Making Strategies Work

Alex Roberts and Andrew MacLennan

Today, a key preoccupation of executives in most organisations is how to make their intended strategies work in practice. There is no shortage of good strategic planning but the issues surrounding how to implement strategies are understood less well. This course explores the key challenges facing senior managers seeking to execute strategy. It introduces a practical and rigorous process to drive from conceptual plans through to the concrete actions that deliver results. Methods are also introduced to ensure that all managers shaping and delivering initiatives and projects can align activities with strategic objectives effectively. Key issues such as performance measurement, organisation structure and reward systems are also explored to show how they affect implementation. A detailed exploration of competitive advantage shows how strategy implementation affects strategic positioning and, ultimately, long-term competitiveness. An in-depth case study based on real business situations provides further insights into how to make strategies work in practice.

Topics covered

The strategy implementation age.
The Making Strategies Work process for linking strategy to action.
Organisational designs, processes and systems.
Using causality for aligning activities with objectives.
Competitive advantage and strategy implementation.

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Safwat Kabany
Syria

For Safwat Kabany, from Syria, doing his MBA with Edinburgh Business School was the most logical choice. "I'm in the petrochemical industry and Heriot-Watt University is one of the world-leading academic institutions in this field of industry. I therefore knew a lot about the high standards at Heriot-Watt and these are certainly evident in EBS's MBA programme."

Safwat decided to do the programme as a full-time on-campus student, which was not without its challenges, particularly for a foreign student. "I had to cope with both language and cultural differences, which at first were quite daunting. EBS, however, is very skilled at dealing with people from different backgrounds and cultures and it wasn't long before I felt very comfortable in this environment. The faculty are extremely helpful and take a keen interest in every individual. The facilities at Heriot-Watt for resident on-campus students are excellent and not having to worry about where I would live or how I would feed myself ensured that I could devote all my attention to my studies."...more