Download Making Strategy Happen - TayganPoint Consulting Group

PUBLISHED ARTICLE
AUTHOR:
John Cassimatis
Co-Founder & President
TayganPoint Consulting
Group
PUBLICATION:
Pharmaceutical
Compliance Monitor
DATE:
August 8, 2014
TOPICS:
Strategy &
Alignment
Pharmaceutical
Making Strategy Happen
By: John Cassimatis, Co-Founder & President, TayganPoint Consulting Group
The Pharmaceutical Industry continues to go through significant changes that present both
challenges and opportunities. As a result, many companies are responding by developing bold
and transformational strategies as they try to set the stage for future success. Setting the right
strategy is not easy. It often means “placing bets” on which markets will enable growth, which
therapeutic areas to focus on, what business segments to divest and invest, and how to
transform business models. But the real challenge is not developing and setting the strategy. The
real challenge is aligning the organization to effectively implement the strategy and “making
strategy happen”.
The following are some key principles that can help you “make strategy happen”.
Set a clear yet simple strategy
Most companies have very formal and elaborate processes for developing long range strategic
plans. They spend months engaging senior leaders from various functions in analyzing the
environment, making strategic choices, and translating them into long term plans. However, the
result is either in over simplified vision statements and a list of strategic priorities or in
voluminous strategic plan documents with detailed market assessments, analyses, and financial
information. While all of this is necessary, it is critical that a strategy be both simple in how it is
articulated but also include enough detail for everyone in the organization to understand the
implication of the strategy and how they can contribute and support it. A well-articulated
strategy should first start with a compelling and aspirational vision and mission statement and a
collective and agreed upon set of values that define how you want employees to behave inside
your organization, with your customers, and within the communities you operate. Second, the
strategy should define the specific goals critical to achieving the vision and mission and the
expected outcomes that will determine strategic success. And finally the strategy should define
the key strategic initiatives that that need to be put in place in order to achieve the strategic
goals and achieve the desired business outcomes.
Align the Organization
Once a clear and simple strategy has been established it is critical to get the organization aligned
around strategy. This is often the most difficult part and often overlooked by many organizations.
It has been said that “culture eats strategy for lunch”, meaning that a strategy is only as good as
the ability of an organization to engage it’s employees around the strategy and ensure that they
understand how they can contribute to its implementation. The overall company strategy should
be cascaded to the various operating divisions and functions to ensure a common understanding
and to align the strategic goals with functional and individual goals and objectives. The
recognition and rewards systems should then be designed to reinforce the strategy.
Strategy Implementation
One of the biggest challenges of strategy implementation is that operational issues and priorities
take up a significant amount of management time and energy and there is often very little time
or resources available for focusing on strategy implementation.
For more information or to speak with a consultant please email: [email protected]
© 2013 TayganPoint Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
TayganPoint.com
PUBLISHED ARTICLE
To ensure the right amount of focus and commitment to strategy implementation it is critical that a process be put in place to
coordinate the strategic initiatives across the organization. This can be accomplished by establishing a strategic program
management office that effectively manages, coordinates, and monitors the strategic initiatives and aligns them with resource
allocation. Additionally it is important to establish and execute a change management and communication plan to educate, engage,
and communicate the progress of strategy implementation to all employees.
Monitoring Progress
It is important that strategy development not be treated as just an annual or every other year activity. Because the environment
changes constantly it is important to not only anticipate the future but also be able to react to changes in the environment as they
happen. Given this it is critical to put a process in place to constantly review progress against the strategy and to assess the internal
and external environmental factors on an ongoing basis. Once a plan is developed, many companies fall into “operational” mode
and pay little attention to progress against the strategy. To ensure that strategy stays at the forefront it is important to link the
strategy to the annual business plan and company scorecard. All operational reviews should include a strategy review component
and ensure that strategy is measured against not just activities but also against business outcomes. Because the environment
changes at an ever increasing pace it is also important to establish a clear process for evaluating the internal and external
environment on an ongoing basis and to adjust the strategy as needed.
A strategy is only as good and a company’s ability to implement it. By ensuring that you focus on developing and communicating a
clear yet simple strategy, align and engage the organization in its implementation, and be responsive to changes in the
environment, you can truly make strategy happen.
For more information or to speak with a consultant please email: [email protected]
© 2013 TayganPoint Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
TayganPoint.com