sustentável, legitimando o papel de articulador do Banco do Brasil.

Factors restricting success of strategic decisions

This study analyzes the problems restricting success of formulation and implementation of strategic decisions and tests whether there are meaningful differences between firm groups categorized by success levels obtained in strategic decision making and implementing processes by dealing with each problem. The Turkish textile industry was examined in this study. Five formulation problems and six implementation problems were frequently experienced by the sample group. Findings showed that the most important formulation problem was “uncertainties arising from national economic conditions”, and the two of most important implementation problems were “implementation activities taking more time than originally planned”, and “uncontrollable factors in the external environment”. ANOVA results demonstrated that there were meaningful diversities among firms attained different success level for four formulation and two implementation problems.

Testing market orientation of bank managers in the emerging economy of Brunei

A formidable body of literature has been built up in recent decades suggesting that market orientation helps firms attain their strategic objectives in a dynamic environment. The present study tests market orientation of bank managers operating in Brunei, a small South‐East Asian country endowed with buoyant oil and gas reserves, seeking to carve out a pivotal role for itself in the banking and financial services sector of the region. Four key areas, referred to as variables, in the decision making process have been identified and used to analyse the form of market orientation adopted by bank managers in Brunei. These variables pertain to focus on customers, competition, environmental scanning, and implementation of strategic decisions. Results suggest that the managers sampled for this study are fragmented in terms of market orientation used.

Planned or Prioritized? Two Options in Managing the Implementation of Strategic Decisions*

ABSTRACT This paper presents findings from a study of 55 cases of decision implementation. The research identifies a number of features that characterize the way implementation is managed which appear to enhance the chance of success. Analysis reveals patterns in the data indicating that these features fall into two groupings, giving rise to two distinct approaches to implementation management. These are termed the Experience‐based approach and the Readiness‐based approach from the initial conditions which give rise to each. Although following either approach may enhance decision performance, the greatest success is associated with a dual approach. Implementations that follow neither are generally less successful. A theory of implementation management is postulated, comprising a Planned Option and a Prioritized Option.

The management strategies of Czech companies in transition

Government control of the implementation of strategic decisions in Central and East European countries has been supplanted by company top management. The lack of previous experience is the main reason for the adoption of different ways of managerial learning. The role of various technological, economic and social factors in the mutual learning process is analysed. Ways of influencing local managers in the transition period in the Czech Republic are discussed. Several systems like the tandem, distant learning, mixed domestic, foreign and hired managerial systems are analysed, and the role of both partners, local and foreign managers, is specified.

Obstacles to successful implementation of strategic decisions: the British experience

This study replicates and extends Alexander’s study for the purpose of identifying the recurring implementation problems. One hundred questionnaires were mailed to business companies in the Bradford area (UK). Twenty‐seven questionnaires have been returned of which only 24 are usable. Six strategy implementation problems were experienced during implementation by over 70 per cent of the sample group. Anova results also show that firms experiencing high success in implementation have less problems compared to low success group. Communication, management support, and good information system are the key tools for smooth implementation processes.