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Most people believe that the value and impact of the C-level leadership originates from the number of meetings conducted, having the ability to plan for long term, and make key strategic decisions collectively. However, in reality, the C-level seldom works in unanimity to make collective decisions. They often have animosities with each other and lack collaboration and mutual trust.
The real impact and success of the top team emanates from the informal and social networks of its members, their resolve to capitalize on those connections for strategic decision making, and their competency to perform well in subgroups created to solve pressing concerns.
Effective C-level leadership is conscious of the value of their informal / social networks and their ability to deal with serious issues. They organize themselves in a way to work as the nucleus of the organization, which gives them the leverage to promptly act on adversities or opportunities.
Leadership’s Social Network Analysis
C-level’s informal social network enables an organization to draw combined capabilities—in-house as well as the extended network. Top leadership needs to evaluate the strengths of their social network by mapping their informal associations. This can be done by conducting surveys, analyzing meetings, phone calls, and emails.
The social network analysis reveals that 90% actionable information comes from this informal leadership network rather than through internal reports and datasets. These linkages aren’t distributed evenly; some members may be highly networked commanding a major chunk of two-way interactions across the organization whereas others may have a smaller network and lesser influence accordingly. The analysis also suggests that poor leadership connections lead to failed decisions—whereas enriched networks cause advancement in Innovation and Organizational Efficiency.
To design—or redesign—an effective Leadership Operating Model, organizations need to incorporate 3 key principles in their operations:
- Leverage Focused Subgroups
- Improve Networking Effectiveness
- Manage Conflicts at the Constituent Level
These 3 principles aren’t simple to implement. It warrants evolving the very nature of how the senior leadership team functions and design a more poised and assimilated Operating Model.
Let’s discuss these principles in detail.
Leverage Focused Subgroups
Senior leadership’s performance cannot be judged solely by its ability to revamp the enterprise’s organogram. Effective top leadership demands from the team a capability to form peer-to-peer, top-down, and bottom-up relationships; and work in discrete yet linked groups, each of which is focused on solving a unique problem or tapping an opportunity.
Depending upon the circumstances, leaders should adopt any of these modes when dealing with networks. Focused subgroups work best in 3 discrete modes:
- Discussion Groups – These groups focus on information flow, comparing notes, and updating each other on progress. The mode does not cater strategic decisions or active leadership.
- Single Leader Units – In this mode, every executive of the group has clear responsibilities and is accountable to one boss who has the authority over the others to enable speed and efficiency.
- Real Teams – This subgroup includes executives possessing similar capabilities, who are committed under an accommodating leader to achieve shared objectives.
Networking Effectiveness
It is culturally acceptable at many organizations to utilize time on trivial matters—e.g. unnecessary e-mailing, lengthy approval cycles, long-drawn-out meetings, or to schedule events. These matters cannot be eliminated altogether however, meticulously planned informal networking between the top team enhances efficiency of leaders to a great extent.
Each member of the C-level should connect the right people together, lead and support subgroups, and maintain associations. Gaps in informal communication between leaders damage the implementation of organizational strategic plans. Interaction between top executives is often limited to participation in senior level meetings for information sharing purposes only, lacking collaboration to pursue shared objectives. To make matters worse, they spend too little a time with their direct reports, employees, or customers. This detachment creates widespread unease and skepticism.
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– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Editor’s Note: If you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy’s Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.
What makes companies great in their industries is sustained above-average Growth.
Conventional approach to Organic Growth has business leaders extending their existing product lines and brands, as well as entering new geographic regions. This conventional Growth Strategy at some point in time starts failing to provide the results required to hold market leadership positions.
Focus-driven Growth is an approach that provides results regardless of the economic environment. The approach demands that the leadership team keep a methodical approach that covers the entirety of the business cycle i.e., from Strategic Planning and Strategic Vision to Strategy Execution and Performance Management.
Outwardly mature businesses can be reinvigorated by making a small number of—but larger—bets and by concentrating unremittingly on implementing a straightforward but forceful vision.
This approach has been successfully tested and has proven its mettle in at least 3 well-known companies, on 3 continents, over a span of 10 years.
Focus-driven Growth demands that the organization progress sequentially through a set of 7 steps.
