Strategy to the MAX

The quest to implement strategy has been, and remains, the holy grail of management.

It's something that every senior executive wants to do and yet its achievement appears to be one fraught with difficulty and seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Not a year goes by without some survey reinforcing what is already known and countless articles and books affirming that the gap between strategy and execution can be bridged.

There are tools and techniques, systems and procedures all designed to close the gap and yet the gap seems as wide as ever. And it's a gap that's costing organisations dearly. According to a survey published in the Harvard Business Review , only around 50 to 60% of the potential of an organisation's strategic plan is ever realised, with the underperformance being attributed to a breakdown in either planning or execution-factors that easily can be fixed and that are under the executive team's control.

So why is it that the gap remains, and what can be done to put management back in control of strategy implementation?

This book is about aligning organisational strategy with execution. It examines the scope of strategic and operational plans, the management processes and reward mechanisms required to support strategic decision-making, and the technology systems that play an ever-increasing role in communicating, planning, and monitoring strategy.