000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 Chapter 7 Building a Capable

000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 000100101001001111010100100010010100100111101010010001001010010011110101 Chapter 7 Building a Capable Organization 1 7 -1

“The best game plan in the world never blocked or tackled anybody. ” Vince Lombardi “Strategies most often fail because they aren’t executed well. ” Larry Bossidy

Chapter Outline u A Framework for Executing Strategy u The Principal Managerial Components of the Strategy Execution Process u Building a Capable Organization u Staffing the Organization u Building Core Competencies and Competitive Capabilities u Matching Organization Structure to Strategy u Organizational Structures of the Future 3 7 -3

Crafting vs. Executing the Strategy Crafting the Strategy u Primarily a market-driven activity u Successful strategy making depends on è Business vision è Perceptive analysis of the situation è Attracting and pleasing customers è Outcompeting rivals è Forging a competitive advantage 4 Executing the Strategy u Primarily an operations- driven activity u Successful strategy execution depends on è Good organization- building and people management è Creating a strategysupportive culture è Continuous improvement è Getting things done and delivering good results 7 -4

Executing the Strategy u An action-oriented, make-things happen task involving management’s ability to è Direct organizational change è Achieve continuous improvement in Implementation involves. . . operations and business processes è Create and nurture a strategy-supportive culture è Consistently meet or beat performance targets u Tougher and more time-consuming than crafting strategy 5 7 -5

Why Executing Strategy Is a Tough Management Job u Demanding variety of managerial u u u 6 activities to be performed Numerous ways to tackle each activity Requires good people management skills Requires launching and managing a variety of initiatives simultaneously Number of bedeviling issues to be worked out Battling resistance to change Hard to integrate efforts of many different work groups into a smoothly-functioning whole 7 -6

Implementing a Newly Chosen Strategy Requires Adept Leadership u Implementing a new strategy takes adept leadership to è Convincingly communicate reasons for the new strategy è Overcome pockets of doubt è Build consensus and enthusiasm è Secure commitment of concerned parties è Get all implementation pieces in place and coordinated 7 7 -7

Who Are the Strategy Implementers? u Implementing and executing strategy involves a company’s whole management team and all of its employees è Just as every part of a watch plays a role in making the watch function properly, it takes all pieces of an organization working cohesively for a strategy to be well-executed u Top-level managers must lead the process and orchestrate major initiatives è But they must rely on the cooperation of middle and lower-level managers to see that things go well in the various parts of the organization and on employees to perform their roles competently on a daily basis 8 7 -8

What Are the Goals of the Strategy Implementing-Executing Process? u Unite total organization behind strategy u See that activities are done in a manner that is conducive to first-rate strategy execution u Generate commitment so an enthusiastic crusade emerges to carry out strategy u Fit how organization conducts its operations to requirements of strategy 9 7 -9

Characteristics of the Strategy Implementation Process u Every manager has an active role u No 10 -step checklists u Few concrete guidelines u Least charted, most open-ended part of strategic management u Cuts across many aspects of “how to manage” 10 7 - 10

Characteristics of the Strategy Implementation Process (continued) u Each implementation situation occurs in a different context, affected by differing è Business practices and competitive situations è Work environments and cultures è Policies è Compensation incentives è Mix of personalities and firm histories u Approach to implementation has be customized to fit the situation u People implement strategies - Not companies! 11 7 - 11

Fig. 7. 1: The Eight Actions of Implementing and Executing Strategy 12 7 - 12

Action Agenda of Top Executives in Leading the Implementation Process u Communicating the case for change u Building consensus on how to proceed u Installing strong allies in areas where they can push implementation along in key business units u Empowering subordinates to keep process moving u Establishing measures of progress and deadlines u Rewarding those who achieve implementation milestones u Directing resources to the right places u Personally leading the strategic change process 13 7 - 13

BUILDING A CAPABLE ORGANIZATION—WHAT IS INVOLVED? Mc. Graw-Hill/Irwin © 2003 The Mc. Graw-Hill Companies, Inc. , All Rights Reserved. 14

Fig. 7. 2: The Three Components of Building a Capable Organization 15 7 - 15

Putting Together a Strong Management Team u Assembling a capable management team is a cornerstone of the organization-building task u Find the right people to fill each slot è Existing management team may be suitable è Core executive group may need strengthening l Promote from within l Bring in skilled outsiders 16 7 - 16