- Discovery—Through a Discovery process, determine what works and what does not for the organization.
- Strategy—Through the Strategy step, group and prioritize what works for the organization.
- Vision—By outlining a Vision statement, line up organizational efforts behind an unmistakably comprehended goal.
- People—Through this step, place the right people in all functions and give them their required resources.
- Execution—Through Execution, elucidate who does what and transfer decision making closer to customers and consumers.
- Organization—Through the Organization process, manage the Growth initiative by establishing communities and networks throughout the organization.
- Metrics—Through this step, keep a track of Growth with objective yet uncomplicated scorecards.
When taken collectively in the right order, these steps embody a formidable prescription for generating profitable Growth.
Let us delve a little deeper into some of the steps.
Discovery
Every organization has segments of Growth areas. This step entails discovering those areas for further processing. Leadership of the organization should gather in a series of workshops and identify which areas of the business are performing far better than the others. Identified segments become the focus areas of Growth because it is easier to refine and enlarge the successful areas rather than remedy what is not working.
Strategy
Focus areas discovered in the 1st step need to be grouped and prioritized in order to delineate the focused bets that the company ought to make. Focus areas may be categories, brands, geographies, platforms, that are doing well.
A single page preliminary strategy roadmap giving priority for each area results from the above process.
Vision
Outcomes of Step 2 have to be summarized into a forceful yet uncomplicated Vision which serves to align efforts behind a clearly grasped goal.
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“Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat.” – Sun Tzu
For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to “Tactical” Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.
These frameworks include Porter’s Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner’s Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.
Learn about our Strategy Development Best Practice Frameworks here.
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– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
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– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Evaluation and onboarding of outstanding leaders is anything but straightforward. Almost all organizations have set up testing mechanisms or assessment centers to distinguish senior leadership candidates having traits that make up for Exceptional Leaders. These assessment centers shortlist leaders based on certain indicators and criteria.
However, these assessments are not always accurate in predicting the best leaders. At times, the entire evaluation exercise results in drafting mediocre leaders and fails to select top influencers and role models for the organization. The traditional methods of gauging senior leaders prove inadequate based, typically, on 3 common flaws:
- Granularity – Gauging the candidates for leadership positions using the profiles of successful leaders from the past. Those profiles are not meaningful considering the pace of change today and the future needs of the organization.
- Long-term Focus – Assessment of candidates based on the traits required to reap the fruits of Business Strategy in 5 years’ time is another ground for not identifying the right leaders.
- Emphasis on finding typical leadership traits – Instead of looking for traits that separate exceptional leaders from the pack, most assessments are geared towards finding typical leadership traits.
Research by PwC—spanning over a period of 10 years with a sample size of 2500 senior executives, who remained a part of C-suite successions in large organizations—reveals that the common flaws in leadership assessment methods can be confronted methodically. To find the best C-level executives, leadership evaluations should focus on identifying candidates possessing the following 4 key traits that are typical only of the top C-level executives:
- Simplification & Operationalization of Complexity
- Drive Enterprise-wide Ambition & Change
- Strong Teamwork
- Leader Building
Let’s dive deeper into these traits.
Simplification & Operationalization of Complexity
In today’s world of disruption, organizations face new challenges on a day-to-day basis. Exceptional leaders have the ability to process tremendous volumes of information and simplify things fairly easily. Leaders who truly standout are well-versed in tackling confusion and learn promptly. They are great at:
- Interpreting complexities and creating simplified operational descriptions around them for others’ understanding.
- Developing visions to influence people and rally them around the shared objectives.
- Developing & implementing actionable plans to achieve objectives.
- Developing functional and dynamic storylines encompassing the agenda that demonstrates how the company will execute its strategy. These storylines consistently remind the people to concentrate on the things that matter most to the company (e.g. customers, products).
- Creating and disseminating robust communication plans—highlighting how their company is best suited to face the challenges of disruption—that are consistently analyzed and improved upon.
Drive Enterprise-wide Ambition & Change
People in an organization often operate in groups. These groups consider people outside their circle as competitors or “outsiders.” This tribal mentality is detrimental for an organization and inculcates individual thinking—focusing only on personal / group targets—and debilitates the ability to operate outside one’s comfort zone. Exceptional leaders have the skills to:
- Make people come out of this tribal or siloed mentality and think collectively in terms of realizing organizational objectives.
