McKensey: “China is currently transforming from an emerging market to a mature one. In an emerging market, taking initiative in Blue Ocean with a swift, accurate and powerful strategy guarantees half the success. While in a mature market, excellent execution makes the cornerstone of success.”
However, it always lacks the final effort in turning strategy into execution smoothly.
Each department gets their say. What makes things harder, is each department sounds make sense.
Have you heard similar voices:
The company has made the decision of winning new market and clients, but how?
- Sales department:”The company which has a large presence or ranks No.1 in the market gets their say, and obviously, one of the most effective methods to increase market share is price reduction. What if we don’t reduce prices while our competitors do? The situation will definitely not favor us at that time.”
- Marketing department:” How to maintain the future prices in an ‘I drop you drop’ situation? Is it that we have no way but reducing prices to win the market? The market must be at a mess. Furthermore, an increased sales volume is at the expense of profit. Is it what we really want? “
The new product finally launches in the market, but the result…
- Marketing department complain:” Timing never waits. R&D, production, sales, all of the departments are too slow to keep up with the market trend, which changes at a blink of eye’s time, resulting in our efforts on research and discussion a waste of time.”
- Sales department doubt:" We can’t beat the competitors no matter how hard we tried in such a harsh environment. Is there enough marketing support? Are the products designed by R&D better than others’? Production department can’t keep up even when there is an order. Why we sales department is the one to blame?”
- Production department argue:” R&D is R&D and production is production, and it always needs time from experimenting to mass production. Who says the completion of the product development is immediately followed by mass production? Who takes care of quality?”
- R&D department is confused” Why always blame the products? They know nothing about technology!"
We have to control production cost! But how?
- Production personnel are anxious:” Changes in material supply lead to increase in the number of spoiled products and the amount of waste. The production line must be rearranged to adopt clients’ requirement adjustments even if the production date has been set, which inevitably results in cost increase. Put material aside? What shall we do if clients need the products once again? Thus, an increased inventory comes around. ”
- Salesmen are depressed:” Even that’s the case, our clients are unsatisfied, complaining that we delay good delivery all the time.”
- Purchasing personnel suggest:” Cost down can be realized if material varieties are optimized, quality control loosened and the amount of one-time order increased.”
- Finance personnel are puzzled:” Cost down for one side and up for the other side, the whole picture will be…”
AMA’s interpretation in the ability of execution to win:
We find out that when departments disagree with each other, the issue does not come from the departments themselves, but from the mid-level managers:
Take previous voices as examples:
The company has made the decision of winning new market and clients, but how?
Must be No.1 in the new market? What does it mean for our company to enter the market? Is it for attempt, penetration or attack?
How to coordinate various departments in execution if the strategic option is “attempt”?
The new product finally launches in the market, but the result…
What does a new product launch mean to our company? To maintain/reinforce the high-end image, perfect the solution, or attract distributors?
How to ally all the key points in execution in such links as sales rhythm, marketing priorities and logistic support?
We have to control production cost! But how?
"Subtraction" in each area, coming with both gains and loss, is a strategic option.
Consensus needs to be reached among departments to determine the “what” and “how” of cost down and its significance.
What mid- & high-level managers will achieve from this program:
- Get to know various execution modes for various strategies
- Find out the options, key points, advantages and disadvantages of each strategy, thus understand the strategic options of their own companies
- Acquire execution modes and key points for each strategy and probe into the key points in your execution
- Master managing essentials of various execution modes——from detecting key activities to building KPI system
- Look over your roles and functions in the enterprise to check whether you have master the managing essentials in execution
How you will benefit
- Understand different strategies should be supported by different operation modes
- Know the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies, and can optimize one's own strategy option
- Understand the focus of different operation modes, and can locate one's own operation priority
- Understand the management focus of different operation modes--from outlining the key activities to setting KPI
- Clarify one's operation roles and responsibilities, and check one's effectiveness
What you will cover
1. Understand strategy
- Illustrate strategy with the concise framework of “strategy’s 6-factor chart”
- Get to know the relationship between strategy and execution by integrating real cases
2. Experience execution
- The course is applied on Celemi's Decision Base, the classic and globally-used simulation product
- Participants are grouped into several teams and each team operates a simulated company, with the team members playing the roles as salesman/saleswoman, projection personnel, finance personnel and marketing supervisor-to release you from your original department
- The process of “financing-investing-selling-purchasing-producing-delivering” will be repeated in each year of the 6-year operation period. New market may be developed, new products launched and production scale adjusted……to see the whole picture and execute accordingly
- Get to know your blind areas and fixed thinking pattern in execution
3. Learn execution
- Analyze 3 typical strategic options to understand what is strategy-centered execution
- Analyze the purposes of the 3 strategies and identify the starting point in execution
Know what is “key execution activities”
Understand the essentials of each key execution activity in 3 aspects of “risk management”, “cost management” and “planning & control”. Know how to set KPI
4. Go back to yourself
Apply what you learn into daily work by discussing the execution desires of your own enterprise within the strategic execution framework.
- Draft your key execution activities, key managing points and KPI
Examine whether you have mastered the key points in execution, thus making improvement plans and getting execution status of your department better.
“The simulation truly demonstrates the whole picture of corporate execution helped by a systematic and clear strategy-execution process. Though our team lost, I know why we lost, which is a great help and reference to the daily work.”
“I’ve read many books about corporate strategy and execution; I’m puzzled how to make execution fully carry out the strategy from time to time. By responsible for an enterprise’s strategy and execution this time, my horizon has been broadened, which allows me view corporate strategy and execution from a wider perspective and match each strategy with corresponding execution mode.”
“I find that there are a lot of simulation courses on the market. I do not know which one I should choose. The program involves simulation and has clear objectives: using simulation to solve operation problems. Simulation is a tool not the purpose. I think: This is exactly what I want. After finishing the program, I feel that it is really effective.”