Selecting the Management Team: Key Considerations u Determine mix of è Backgrounds è Experiences and know-how è Beliefs and values è Styles of managing and personalities u Personal chemistry must be right u Talent base needs to be appropriate u Picking a solid management team needs to be acted on early in implementation process 17 7 - 17

Recruiting and Retaining Talented Employees: Implementation Issues u Assemble needed human resources and knowledge base for effective strategy execution u Biggest challenge facing high-tech companies è How to recruit and retain the best and brightest talent with strong skill sets and management potential u Intellectual capital, not tangible assets, is increasingly being viewed as the most important investment è Talented people are a prime source of competitive advantage 18 7 - 18

Key Human Resource Practices to Attract and Retain Talented Employees u Spend considerable effort in screening job applicants, selecting only those with è Suitable skill sets è Energy and initiative è Judgment and aptitudes for learning è Ability to adapt to firm’s work environment and culture u Put employees through training programs throughout their careers u Give promising employees challenging, interesting, and skill-stretching assignments 19 7 - 19

Key Human Resource Practices to Attract and Retain Talented Employees (continued) u Rotate employees through jobs with great content, spanning functional and geographic boundaries u Encourage employees to è Be creative and innovative è Challenge existing ways of doing things and offer better ways è Submit ideas for new products or businesses u Foster a stimulating work environment u Exert efforts to retain high-potential employees with excellent salary and benefits u Coach average employees to improve their skills 20 7 - 20

Building Core Competencies and Competitive Capabilities u Crafting the strategy involves è Identifying the desired competencies and capabilities u Good strategy execution requires è Putting desired competencies and capabilities in place, è Upgrading them as needed, and è Modifying them as market conditions evolve 21 7 - 21

Strategically-Relevant Competencies u Greater proficiency in product development u Better manufacturing know-how u Capability to provide better after-sale service u Faster response to changing customer needs u Superior cost-cutting skills u Capacity to speed new products to market u Superior inventory management systems u Better marketing and merchandising skills u Specialized depth in unique technologies u Greater effectiveness in promoting union- management cooperation 22 7 - 22

Example: Honda’s Core Competence Expertise in gasoline engine technology and small engine design 23 7 - 23

Example: Intel’s Core Competence Design of complex chips for personal computers 24 7 - 24

Example: Procter & Gamble’s Core Competencies Superb marketing-distribution skills and R&D capabilities in five core technologies - fats, oils, skin chemistry, surfactants, emulsifiers 25 7 - 25

Example: Sony’s Core Competence Expertise in electronic technology and ability to translate the expertise into innovative products—miniaturized radios and video cameras, TVs and VCRs with unique features, attractively designed PCs 26 7 - 26

Three-Stage Process of Developing Competencies and Capabilities 1. Develop ability to do something 2. As experience builds, ability can translate into a competence or capability 3. If ability continues to be polished and refined, it can become a distinctive competence, providing a potential competitive advantage! 27 7 - 27

Step 1: Process of Developing Competencies u Develop ability to do something è Select people with relevant skills/experience è Broaden or expand individual abilities as needed è Mold efforts and work products of individuals into a cooperative effort to create organizational ability 28 7 - 28

Step 2: Process of Developing Competencies u As experience builds and company learns how to perform the activity consistently well and at acceptable cost, the ability evolves into a competence or capability u Competencies emerge from establishing and nurturing collaborative relationships between è Individuals and groups in departments and/or è A company and its external allies 29 7 - 29

Step 3: Process of Developing Competencies u If company masters the activity, performing it better than rivals, the “capability” becomes a è Distinctive competence and è Holds potential for competitive advantage This is the optimal outcome of the capability-building process! 30 7 - 30

Managing the Process of Building Competencies: Four Key Traits 1. Competencies are bundles of skills and knowhow growing from combined efforts of crossfunctional departments 2. Normally, competencies emerge incrementally from various company efforts to respond to market conditions 3. Leveraging competencies into competitive advantage requires concentrating more effort and talent than rivals on strengthening competencies to create valuable capabilities 4. Sustaining competitive advantage requires adjusting competencies to new conditions 31 7 - 31

