Column 7 · Organization and Implementation · Era 3, Competitive Advantage (1980s)
Strategy Implementation
Implementation, process · Major · Cluster III, Organization and Programs
Description
Bonoma argued that marketing strategies often fail in execution, whose skills and structures matter as much as the strategy, and Walker and Ruekert proposed that business-strategy types call for different marketing structures, policies, and processes, framing marketing's role in implementation.
Managerial Implications
Good strategy fails in execution more often than strategy fails on its own. Implementation requires structures, processes, and skills matched to the chosen strategy; a differentiation strategy run through a cost-focused organization will revert to cost. Diagnose execution problems honestly: is it the strategy, the organization, or the people? Managers who can execute an average strategy outperform those with brilliant plans and poor follow-through.