This paper discusses organizational and resource dimensions as basis for strategic control in strategy implementation. It defines and describes the often neglected but dynamic, iterative and complex nature of implementation process in the difficult terrain of actualizing organizational goals. Literature in organizational and management studies often under conceptualizes implementation as plain execution process with implications for inadequacy in strategic context. However, theories of organization, resource management and strategy implementation project an integrative framework for hierarchical and managerial decisions and actions. The paper investigates existing literature deficit and contributes to enhancing the strategic aptitude of middle and higher executives or commanding officers in handling organizational and resource dimensions in implementation as source for strategic control. A simulation exercise is designed for Course Participants to practice on the application of strategy implementation in real world inter-agency challenges.

1. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
AND CONTROL
BY
TANKO AHMED fwc
Senior Fellow (Security & Strategic Studies)
Research Directorate, NIPSS, Kuru – Jos, NIGERIA
‘

2. A Paper Presented to Participants of the
NIPSS Strategic Management Course for
Commanding Officers in the Armed Forces,
Police and Paramilitary Organizations (3 – 14
April 2017)
Wednesday, 5 April 2017

4. Prologue
•Strategy implementation has organizational
resource management as pivotal challenge where
planning assumptions face situational realities of
organizations.
•This paper discusses organizational and resource
dimensions as basis for strategic control in strategy
implementation.
•It defines and describes the often neglected but
dynamic, iterative and complex nature of
implementation process in the difficult terrain of
actualizing organizational goals.

5. Some Observations on Literature
and Theory
•Literature in management studies often
under conceptualizes ‘implementation’
as plain ‘execution’ process which is
inadequate in strategic context.
•Theories of strategy accommodate
integrative framework in managerial
decisions and actions.

6. Literature Deficiency and Simulation
•The paper investigates existing literature
deficit and contributes to enhancing the
strategic aptitude of middle and higher
executives or commanding officers in
handling organizational and resource
dimensions in implementation as source for
strategic control.
•A simulation exercise is designed for Course
Participants to practice on the application of
strategy implementation in real world inter-
agency challenges.

7. Captions
•“It is a bad plan that admits of no
modification”
– Publius Syrus (n.d.)
•“Plans are only good intentions
unless they immediately
degenerate into hard work”
– Peter Drucker (n.d.)

8. INTRODUCTION
Strategy implementation has resource
management as its pivotal challenge
– Anonymous

9. Background
•The effective realization of any plan or
strategy depends on how available resources
are perceived, harnessed and allocated to
relevant components by the various levels of
organizational leadership.
•Strategy implementation is the realization of
formulated strategies for attainment of set
goals involving all levels of the leadership
cadre.

10. Organizational Strategic Leadership Levels
•Strategic leadership cuts across the top,
middle and lower of strategy for the
purpose of formulation, translation and
execution.
•Decisions and actions usually follow
preliminary strategic thinking and
formulated plan for tasks charged to the
entire leadership cadre or core group of
organizations.

11. Concept and Practice
•Challenges facing organizational leadership in
strategy implementation often hinge on the
concept and practice when the various levels
of organizational leadership think and perform
in different ways.
•These operational dimensions tend to
translate and apply the implementation
process differently therefore affecting entire
organizational resource management.

12. Problem Statement
•SMP and strategy formulation are useless if
not put into use through strategy
implementation.
•Strategy implementation is the critical stage of
a complex cross-functional relationships of
organizational components.
•This paper investigates organizational and
resource dimensions in implementation within
the context of strategy implementation and
control.

13. Points of Focus
To conceptualize strategy implementation and its
various components and functional relationships;
To discuss and correlate organizational and resource
dimensions in strategy implementation and strategic
control;
To establish strategy implementation as pivotal point of
the strategic management process;
To explain the conduct of strategy implementation as
tool for organizational leadership and commanding
officer; and
To draw conclusion and suggest the way forward for
success and survival of organizations.

14. CONCEPTUAL
DISCOURSE

15. Organization
•An organization is a planned, coordinated,
purposeful and collective action aimed at
common goals and objectives.
•It is an enduring arrangement of elements
whose actions are determined by rules for
fulfillment of tasks through a system of
coordinated division of labour.
•In this wise, all levels of organizational
leadership carry the responsibility for the
running of organizations where they belong.

16. Organizational Leadership
Organizational leadership is the
management staff that provides
inspiration, objectives, operational
oversight and other administrative
services to the organization often seen
in Mission and Vision Statements
(BusinessDictionary.com).

17. Organizational Resource
•The resources available to an organization,
real or perceived, often reflected in
planning or strategy formulation.
•These resources are calculated and
measured according to use and
subsequent outcome of investment.
•For example organizations often capture
their resources at management level
where all dimensions avail for purpose of
planning.

