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In listening to Lawrence Hrebiniak speak, it doesn't take long to know that this management expert, author, and consultant gets straight to the heart of the matter. This is especially true when he's talking about one of his favorite subjects these days, the critical need for corporations to execute strategy ... and the fact that they often fail to do it.

In his years of consulting with top corporations, Hrebiniak realized that much time and planning is spent on devising business strategies, but painfully little goes into how to make those strategies become realities. In other words, execution is not just about "handing off the ball so employees can run with it." Having clear methodologies in place for execution is a critical, but often missing, piece of the equation. A lot of good business strategies fail because of this, leaving management to wonder why.

In his new book, Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change, Hrebiniak draws on data, case studies, anecdotes, plus his own research, to educate corporate leaders about the importance of execution, and to offer methodologies for how do it.

"Details are important," points out Hrebiniak. "They include ensuring that there is responsibility and accountability for implementing strategy, offering incentives for doing so, and putting the mechanisms in place to coordinate activities. But there are larger questions that must be answered as well," he adds, "such as, whether or not the organization is structured to be able to respond to the strategy."

IT plays an important role in executing any business strategy, says Hrebiniak, but often, the CIO does not communicate its critical function to other managers in the company. "Any change ... especially change that is part of a complex business strategy ... leads to uncertainty. The data that IT can provide go a long way toward reducing that uncertainty, and that is vital." So, IT organizations must find ways to communicate to, and partner with, other line managers in the company, using metrics that are easy to understand to show the value IT provides.

Tune in to this insightful interview with Lawrence Hrebiniak, who wants corporations to really get it: No matter how elegant the business strategy, the execution behind it should not be half-hazard; this requires a methodical approach that is implemented with attention, over time.

That is where the rubber meets the road.

Resources

Got a Good Strategy? Now Try to Implement It

Three Reasons Why Good Strategies Fail: Execution, Execution ...

Bio

Dr. Lawrence Hrebiniak is a professor in the Department of Management of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He held several managerial positions in industry prior to entering academia, and is a past president of the Organization Theory Division of the Academy of Management. His consulting activities and executive development programs focus on strategy implementation, the formulation of strategy, and organizational design, both inside and outside the U.S. Dr. Hrebiniak's clients have included Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, Chemical Bank, Isuzu (Japan), Weyerhauser, Dun & Bradstreet, DuPont, Management Centre (Europe), the Social Security Administration, First American Bankshares, General Motors (U.S., Brazil, Japan, Venezuela), Chase Manhattan, Studio Amrosetti (Milan), and GE. His latest book is Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer