Obstacles to strategy implementation and success factors: A review of empirical literature

The purpose of this study is to identify obstacles and success factors evident from empirical studies affecting strategy implementation and to provide an overview of the empirical literature. A systematic literature review (SLR) was used to analyze thirty-five peer-reviewed empirical articles. All of the 35 research papers selected in this review use primary data gathered from the organizations studied. This study of empirical research has identified 16 obstacles that can hinder strategy implementation and 18 success factors that can facilitate implementation. This study highlights factors that are dualistic, meaning that they contain both elements of obstacles and key success factors. The dualistic factors should therefore be considered in the strategy implementation process. Research gaps are identified. They include lack of studies on how to overcome obstacles to strategy on the one hand and on employee influence on implementation on the other. The differences among industries, countries, or cultures regarding implementation have not yet been explored at any depth. The paper adds to theoretical and practical knowledge based on the systematic overview it provides on strategy implementation from 1980 until 2020. The paper enriches the practical knowledge relevant to those implementing strategies, as it captures and identifies the dualistic factors affecting strategy implementation.

Awareness of strategy execution barriers in decision-making process: moderated mediation analysis

Although many studies have discussed the strategy execution process and the reasons for its ineffectiveness, there is a need to consider the relations and interactions between the factors that hinder strategy implementation. The purpose of this article is to explore the interrelations between the strategy execution barriers by considering six factors and understanding the influence of these factors on a company’s performance measured by its achievement of strategic goals (as one of the strategy execution measures) and its revenue dynamics (as a financial measure). In order to achieve the research goal, structural equation modelling was performed for the path analysis. The research sample, which consisted of 150 companies of different sizes and from different industries, was selected from the population of companies registered on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The initial model of relationships was modified to create the final model from which insignificant paths had been removed. Our main finding is that the strategy implementation process should be perceived as a set of integrated factors, which should be analysed from an aggregated perspective in decision-making process. We believe that, rather than focusing only on the efficiency of final results, attention should be paid to ensure the effectiveness of all the factors aggregated in one construct and hence that it is necessary to regard the implementation process as an execution-as-learning concept. As revealed by our study, the awareness of strategy execution barriers directly impacts the achievement of strategic goals and indirectly impacts the revenue dynamics.

Systematic problem-solving and its antecedents: a synthesis of the literature

Purpose

This study aims at determining the factors that favor a systematic approach to deal with complex operational and strategic problems. Management literature on problem-solving makes a clear distinction between either fixing a problem temporarily by eliminating its symptoms or solving it by diagnosing and altering underlying causes. Adopting a cognitive perspective of the dual-processing theory, this study labels these two approaches intuitive problem-solving and systematic problem-solving (SPS). While the superior effectiveness of SPS in fostering organizational learning is widely documented, existing literature fails to provide an overview of the conditions that support the adoption of SPS.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a systematic literature review to shed light on the main supporting factors of SPS in operational as well as strategic domains.

Findings

Seven supporting factors of SPS (namely, nature of the problem, time availability, information availability, collaborative culture, transformational leadership, organizational learning infrastructure and environmental dynamism) are first identified and then discussed in an integrative model.

Originality/value

This work is an original attempt to inclusively address organizational, environmental and problem nature-related factors that favor SPS adoption. By determining the SPS supporting factors, this study highlights why many organizations fail or struggle to implement and sustain SPS over time.

Alignment: the foundation of effective strategy execution

Purpose

Understanding a lack of strategy execution research, especially a lack of execution frameworks, the purpose of this paper is to focus on building a model of one of the most classic aspects of effective strategy execution, i.e. alignment. The proposed framework of alignment demonstrates linkages among different factors of alignment and suggests a managerial action plan to successfully convert strategic goals into execution performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study develops an empirically tested framework of “alignment” that can be used to plan effective strategy execution. The research context of the study is the firms operating in the infrastructure sector of India. A multi-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, has been adopted with emphasis on the interpretation of the framework to suggest managerial actions.

Findings

This study shows that structure-strategy linkage is the most fundamental task of strategy execution. However, there are other aspects of alignment also that are critical. Also, there exist hierarchical relationships among different alignments. The structural understanding of alignment is required to set strong foundation for execution process.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited to firms in the infrastructure sector of India. A questionnaire survey approach may invite some bias in response. Also, a large sample size could have been more useful to generalize findings. The proposed framework in this study suggest that the alignment of structure with strategy is important but not sufficient for effective strategy execution. There exist hierarchical relationships, among the factors of alignment, showing a dependence-driving relationship.

Practical implications

Strategy execution is one of the biggest challenges that corporations have been facing. The existing literature has identified many issues leading to effective strategy execution. The “alignment” aspect of execution has been the most talked about. There are different levels of alignment required for successful strategy execution. Literature suggests some of the key areas of alignment. However, there has been a lack of frameworks demonstrating linkages among different alignments to facilitate effective strategy execution.

