Good Strategy + Good Execution = Good Management
"Among all things managers do, nothing affects a company's ultimate success or failure more fundamentally than how well its management team charts the company's direction, develops competitively effective strategic moves and business approaches, and pursues good day-in, day-out strategy execution and operating excellence."
- Arthur Thompson, AJ Strickland III, and John Gamble
Search the term "business strategy," and Google returns 55 millions results. That's a lot of talk. You'll also hear the term bandied about in company meeting rooms day in and day out. Given the importance of the high level business strategy, it is unfortunate that the term is over-used and misapplied, often referring to actions or decisions that are considered important (or relevant to business) instead of aspects specifically relating to the company's Strategy-with-a-capital-S.
It's important to differentiate the business level or capital-S Strategy (how a company competes in the marketplace) from decisions that are strategic (a.k.a. important). But where should a business leader start? Well, we know that companies generally don't fail because they have a poor strategy (there are lots of good ones out there). Instead, companies wither because they fail to execute their strategy effectively. Thus, focusing more time on strategy execution is wise, with many academics and professionals suggesting an 80-20 split.
How to Assess Strategy Execution
There are essentially three reasons why your strategy isn't working (i.e., your products and services aren't selling). People don't know about you. They can't find you. Or, they simply don't like you.
Passed down to me from Fiona Wilson, this simple framework helps diagnose problem areas in strategy execution. If your performance isn't where you want it be, you can begin to uncover sources of error by asking yourself these three questions. Do my customers know about me? Can they find me? And, do they like me? Here's a closer look at each.
Do my customers know about me?
This question is all about marketing. To answer it, examine your marketing efforts and return. Aspects to evaluate include: total marketing spend compared to key competitors, brand awareness levels in your industry, purchase intentions for your product relative to rivals, and customer service satisfaction levels. And remember this, you can't execute well unless you have a crystal clear understanding of your target customer, their needs, and their preferences.
Can people find me?
This is a sales and distribution question. To answer it, take a look at sales force and channel management. Benchmark your sales force levels and distribution channel penetration against key competitors. Take a look at consumer shopping behavior, asking yourself "where are my customers likely to shop?" and "am I adequately staffed there"? As more and more businesses develop online distribution channels, knowledge of target customer's online habits is essential, too.
Do people like me?
Though she'll be forever mocked, Sally Field hit the nail on the head when she effused "you like me, you really like me!" And from a business perspective, this is aabout product development and innovation capabilities. It gets at your ability to develop products and services that match your target customer's preferences. This is, again, why it is essential to have a target customer in mind. If your offerings don't align with their preferences, it is time to innovate or check the evolution of customer preferences.
What's this got to do with social technology?
I've written before on how social technology can help companies execute corporate strategy and on how marketing should be an orientation of a company (not just a segregated business function), and I've expanded on it here by providing this simple execution framework.
Social media shouldn't be viewed simply as a marketing tool and marketing shouldn't be left to the marketing department only. Social media is an ideal tool to help you assess your strategy execution through market research, information gathering, brand management, product innovation, and other initiatives. Embrace it throughout your organization. I'd love to hear your stories on how you do this.