- Understand different mindsets and know how to influence them constructively.
- Make people realize their contribution towards the bigger, organizational perspective and work towards achieving their business unit targets rather than personal performance objectives.
Strong Teamwork
Nobody can undermine or deny the importance of teamwork. Much has been written on the subject. However, in reality, most teams do not quite understand the spirit and commitment fundamental to develop teamwork.
Exceptional leaders:
- Are aware of the importance of teamwork and collective leadership. They consistently challenge their people to ponder over ways to achieve not only personal but also the strategic organizational objectives.
- Work with teams to uncover prioritized initiatives critical for organizational growth.
- Lead their teams and make informed strategic decisions.
- Focus more on the strategic planning front than tactical way before they reach the C level.
- Emphasize to the teams the significance of spending time discussing / developing strategy and devising plans.
- Focus on maximizing the effectiveness of each individual to benefit the organization.
Interested in learning more about the traits of outstanding leaders? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Exceptional Leadership here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
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You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
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– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Organizations have, in recent times, become more aware of the worth of regulating their Organizational Knowledge. Extensive studies in academia have been conducted on the subject, because of its importance.
Organizations learn with time and experience. The cause-and-effect relationship is gathered in the collective memory of the organization in the form of:
- Shared mental models
- Standard operating procedures
- Rules and routines
- Assets
This learning, in some cases, becomes a source of Competitive Advantage for the organization.
New learning, in organizations, is possible when redundant knowledge and bad habits are effectively erased from the organizational memory. Managing Organizational Forgetting has to be part of Strategic Planning because of:
- Wasted resources—Knowledge forgotten, that should not have been, has to be re-acquired by diverting resources that could have been used elsewhere or for acquiring new knowledge.
- Opportunity cost—Required knowledge not available (because it was forgotten) at the time an opportunity arose.
Effective Organizational Forgetting should be an Organizational Culture so as to keep organizations on their toes and maybe preserve or gain Competitive Advantage.
Organizations that intend to manage their Organizational Forgetting effectively, need to comprehend 2 dimensions of Forgetting and the relationship between them:
Dimension 1: Accidental Forgetting vs. Intentional Forgetting
The 1st element pertains to loss of valuable knowledge; the 2nd to increased competitiveness as a result of Forgetting.
Dimension 2: Entrenched Knowledge vs. New Knowledge
The 1st element relates to knowledge embedded in relatively durable objects like machines, databases, taken-for-granted routines; the 2nd to a transient setup like individual minds, association among small teams, makeshift organizational groups.
The process of Forgetting is altered depending on the interaction of the elements of the 2 dimensions.
Interaction of the above 2 dimensions results in 4 processes that constitute the Forms of Organizational Forgetting:
- Memory Decay
- Failure to Capture
- Unlearning
- Avoiding Bad Habits
The interaction of the 4 processes has been conveyed in the form of a matrix dubbed the Organizational Forgetting Matrix. These processes explain an array of Organizational Forgetting that may occur. Each of the 4 processes need distinct management approaches because each process is connected with a disparate set of challenges.
Let us delve a little deeper into some of the processes.
Memory Decay
Memory Decay occurs when concepts, practices, values are lost because of non-use or key personnel leaving the organization. Organizations can forget elements long ingrained in their collective memory triggering costly and harmful consequences, like spending large sums to regain knowledge that was a source of Competitive Advantage.
Memory Decay is exacerbated in the process of downsizing. Extremely valuable pieces of knowledge and skills can be lost if proper retention measures are not put in place.
Failure to Capture
Failure to capture new knowledge and disseminate it throughout the organization, results in loss when individuals bearing that knowledge leave. Knowledge Articulation and Knowledge Institutionalization are 2 processes that can prevent such loss.
Unlearning
Intentional Forgetting enhances organizational capability. Intentional Forgetting can be achieved in 2 ways. The 1st is strategic removal of knowledge.
Interested in learning more about Organizational Forgetting? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Organizational Forgetting here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
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You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”
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– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Studies on Team Motivation and Building Effective Teams stem from the research carried out in Psychology and Sociology. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), the Founder of Modern Psychology, is credited with conducting the 1st research on the subject.