Approaches to Developing Competencies u Internal development involves either è Strengthening the company’s base of skills, knowledge, and intellect or è Coordinating and networking the efforts of various work groups and departments u Outsourcing by partnering with key suppliers or forming strategic alliances u Buying a company that has the required capabilities and integrating these competencies into the firm’s value chain 32 7 - 32

Building Competencies: Keys to Success u Selecting capable employees u Training u Cultural influences and peer pressures u Cooperation and collaboration 33 u Motivation u Empowerment u Attractive incentives u Organizational flexibility u Short deadlines u Good databases 7 - 33

Updating Competencies and Capabilities as Conditions Change u Competencies and capabilities must continuously be modified and perhaps even replaced with new ones due to è New strategic requirements è Evolving market conditions è Changing customer expectations u Ongoing efforts to keep core competencies up-to- date can provide a basis for sustaining both è Effective strategy execution and è Competitive advantage 34 7 - 34

Competitive Advantage Potential of Competencies and Capabilities When it is difficult to outstrategize rivals with a superior strategy. . . Best avenue to industry leadership is to outcompete rivals with superior strategy execution! Building competencies and capabilities rivals can’t match is one of the best ways to out-compete them! 35 7 - 35

Strategic Role of Employee Training u Plays a critical role in implementation when a firm shifts to a strategy requiring different è è Skills-based competencies Competitive capabilities Managerial approaches Operating methods u Types of training approaches è Internal “universities” è Orientation sessions for new employees è Tuition reimbursement programs è Online training courses 36 7 - 36

Matching Organization Structure to Strategy u Few hard and fast rules for organizing è The One Big Rule: The role and purpose of the organization structure is to support and facilitate good strategy execution! u Each firm’s structure is idiosyncratic, reflecting è Prior arrangements and internal politics è Executive judgments and preferences about how to arrange reporting relationships è How best to integrate and coordinate work effort of different work groups and departments CEO Vice President 37 Vice President 7 - 37

Fig. 7. 3: Structuring the Work Effort to Promote Successful Strategy Execution 38 7 - 38

Step 1: Decide Which Value Chain Activities to Perform Internally and Which to Outsource u Involves deciding which activities are essential to strategic success è Crucial business processes that must be performed exceedingly well or in closely coordinated fashion need to be performed internally Critical activities è Other activities, such as routine administrative housekeeping and some support functions may be candidates for outsourcing 39 7 - 39

Pinpointing Strategy-Critical Activities 1. What functions or business processes have to be performed extra well or in timely fashion to achieve competitive advantage? 2. In what value-chain activities would poor execution seriously impair strategic success? 40 7 - 40

Potential Advantages of Outsourcing Non-Critical Activities u Decrease internal bureaucracies u Flatten organization structure u Speed decision-making u Provide firm with heightened strategic focus u Improve a firm’s innovative capacity u Increase competitive responsiveness Outsourcing makes strategic sense when outsiders can perform certain activities at a lower cost and/or with higher value-added. 41 7 - 41

Appeal of Outsourcing u Outsourcing non-critical activities allows a firm to concentrate its energies and resources on those value-chain activities where it è Can create unique value è Can be best in the industry è Needs strategic control to l Build core competencies l Achieve competitive advantage l Manage key customer-supplier-distributor relationships 42 7 - 42

Potential Advantages of Partnering u By building, improving, and then leveraging partnerships, a firm enhances its overall capabilities and builds resource strengths that è Deliver value to customers è Rivals can’t quite match è Consequently pave the way for competitive success Partnering makes strategic sense when the result is to enhance organizational capabilities. 43 7 - 43

Dangers of Excessive Outsourcing u A company must guard against hollowing out its knowledge base and capabilities u Guidelines to guard against excessive outsourcing è Avoid sourcing key components from a single supplier è Use two or three suppliers to minimize dependence on any one supplier è Regularly evaluate suppliers è Work closely with key suppliers 44 7 - 44

Step 2: Make Strategy-Critical Activities the Main Building Blocks u Assign managers of strategy-critical activities a visible, influential position u Avoid fragmenting responsibility for strategy- critical activities across many departments u Provide coordinating linkages between related work groups è Meld into a valuable competitive capability 45 Assign managers key roles Primary activities Strategic relationships Support functions Coordination Valuable capability 7 - 45

