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Implementation
Book

Implementation

How to Transform Strategic Initiatives into Blockbuster Results

Alan P. Brache and Sam Boodley-Scott
McGraw-Hill, 2005
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Recommendation

Many executives can envision how their companies can reach higher goals, but they fail to implement their ideas. Why? It’s not bad vision; it’s bad execution. Accomplishing projects is challenging in companies of any size, so Alan Brache and Sam Bodley-Scott provide a blueprint for getting your initiatives implemented. They move through various strategies and tactics using charts, checklists and case histories. This somewhat dry manual is specifically for executives and managers who want to implement solutions for failing or failed corporate initiatives, and who seek good advice. getAbstract endorses it as a handy reference for managers and executives who have grand visions, but need good execution to achieve them.

Summary

Getting Results

A business needs more than a good strategy: It needs to implement that strategy. Inevitably, some good strategies fail and some bad strategies get implemented. One study found that 70% of executives who fail in their jobs do so because they also fail to execute their strategies in the market. These leaders had good “vision,” but it never got properly executed, for example:

  • Sony achieved a milestone with the Walkman, but it did not anticipate the popularity of Apple’s iPod. Sony’s former CEO, Nobuyuki Idei, recognized the huge market for combined media and entertainment devices. He developed a strategy to integrate media and electronics, but when he tried to put his idea into action, concerns about piracy, pricing and technical standards sidetracked his developers. Regional disputes added to the problems, delaying Sony’s effort to put music and movies into one machine.
  • Carly Fiorina, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, wanted to merge HPs products and create a larger presence in personal computers by buying Compaq. Critics called her aloof and a poor communicator. Lack of company-wide support undermined her plan, which did not link strategic goals...

About the Authors

Consultant Alan P. Brache is executive director of business solutions at a consultancy where Sam Bodley-Scott is vice president. Brache is also the author of Improving Performance and How Organizations Work. Bodley-Scott helps international organizations implement change.

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