18. Resource Dimension
•Resources are measured and managed
under main categories of human, financial,
technological, environmental and natural
resources.
•In most organizations, these various
resource categories often determine
functional structures.
•For example, organizations are structured
into human resource, finance and works
departments, depending on mission set.

19. Resource Management
•Resource refers to organizational inputs in
terms of human, financial, technological and
natural aspects deployed and manipulated
for the purpose of attaining set goals and
objectives.
•Management is the process of coordinating
efforts of people in the use of other
resources to accomplish goals and
objectives by efficient and effective means.
•Resource management is the efficient and
effective deployment and allocation of
resources when and where they are needed.

20. Organizational Strategy
•Strategy is of great importance to the
organisation.
•It refers to basic directional decisions
on the purposes and missions of the
organisation.
•Organizational Strategy answers the
question “What are the ends we seek
and how should we achieve them?”

21. Strategy Implementation
•Implementation is the process of carrying out,
fulfilling, realization or execution of a task, an
application or a plan.
•Strategy implementation is the second stage task
after strategy formulation, involving the
application or execution of plans through series of
decisions and actions in pursue of set goals or
objectives.
•Brinkschroder (2014) put this task on the
shoulders of organizational leadership, for
communication of mission, allocation of tasks and
resources and coordination of cross-functional
relationships.

22. ORGANIZATIONAL
DIMENSION IN STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTATION

23. Challenges of Organizational Dimension
•Challenges of organizational leadership in strategy
implementation often hinge on concept and
practice in which the exercise is performed outside
strategic context (Crosby, 1996).
•Managerial approach to implementation is static
and inadequate due to narrow definition and
‘straight jacket’ methodology.
•An earlier study (Dess, 2006) has established that
consensus on objective or methods and
collaboration across levels of leadership or
management team members positively relates to
organizational performance.

24. Implementation and Performance
•For effective strategy implementation,
organizational leadership should know
which lever to pull and which button to
press in order to improve overall
performance.
•Organizational leadership must possess the
ability to anticipate, envision, maintain
flexibility and empowers others to create
strategic change.

25. RESOURCE DIMENSION IN
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

26. Resource Dimension as Critical to
Implementation
•Strategy implementation is “the match an
organization makes between its internal
resources and skills and the opportunities
and risks created by its external
environment” (Grant, 2001, p. 114).
•The resource dimension of organization is
critical to the attainment of set goals or
mission.
•Without resources, there will be no
implementation process

27. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
AND STRATEGIC CONTROL

28. Close Control Against Uncertainty
•Strategy implementation involving the
application or execution of plans through
series of decisions and actions requires close
control against uncertainties and
ambiguities in order to arrive at set goals or
objectives.
•The responsibilities of leadership at this
stage include clear and simple
communication of mission, allocation of
tasks and resources, and coordination of
cross-functional relationships.

29. Focus on Long Term Goals
It is easier to focus on
attainment of long term goals in
addition to short term objectives
based on review of performance.

30. CONCLUSION

31. Summary
•Strategy implementation and
strategic control pose challenges
as well as opportunities the
toughest challenges to leadership.

32. Conclusion
The combined philosophy and practice
of strategy implementation and
strategic control tend to uplift, expand
and embolden organizations to venture
into systematic planning and execution.

33. Recommendations
•Organizational leadership at all levels
should aspire to acquire knowledge
and skills as well as expand strategic
faculties.
•Course Participants should cultivate
and absorb the attributes of strategic
thinking and action for strategy
implementation.

34. COURSE EXERCISE No. 3-2917

35. COURSE EXERCISE NO. 3-2016
Groups of Course Participants are to
prepare Strategy Implementation
Schedule for any Inter-Agency based
Internal Security Operation of their
choice and present to the whole house.

36. Reference
 Brinkschroder, N. (2014). Strategy implementation: Key factors, challenges and
solutions. A Presentation at the 4th IBA Bachelor Thesis Conference, November 6th.
University of Twente, Faculty of Management and Governance, Enschede, The
Netherlands.
 BusinessDictionary.com http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/-
organizational-leadership.html
 Crosby, B. L. (1996). Organizational dimension to the implementation of policy
change, IPC Monograph, No. 2, September.
 Dess, G. G. (2006). Consensus on strategy formulation and organizational
performance: Competitors in a fragmented industry. Strategic Management Journal,
November 8. DOI: 10.1002/smj.4250080305
 Drucker, P. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from BrainyQuote.com
Web site: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck131070.html
 Grant, R. M. (2001). The resourced-base theory of competitive advantage:
Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, Spring
 Publilius Syrus. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved April 7, 2016, from
BrainyQuote.com Web site:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/publiliuss131420.html