Why Structure Follows Strategy u Changes in strategy typically require a new or modified organization structure è A new strategy often involves different skills, different key activities, and different staffing and organizational requirements è Hence, a new strategy signals a need to reassess the organization structure u How work is structured is a means to an end -- not an end in itself! 46 7 - 46

Guard Against Functional Designs That Fragment Activities u Scattering pieces of critical business processes across several specialized departments results in è Many hand-offs which l Lengthens completion time l Increases coordination and overhead costs l Increases risk of details falling through the cracks è Obsession with activity rather than result u Solution Business process reengineering è Involves pulling strategy-critical processes from functional silos to create process-complete departments or cross-functional work groups 47 7 - 47

Examples of Fragmented Strategy. Critical Activities u Filling customer orders u Speeding new products to market u Improving product quality u Supply chain management u Building capability to conduct business via the Internet u Obtaining feedback from customers, making product modifications to meet their needs 48 7 - 48

Step 3: Determine How Much Authority to Delegate to Whom u In a centralized structure è Top managers retain authority for most decisions u In a decentralized structure è Managers and employees are empowered to make decisions u Trend in most companies è Shift from authoritarian to decentralized structures stressing empowerment 49 7 - 49

50 7 - 50

Maintaining Control in a Decentralized Structure u Place limits on authority empowered employees can exercise u Hold people accountable for their decisions u Institute compensation incentives that reward employees for doing their jobs in a manner contributing to good company performance u Create a corporate culture where there’s strong peer pressure on employees to act responsibly 51 7 - 51

Step 4: Provide for Internal Cross-Unit Coordination u Classic method of coordinating activities - Have related units report to single manager è Upper-level managers have clout to coordinate/unify efforts of their units u Support activities should be woven into structure in ways to è Maximize performance of primary activities è Contain costs of support activities u Formal reporting relationships often need to be supplemented to facilitate coordination 52 7 - 52

Coordinating Mechanisms to Supplement the Basic Organization Structure u Cross-functional task forces u Dual reporting relationships u Informal networking u Voluntary cooperation u Incentive compensation tied to group performance u Teamwork and cross- departmental cooperation 53 7 - 53

Step 5: Provide for Collaboration With Outsiders u Need multiple ties at multiple levels to ensure è Communication è Coordination and control u Find ways to produce collaborative efforts to enhance firm’s capabilities and resource strengths u While collaborative relationships present opportunities, nothing valuable is realized until the relationship develops into an engine for better organizational performance 54 7 - 54

Roles of Relationship Managers With Strategic Partners u Get the right people together u Promote good rapport u See that plans for specific activities are developed and implemented u Help adjust internal procedures and communication systems to è Iron out operating dissimilarities è Nurture interpersonal ties 55 7 - 55

Perspectives on Organizing u All basic organization designs have strategy- related strengths and weaknesses u No ideal organization design exists u To do a good job of matching structure to strategy è Pick a basic design è Modify as needed è Supplement with appropriate coordinating, networking, and communication mechanisms to support effective execution of the strategy 56 7 - 56

Organizational Structures of the Future: Overall Themes u Revolutionary changes in how work is organized have been triggered by è New strategic priorities è Rapidly shifting competitive conditions u Tools of organizational design include è Empowered managers and workers The future è Reengineered work processes structure will be. . . è Self-directed work teams è Rapid incorporation of Internet technology è Networking with outsiders 57 7 - 57

Drawbacks of Traditional, Authoritarian Structures u Traditional, authoritarian structures have often proved to be a liability where è Customer preferences shift from è è è 58 standardized to customized products Product life-cycles grow shorter Flexible manufacturing replaces mass production Customers want to be treated as individuals Pace of technological change accelerates Market conditions are fluid 7 - 58

Characteristics of Organizations of the Future u Fewer barriers between è Different vertical ranks Change & Learning è Functions and disciplines è Units in different geographic locations è Company and its suppliers, distributors, strategic allies, and customers u Capacity for change and rapid learning u Collaborative efforts among people in different functions and geographic locations u Extensive use of Internet technology and e-commerce business practices 59 7 - 59