The Social Psychologist Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) is credited with introducing the term “Group Dynamics.” The term defined the constructive and destructive forces within Groups of people. Lewin pioneered the Group Dynamics Research Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first of its kind dedicated to the study of Group Dynamics and how it could be applied to real-world and social issues.
The latter half of the 20th century saw attention shifted more towards studying how Group Performance could be improved in the workplace to foster an Organizational Culture of cohesiveness, and Tuckman’s study proved significant in this regard.
Bruce Tuckman’s Model on Group Development became one of the most influential studies on the subject. Originally conducted in 1965, the Model was further improved by Tuckman and his colleague in 1977.
Tuckman’s assertion was that each of the phases of the model is indispensable and unavoidable for the team to grow, face up to challenges, tackle problems, find solutions, plan strategically, and deliver results. Tuckman’s model has become the foundation for following models and commonly used by management consultants for Team Management and Client Management. For the model to be applicable in the work place, it is vital to comprehend the process at each stage and its concepts.
Tuckman’s Group Development Model comprises the following 5 stages:
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming
- Performing
- Adjourning
The 5th stage of Group Development called “Adjourning” was added in 1977, by Tuckman and his colleague Mary Ann Jensen.
Let us examine some of the stages of Tuckman’s model for Group Development in a little more detail.
Forming
The key dynamic of the first stage is Orientation. This is the stage where people are brought together in a Group. How quickly the group’s transition to the 2nd stage takes place depends on the clarity and complexity of the goal and members’ previous experience of working in groups. Some of the key characteristics of this stage include:
- An upbeat outlook of group members about what is to be accomplished.
- Anxiousness on part of members about what the other team members will be like.
Managers of the group at this stage have to be directly and intimately involved. Clear guidelines and structure by the manager are necessary to ensure that the team builds strong relationships.
Storming
The key dynamic of this stage is Power Struggle. At this 2nd stage team members feel more at ease voicing and questioning opinions, and that is when internal conflict flares up. Channeling this conflict in a positive direction will make for a cohesive team. Some of the key characteristics of this stage are:
- Perception formation about other team members’ abilities.
- Alliance formation among team members and discussions regarding the goal and the approach to achieve it.
The group leader has to show a Problem Solving Mindset at this stage, swiftly channel conflict between teams in order to avoid demoralization. Among many other actions at this stage, the leader also has to guide the team in decision-making and proffering explanations on how decisions transpired.
Norming
The key dynamic of the 3rd stage of team development is Cooperation. The members concentrate on settling differences to make way for clear definition of organizational mission and objectives. Manager’s role within the team transforms from that of leader to that of a team member.
Interested in learning more about Tuckman’s 5-Stage Group Development Model? You can download an editable PowerPoint on Tuckman’s 5 Stages of Group Development here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
Do You Find Value in This Framework?
You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”
– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects
“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
Business Transformations have become a necessity in the fast-changing technological and competitive business environment. Transformation is characterized by significant and risk-laden Restructuring of a company, with the objective of accomplishing Operational Excellence and changing its future course.
Business Transformation is a priority for many top executives but it is usually a reaction to challenging circumstances rather than being a preemptive measure.
Business Transformation is prompted by a combination of 2 situations:
- Need to address inherent problems causing organizational drag—these problems may be internal and/or external.
- Aspiration by the top management and other senior stakeholders to seize the occasion of addressing these problems, in ways that deeply alter the Business Model of the organization including Value Creation.
Business Transformation entails not just making incremental changes but fundamentally changing all or some of the following:
- Organizational Structure
- Core Product or Service Portfolio
- Systems
- Processes
- People—the way employees work
- Technology
Undertaking such arduous effort requires approaching the task in a structured way. Research shows that quite a few of such undertakings are based on anecdotal beliefs instead of being based on empirical data.
Countering this trend, the Boston Consulting Group conducted an empirical study of financial and non-financial data-set comprising 300 U.S. public companies. The data spanned a period of 12 years from 2004 to 2016. Selection was based on the following criteria:
- Companies that had a $10 billion or more market capitalization between 2004 and 2016.
