Strategy That Works

How to close the gap between strategy and execution

Two-thirds of executives say their organizations don't have the capabilities to support their strategy. In Strategy That Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi explain why. They identify conventional business practices that unintentionally create a gap between strategy and execution. And they show how some of the best companies in the world consistently leap ahead of their competitors. Based on new research, the authors reveal five practices for connecting strategy and execution used by highly successful enterprises such as IKEA, Natura, Danaher, Haier, and Lego. These companies:

Commit to what they do best instead of chasing multiple opportunities
Build their own unique winning capabilities instead of copying others
Put their culture to work instead of struggling to change it
Invest where it matters instead of going lean across the board
Shape the future instead of reacting to it

Packed with tools you can use for building these five practices into your organization and supported by in-depth profiles of companies that are known for making their strategy work, this is your guide for reconnecting strategy to execution.

Auteur

Paul Leinwand is Global Managing Director, Capabilities-Driven Strategy and Growth, with Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting business. Cesare Mainardi is the former CEO of Booz & Company and Strategy&. They are the principal architects of capabilities-driven strategy and the authors of The Essential Advantage and Cut Costs and Grow Stronger. Both are adjunct professors of strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Art Kleiner is editor-in-chief of strategy+business, the management magazine published by PwC.

Texte du rabat

"In a recent survey of executives, two-thirds of the respondents said they didn't think their organization could execute the company's defined strategy. Why is the strategy-execution gap so pervasive? And what can executives do to close it? In Strategy that Works, Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi share their latest research into how the best companies in the world connect strategy to execution. Having the right capabilities in place is essential; but subsequent research by the authors' firm, Strategy&, shows that capabilities alone don't close the gap between what companies aspire to do and what they can actually accomplish. The authors identify, in all, five fundamental principles for connecting strategy and execution, and show how the best companies in the world use these principles to out-execute and out-compete their opponents. They: - Commit to winning by what they do best, instead of chasing multiple opportunities - Focus on and build only those capabilities, instead of benchmarking against competitors - Prune what doesn't matter to invest more in what does - Leverage the culture they have instead of reengineering it - Shape demand instead of constantly reacting to market changes Based on in-depth interviews inside companies that are known for their flawless execution and for redefining the competition in their industries, this book provides executives with the path for connecting strategy to execution"--

Résumé
In a recent survey of executives, two thirdsof the respondents said they didn't think their organization couldexecute the company's defined strategy. Why is the strategy executiongap so pervasive? And what canexecutives do to close it?