Pit-Falls in Implementing Organizational Strategy

Having high-level strategies is very important to any organization. It is also very important to properly implement and disseminate this strategy throughout the organization. However many executives and organizations can run into many barriers and pit-falls with this implementation of the strategy. Let’s look at a few common pit-falls and some potential solution to properly fight back and overcome these obstacles.

One common pit-fall that leaders can run into when implementing high level strategies is that not all executives or managers agree with the strategy and may actively go about sabotaging the strategy. For what ever reason some executive may feel that the strategy is flawed or that they were not properly consulted concerning the creating of the strategy. It is very important that everyone be on board for these large encompassing strategies. A way to begin to combat this problem is to bring every one of the execs in and ask them to participate. Ask them questions such as “what are our company’s objectives and aspirations?” Or “What are our market threats and opportunities? (Beer & Eisenstat, 2004, pg 1).” With their input one can be sure that these execs are active participants in the company’s strategy. It must also be made clear that it is intended for the strategy to be carried out by them and enforced by them.

How often have rank and file employees made comments such as “Why are we doing this?” Or “Why are opening an office there?” This brings us to our next common obstacle implementing large strategies; Improper or poor communication of these grand strategies. Many companies have overall “Need to Know” policies at work, or a desire to keep strategic information private and away from the media in order to keep secrets to their competitors, or many execs and managers simply may feel their underlings have no desire to know complicated or intricacies of business management. This is a bad path to take. Everyone must be on board for a company wide strategy to take effect. The upper management must use multiple resources to communicate this information to the overall organization. They should use company wide e-mails, have multiple meetings where employees not only hear the “C” level executives speak but also lower level managers and also their direct supervisors. Hearing the strategy from multiple sources will indicate its importance and also increase the likely hood that the information will be understood. The management team should also utilize the HR department so they can devise a proper channel of communication for questions to be asked and answered.

Another obstacle many organizations can run into is management not practicing what they preach. If a strategy is being implemented it is very important that the CEO not just give lip service to the strategy. For instance if the CEO preaches that product quality is a grand strategy moving forward, through designs and materials used line workers and engineers will know very quickly if this strategy is true. Once again the proper solution to this strategy is to follow through with what was said. The CEO should make sure that he or she understands his company’s competitive advantages before implementing a strategy. If the CEO does not properly understand that price advantage is their advantage in the market place then upgrading materials and design processes at the expense of cost and they have to drastically cut back on them later then workers will find themselves not believing in the strategy overall.

Overall it is important for companies to implement overall grand strategies to properly motivate and give their organizations focus. They face many potential pit-falls and obstacles when trying to follow through with strategies. However by following proper procedures and taking proper care the CEO can alleviate and reduce the headache these pit-falls can bring. Through proper communication, getting all executives on board, and honest follow through CEO’s can successfully implement large scale corporate strategy.


Beer, M. & Eisenstat, R. (2004). How to Have an Honest Conversation about Your Business Strategy. Harvard Business Review. pg 1-11.