- Of these, companies with an annualized deterioration in Total Share-holder Return (TSR) of 10% or more relative to their industry average (2 years running or more) were identified.
Based on extensive analysis—that included use of methodologies like trained proprietary algorithms, prediction models, and Multivariate Regression Analysis—a pattern pertaining to Business Transformation emerged. The pattern depicted the following themes:
- Frequency of Failure
- Impact of Digital Disruption
- Impact of Downturn
- Competitive Volatility
The study also suggested the following 5 evidence-based Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for achieving Transformation Success.
- Cost Management (drives short-term success)
- Revenue Growth (drives long-term success)
- Long-term Strategy and R&D Investment
- New, External Leadership
- Holistic Transformation Programs
Let us examine in a bit more detail some of the CSFs.
Cost Management
In order to launch the Transformation effort on the correct footing, Cost Management is key, in the short term especially. Predictably, empirical analysis suggests that the leading driver for organizations recovering from severe TSR deterioration is a determined Cost-cutting effort during the 1st year of Turnaround. By year 3, Cost Reduction is accountable for the major share of TSR growth as companies divert their portfolios and make available funding for growth investments.
Revenue Growth
Merely short-term operational improvements do not augur well for a sustainable Transformation. There has to be a long-term Growth Strategy put in place. For this to happen, leaders have to challenge the foundations of the company’s Business Model.
Research divulges that Revenue Growth progressively becomes the driver for TSR recovery after year 1 in all the successful Transformation efforts. Revenue Growth overshadows, by far, all the initial drivers for TSR recovery by year 5 of all successful Turnaround efforts.
Long-term Strategy and R&D Investment
Turbulent competitive environments, particularly, require long-term Strategic Planning and investment in Research and Development for fruitful Business Transformations. Empirical research and analysis demonstrates:
- A 4.8% difference between Transforming companies showing above-average long-term strategic direction compared to companies with a below-average orientation.
- More pronounced findings in transforming companies operating in turbulent competitive environments—long-term orientation linked with a TSR increase of 7%.
- Companies with above-average R&D investments had upwards of 5.1% TSR impact in contrast to those with below-average spending.
These CSFs strengthen the odds of success in Business Transformation individually. When used together, most of them produce an impact that is larger than the totality of their individual parts.
Interested in learning more about the 5 Critical Success Factors for Successful Business Transformation? You can download an editable PowerPoint on 5 Critical Success Factors for Successful Business Transformation here on the Flevy documents marketplace.
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“If you don’t transform your company, you’re stuck.” – Ursula Burns, Chairperson and CEO of VEON; former Chairperson and CEO of Xerox
Business Transformation is the process of fundamentally changing the systems, processes, people, and technology across an entire organization, business unit, or corporate function with the intention of achieving significant improvements in Revenue Growth, Cost Reduction, and/or Customer Satisfaction.
Transformation is pervasive across industries, particularly during times of disruption, as we are witnessing now as a result of COVID-19. However, despite how common these large scale efforts are, research shows that about 75% of these initiatives fail.
Leverage our frameworks to increase your chances of a successful Transformation by following best practices and avoiding failure-causing “Transformation Traps.”
Learn about our Business Transformation Best Practice Frameworks here.
Do You Find Value in This Framework?
You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here’s what some have to say:
“My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today’s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.”
– Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects
“As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.”
– David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting
“FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight – it’s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.”
– Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd
The single most pressing challenge for an organization in this knowledge economy is attracting and retaining talented people. This can be a make or break challenge for the organization and warrants careful consideration during Strategic Planning.
Starting on the right foot is absolutely essential to overcoming this challenge. Organizations, particularly HR, need to have an Organizational Culture that boasts of an effective Employee Onboarding process. In order to accomplish this, present-day HR needs to be clear regarding the challenges of modern-day Onboarding and develop a strategy to establish an onboarding process that yields a rewarding experience for the employees.
At many organizations the Employee Onboarding process follows a customary theme—a run down on “how things are done here”—with the traditional HR view that if the employee can be made to commit to the Organizational Culture from the get-go, they are easier to retain.
