Effective Execution of Organizational Strategy

Research shows that a large number of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully, and even smaller initiatives aren’t immune. The problem often isn’t with planning — many strategies are well developed — but with execution.

Effective Execution of Organizational Strategy focuses on the most important factors involved in implementation, including leadership, culture, organizational design, capabilities, and incentives. This program explores those factors as they apply at every level, from individual to team to organization. It provides a well-structured approach to implementation for managers who face execution challenges. Participants will leave with an actionable plan for executing a specific strategy or initiative, and a new set of tools and approaches for overcoming even their most challenging execution obstacles.

Program Highlights and Benefits

In Effective Execution of Organizational Strategy, you will learn how to:

• Consider strategy execution from a range of lenses including leadership, organizational culture, talent management, and capabilities
• Create a plan for dealing with your organization’s most critical execution issues
• Understand how to get buy-in, clarify responsibility and accountability, and create proper incentives
• Develop and access the necessary resources for implementation regardless of whether they are located inside or outside the organization

Experience & Impact

Business decisions are driven increasingly by the financials, and having a good grasp of finance and accounting tools can help every corporate manager be more strategic stewards of the bottom line and even forecast the future.

Effective Execution leverages the research and thought leadership of Wharton faculty who teach in the school’s MBA and Executive Education programs. Faculty will share highly actionable tools and frameworks from a variety of perspectives and provide feedback on your own execution challenges. A highlight of the program is an intensive Strategy Execution Workshop that will help you integrate the week’s learnings and create a plan to implement when you get back to work.

Highly practical and hands-on, this program uses a blend of relevant case studies infused with current strategy-implementation techniques, group discussion, and exercises to help you strengthen your leadership capabilities and improve your ability to influence and get buy-in across your organization. Effective Execution is beneficial even if you have an MBA, as it tackles cross-functional and silo-busting issues related to strategy implementation.

Session topics include:

• The Impact of Culture on Implementation
• Barriers to Organizational Change
• Strategic Leadership
• Implementing through Teams
• Cognitive Biases Affecting Implementation
• Organizational Design
• Accessing Resources from Outside the Organization