UNISA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP
2014/7523X/MDP
MDP111-M
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
1. MODULE OVERVIEW
Strategy as a ploy to outsmart the enemy or a competitor is a definition closely linked to the military field and can be traced as far back as Sun Tzu. In military writings one of the main objectives of the strategist is to infer the enemy‟s true intentions.
Strategic management is a broad term that encompasses the full spectrum of activities required for the effective setting, implementation, monitoring and control of strategy in an organisation. The practical and theoretical basis of strategic management can be traced back over many centuries of human endeavour.
Strategy implementation then relies on another set of leadership skills that includes the ability to communicate clearly and to mobilise the necessary people and resources to translate decisions into actions.
In the final analysis, no matter how good your strategic plans are, it will be the process of implementation that will determine your success. Implementation therefore plays a major role in the structure of this module.
Strategy implementation is arguably South Africa's scarcest management competence.
The consensus view is that the implementation of government policies and business strategies has a very low success rate of around 30%.
The following focus areas have been identified as influencing strategy implementation:
1) cultivating an entrepreneurial and systems-thinking mindset
2) creating a deep understanding of the multidisciplinary body of knowledge required to structure strategies for successful implementation
3) introducing a range of the analytical and „doing‟ skills required during each phase of the strategy implementation process
4) introducing the unique leadership skills and attributes required during times of strategy implementation
5) introducing the special skills and cultural astuteness required for