What is the relationship between strategy formulation and strategy implementation?

Strategy implementation is the act of imposing an approach to attain the favoured aim or set of goals. This procedure places the techniques or plans into action. It relies closely on remarks and standing reviews to make certain the strategy is running and to remodel any regions which could want improvement. 

Strategy formulation is the method of the use of available information to record the intended route of a commercial enterprise and the actionable steps to attain its goals. This method is used for different applications like useful resource allocation, prioritisation, enterprise-extensive alignment, and validation of several commercial enterprise goals. 

Strategy implementation

It is the procedure through which the establishment formulates, uses and combines its network, culture, assets, people and management system to pursue the methods to ensure an advantage above opponents in demand.

  • It gives more importance to motion than phrases or brainstorming. 
  • It enables the display to the group that the techniques being mentioned are possible and places them into motion. 
  • It’s an exceptional tool for group improvement due to the fact every person can participate. 
  • It relies upon thorough verbal exchange and the proper tools to facilitate the strategy.

Strategy formulation

A successful method can permit your enterprise to percentage one clean vision, capture biases through analysing the reasoning at the back of goals, and song overall performance with measurable key overall performance indicators (KPIs).

Steps for Strategy Formulation

  • Setting organisational goals: The key aspect of any approach declaration is to set the long-time goals of the corporation.
  • Evaluating the organisational environment: The subsequent step is to assess the overall monetary and business surroundings in which the corporation operates.
  • Setting quantitative targets: A corporation needs to identify and set the quantitative goal values for several organisational goals. The concept behind this is to evaluate long-term customers, so one can examine the contribution that is probably made with the aid of numerous product zones or working departments.
  • Performance analysis: Performance evaluation consists of coming across and studying the space among deliberate or favoured performances. Using the corporation, the possible outcome is calculated, keeping in mind the contemporary developments.
  • Choice of strategy: The organised path of motion, also known as the strategy, is selected after thinking about the company goals, organisational strengths, capacity and obstacles in addition to the outside possibilities.

Strategy Formulation vs Strategy Implementation

The following table presents the differences between strategy formulation and implementation.

Strategy Formulation

Strategy Implementation

Strategy formulation consists of making plans and decision making concerned with growing an organisation’s strategic goals and plans.

Strategy implementation includes everything associated with executing the strategic plans.

Strategy formulation is concerned with setting the forces earlier than the action.

Strategy implementation is coping with forces at some stage in the action.

Strategy formulation is an entrepreneurial activity, primarily based on strategic decision-making.

Strategic implementation is an administrative task, based on strategic and operational decisions.

Strategy formulation emphasises effectiveness.

Strategy implementation emphasises efficiency.

Strategy formulation is an analytical process.

Strategy implementation is essentially an operational process.

Strategy formulation calls for coordination amongst some individuals.

Strategy implementation calls for coordination among many individuals.

Strategy formulation demands several initiatives and logical skills.

Strategy implementation calls for particular motivational and management traits.

The strategic formulation is performed ahead of strategy implementation.

Strategy implementation is performed once strategy formulation is completed.

Examples of Strategy Formulation and Implementation

Rahul is a hardworking professional who was recently promoted to the department of advertising and marketing. As a person who is updated with the latest trends and an excellent conversationalist, Rahul seems to be the perfect match for his new role. 

Yet, after six months, Rahul finds himself struggling. While his thoughts and ideas are excellent on paper, they don’t appear to work in practice. His strategy formulation methods are quite good, but he had trouble implementing them in his work.

Rahul comes into contact with Susan, a life coach. She introduces him to the procedure of strategy implementation. Though the effects aren’t instant, Rahul starts to look at the clear advantages of strategy implementation after a year of practising it. 

Four years later, Rahul’s track record as the advertising and marketing head impresses shareholders and earns him the position of Chief Marketing Officer.

This example shows us that Rahul had good strategy formulation techniques but was poor in executing strategy implementation. Strategy formulation on its own is not enough. Strategy formulation and implementation go hand-in-hand.

Example of Strategy Formulation

Sports giant Nike gives us an instance of strategy formulation. In the early 2010s, Nike began to lose its position as the endorsement lead amongst footballers, as competitors like Adidas and Puma were catching up. To make sure that Nike maintained its distinct appeal, the brand decided to cross-endorse. They used an athlete from one sport to sell products for another. 

Their campaign with Michael Jordan, basketball legend, releasing the Air Jordan line of soccer kits and apparel was a hit. The football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) signed up for the Air Jordan bandwagon. This helped Nike to gain back its position and overcome its competition. which is now no longer best, instructed Nike to clean off its opponents. Thus, without strategy formulation, Nike would not have been able to keep up with the other sporting brands.

Conclusion

Strategy formulation and implementation are the two most crucial levels of the strategic management process. The strategy formulation method crafts various techniques and chooses one to attain organisational objectives. Without a radical strategy formulation technique, an employer can’t continue to exist in a competitive industry that is constantly changing. Whereas strategy implementation converts the selected method into action. It is one of the most essential features of strategy management. It is a technique that places plans and techniques into motion to attain favoured goals.

Is there a relationship between strategic planning in Strategy Implementation?

Implementation is the process of turning strategies and plans into actions to achieve strategic objectives and goals. Implementation is important part of the strategic planning process, and organizations that develop strategic plans must incorporate a process for applying the plan.

What is the relationship between strategy formulation and evaluation?

Strategy Formulation involves evaluating the current business strategy and determining measures to improve them. Ascertaining the major areas where business needs any help from the external environment of business. In this phase, the present issues and problems of the organization are resolved first.

What is the relationship between Strategy Implementation and strategic control?

Strategy implementation requires introduction of change in the organisation to make organisational member adapt to the new environment. Strategic control is an integral part of strategic management. It focuses on whether the strategy is being implemented as planned and the results produced are those intended.

Why is it important to integrate Strategy Implementation and strategy formulation?

Both strategy formulation and implementation are critical to success. Organizations can gain a competitive advantage through implementation if done effectively. One effective mechanism that organizations can adopt when implementing their strategy is the Balanced Scorecard approach.