What is Behavioural Implementation ?
Successful strategy preparation does not assure the effective implementation of the same. To implement strategy effectively the organization needs discipline, motivation and hard work from all the employees in the organization. There needs to be goal congruence in the efforts of the employees. Managers have to play a very critical role in the implementation of strategy. They need to see if the resources of the organization are aligned properly and the critical aspects of organization like leadership, power and culture are managed properly so that the employees work in a united manner in the realization of the company's objectives.
Behavioural Implementation in Strategic Management
Organizations which exist in relatively stable and predictable industries have a tendency of building up tall structures. Such structures are characterized by many hierarchy levels and narrow spans of control. On the other hand companies which exist in dynamic and volatile industries tend to adopt a very flat structure and managers have very wide span of control. a functional structure organizations are aligned on functional lines such as finance, manufacturing, personnel, R&D etc. Employees in functional organizations perform set tasks. As these organizations grow, they adopt a 'product divisional structure. This allows the organisation flexibility in terms on product focus, co-ordination, development of general managers, bottom line responsibilities etc.
When organisation are multi-product and multi plant, they adopt a "geographic divisional structure". This helps them in meeting the needs of customers belonging to different geographical areas. With the addition of new product lines, the multi-divisional structure is favored by companies as it gives more independence and flexibility to divisional managers.
Sometimes growth is responsible for accepting the SBU structure by an organisation, particularly when the organisation is big and diversified, where different divisions with related products, technologies, market, or mission statement, can be shared to form a strategic business unit. Behavioural implementation is concerned with those features of strategy implementation that is concerned with the behaviour of individuals in organizations.
Issues in Behavioural Implementation
It is imperative that organizational change should not create and design more complex organisation structures but rather the changing of the people's attitudes, feelings and behaviour. The behaviour of the employees affects the performance of the organisation and can become the determining factor in the success or failure of an organizational initiative.
Strategic implementation requires that all the employees of the organisation are disciplined, motivated and committed to work hard for the achievement of the organization's goals. The issues in behavioural implementation are :
1) Influence Tactics :
The leaders and the top management of the organisation have to implement the strategies and objectives. The leaders therefore needs to influence the behaviour of managers, employees and peers. They need to communicate effectively the vision of the organisation and motivate the employees to give their best performance.
2) Power :
Power is the potential ability of influencing the behaviour of others in an organisation Leaders effectively use their power to influence their subordinates to act in a particular manner. The leaders have a formal authority which is derived from the position that they occupy in the organisation.
3) Empowerment :
Leaders cannot implement everything themselves. They need to delegate and empower their subordinates. The leader can empower the employees in many ways. Some of the common techniques used are training, self managed work groups (which redefine organizational reporting relationships), and the extensive use of automation.
4) Political Implications of Power :
The organizations are also subject to politics. Organizational politics is the set of actions which people follow to acquire and increase power to achieve their preferred or vested interests. The leaders need to manage the organizational politics so that it does not become an obstacle in the implementation of the strategy.
5) Managing Resistance to Change :
Rapid change in an organisation is often met by resistance from workers as they have to discard their existing ways of working. Top management can prepare the workers in advance for the change and show the positive impacts that are likely to take place. This often reduces the resistance to change.
6) Managing Conflict :
Conflict occurs when one individual or business unit in an organisation deliberately obstructs another individual or business unit from achieving its objective. The leaders have to manage these conflicts in order to achieve their goals.
7) Linking Performance and Pay to Strategies :
The organisation also has to plan the performance of its strategies if it needs to achieve its objectives. To do this, efficient co ordination of promotions, salary increases, bonuses, etc., is required.
Aspects of Behavioural Implementation
The human resources of an organisation become absolutely critical in the implementation of a strategy. Their activities and their behaviour can lead to the failure or success of a strategy. The various aspects or elements of behavioural implementation are as follows :
1) Leadership :
Leadership plays an important role in implementation of strategy in an organisation. The leadership plays a critical role in the execution and leader through his personal traits acts as a catalyst within the structure of the organisation. The transformation of strategy from a good concept to actual implementation is made possible only by the leadership of the organisation.
2) Corporate Culture :
The culture of the organisation is the environment which prevails through the interactions of the various employees. It is defined by the experiences, education, mind-set, attitudes, beliefs, strengths and weaknesses of the employees of the organisation. The leaders contribute to the leadership aspect of the organisation whereas the employees create the culture of the organisation.
3) Power and Politics :
The power denotes the ability of a person to influence the behaviour of another person. A person who has the power can influence the behaviour and actions of other people in the organisation. In a sense it denotes a sense of control. The supervisory aspect in a manager bestows on him the power his subordinates and get influence him to do what he wants. Politics on the other hand is the manner in which a person gains power over another. It is thus the process of acquiring power in an organisation to attain some desired objective.
4) Values :
A value system is a framework or a set of ideals which govern the person's behaviour. In a sense they are similar to attitudes but are more permanent in nature and not easy to change. A value may be defined as "a concept of a desirable, an internalized criterion or standard of evaluation a person possesses. Such concepts and standards are relatively few and determine or guide an individual's evaluations of the many. objects encountered in everyday life".
5) Ethics :
Ethics in management refers to "the study of how personal moral norms apply to activities and goals of a commercial enterprise. It is not a separate moral standard, but the study of how the business context poses its own unique problems for the moral person who acts as the are the agent of this system". It thus relates the goals and objectives value of the organisation to the personal systems of the individual. To incorporate ethics in business strategy managers have to ask three questions - What do we stand for? What is the objective? What kind of values do we have?
6) Social Responsibilities :
Social responsibility is a concept which states that every entity individual or organisation has a responsibility to the society that it exists in and its actions should benefit the society. The entity needs to see that all its actions maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystem. Social responsibility means that the organisation needs to balance between its economic development and the benefits /costs to the society and environment. The organisation can be passive in its role whereby it refrains from indulging in destructive acts to the society or it can play an active role in the betterment of society at large.