Originality/value

There is a lack of strategy execution frameworks, especially reflecting on the alignment aspect of strategy execution. This study focuses not only on “how” of the framework development but also on the “why” aspect of the same. The interpretation approach also helps in pondering on the contextual realities.

Profiling Change

Profile analysis is proposed as a means for advancing empirical change process research. In the context of organizational studies, a profile can be viewed as a set of sequentially arranged factors that expresses the relative strength of individual factors and holistic patterns inside or between organizational entities. To demonstrate the utility of the approach in change process research, profile analysis was employed in a cross-sectional study. Hypotheses related to Lewin’s three-step model of change were tested using data obtained from managers involved in change implementation. Results confirmed a progression through Lewin’s unfreezing-movement-refreezing sequence during implementation. Profiles that reflected higher systematic use of change process factors were also found related to implementation success. Many future research opportunities are apparent, such as investigating interorganizational change profile types and using profile analysis to enhance longitudinal research designs.

Decision-Making in High-Velocity Environments: The Importance of Guiding Principles

This paper presents a field study of decision-making processes at two organizations operating in high-velocity environments. It reviews existing literature on managerial knowledge structures and decision-making, and identifies methodological and conceptual limitations with these approaches with respect to organizations in high-velocity environments. The authors develop two interpretive cases that focus on the articulated and social methods management teams used to make decisions. They found that both organizations used rules of thumb or heuristic reasoning in their decisionmaking, that these rules of thumb functioned as headlines of deeper organizational narratives, and that these narratives were grounded in emotional as well as purely rational considerations. They suggest that the term ‘guiding principle’ usefully integrates their three findings into a second-order concept that may be further explored in future research of both a descriptive and prescriptive nature.

Strategy implementation: What is the failure rate?

It is often claimed that 50–90% of strategic initiatives fail. Although these claims have had a significant impact on management theory and practice, they are controversial. We aim to clarify why this is the case. Towards this end, an extensive review of the literature is presented, assessed, compared and discussed. We conclude that while it is widely acknowledged that the implementation of a new strategy can be a difficult task, the true rate of implementation failure remains to be determined. Most of the estimates presented in the literature are based on evidence that is outdated, fragmentary, fragile or just absent. Careful consideration is advised before using current estimates to justify changes in the theory and practice. A set of guiding principles is presented for assisting researchers to produce better estimates of the rates of failure.

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.

Implementing sustainability on a corporate and a functional level

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify contingencies that are inherently linked to sustainability and that influence its implementation in companies. Further, to identify which coordination mechanisms (organic or mechanistic) are most effective for the implementation on the corporate and on the functional level.

Design/methodology/approach

– Inductive case-study based upon a cross-industry sample of five cases that applies a contingency approach. The case companies differ with respect to the degree of sustainability implementation, the underlying internal coordination and structural factors like ownership, size, and industry.

Findings

– The data revealed six contingency factors inherent to the implementation of sustainability that influence the effectiveness of organic or mechanistic coordination mechanisms according to the specific implementation context. Further, the implementation of corporate sustainability requires more internal coordination than implementing sustainability on the functional level.

Research limitations/implications

– The identified contingencies relevant for the internal coordination to implement sustainability and insights into the relevance of such coordination provide a sound basis for future research. Further, various research avenues are identified to advance the discipline's understanding of this so far under-researched field.

Practical implications

– This paper shows that a one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability implementation is not effective. Rather, companies need to consider specific contingencies and adapt their internal coordination efforts accordingly.

Originality/value

– This paper is the first to address internal coordination for implementing sustainability on the corporate and functional level. By providing insights on the context-specific effectiveness of different types of internal coordination for the implementation of corporate sustainability, sustainable sourcing, and sustainable marketing it provides a contribution to both academia and industry practice.

The ‘‘What’’ and ‘‘How’’ of Case Study Rigor: Three Strategies Based on Published Work

To provide evidence-based strategies for ensuring rigor of case studies, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analyzing all case studies published 1995—2000 in 10 management journals. Comparing practices in articles addressing rigor extensively and less extensively, the authors reveal three strategies for insuring rigor. First, very few case study authors explicitly label the rigor criteria in terms of the concepts commonly used in the positivist tradition (construct, internal, and external validity, as well as reliability). Despite this, papers addressing rigor extensively do report concrete research actions taken to ensure methodological rigor. Second, papers addressing rigor extensively prioritized rigor types: more, and more detailed, strategies were reported for ensuring internal and construct validity than for external validity. Third, emergent strategies used in the field were reported, such as setbacks and serendipities, that necessitated changes to the originally planned research procedures. Authors focus squarely on the concrete research actions taken, carefully relaying them to the reader so that the reader may appreciate the logic and purpose of trade-off decisions in the context of the specific case study.