Such an Onboarding process does not help the new employee adjust to the company or the role, become an Engaged Employee, and meet the expectations of the organization. Experts have identified various challenges with this conventional Onboarding approach. Here is a list of 8 most frequent challenges:
- Poor Socialization of Organizational Values
- Lack of Role Clarity
- Challenges with Expectations and Results
- Managing Change
- Issues with Time Management
- Issues with the Manager
- Navigating the Culture
- Handling Personal Transition and Relocation
By addressing these challenges appropriately, organizations can establish a rewarding Employee Onboarding experience that results in Employee Retention, quality output in the short-term, and enhanced productivity in the longer run.
Let us delve a little deeper into the challenges.
1. Poor Socialization of Organizational Values
It is presumed that Organizational Values are a thing to be imparted and accepted by the new employee. This is, indeed, essential knowledge, but it is not sacrosanct. Studies suggest acceptance of organizational values in contravention of one’s own identity may be counter-productive in that it may exhaust the employee psychologically, restrict full engagement, hinder creativity, and create work dissatisfaction. This can be overcome by allowing employee to express their unique perspective on the job from the beginning and welcoming them to incorporate what they do best in their work.
2. Lack of Role Clarity
Lack of clear understanding of one’s role is a widespread problem in organizations. After spending some time in the new organization, the employee realizes that the expectation of the role is conflicting with what the employee thought he/she accepted. Encouraging the new employee to identify the gaps in the expectation / perception and discussing it with their managers enables the employees to have a clear perspective and understanding of their roles and responsibilities, enhances employee satisfaction levels, and improves their efficiency and productivity.
3. Challenges with Expectations and Results
New employees are often unable to realize their workload. In order to meet the perceived expectation of managers or peers, they take on too much of work resulting in overload, which diminishes their performance. Informal discussions of new employees with managers and peers regarding their expectations eases the pressure and enables them to take on what is manageable and deliver quality results.
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Strategy and execution are the 2 critical elements that drive a business. However, leaders often struggle even with defining—let alone devising and executing—an effective strategy. Many of those who are responsible to deal with it fall short of describing how they typically employ it. This failure takes its roots from the fact that there is no clear path associated with strategy.
Strategy is about making sound decisions about unforeseen problems. It’s about selecting the right options—about matters that are often quite ambiguous today but have great significance in the future—based on thorough contemplation, detailed analysis, and creative ideas. Broadly speaking, strategy encompasses these 3 main elements:
- A vision and direction
- A certain position or pattern
- A deliberated Strategic Plan to achieve strategic goals and vision
Great strategists execute their plans, analyze the results, evaluate their actions, and perform course correction based on the outcomes. They are not afraid of even revamping their approach entirely. Senior leaders should clarify their understanding of the concept of strategy and draw attention to the importance of differentiating between the 3 distinct types of strategies before formulating their own course of action:
- General Strategy
- Corporate Strategy
- Competitive Strategy
Let’s delve deeper into the 3 types of strategy.
General Strategy
General Strategy indicates how a specific objective will be achieved, with well-thought-out plans. The focus of this type of Strategy is on ends (objectives and results) and means (the resources we have to achieve the objectives). Strategy and tactics combined bridge the gap between ends and means; where Strategy deals with deploying the resources at our disposal while tactics govern their utilization. A pattern of decisions and actions marks progress from the starting point to achievement of objectives in General Strategy.
Senior executives need to deliberate on the following questions before devising their General Strategy:
- What do we do?
- Why are we here?
- What kind of business are we?
- What kind of business do we want to become?
- What is our purpose? What are the results we seek?
- What is our existing Strategy, is it explicit or tacit?
- What Strategy and plans may bring about the results we want?
- What resources we have at our disposal?
- Are there any constraints in terms of resources that limit our actions?
Corporate Strategy
Corporate Strategy describes what a company does, the purpose of its existence, and what it aims to become. Corporate Strategy focuses on choices and commitments concerning the markets, business, and the organization. Corporate Strategy classifies the markets and the businesses in which a company will operate. This type of strategy is typically decided in the context of defining the company’s mission and vision.
A detailed assessment of the existing strategy, market, competition and environment is critical for devising the Corporate Strategy. Strategists indicate that there are critical elements that should be factored in while formulating Corporate Strategy. These elements include product or service offerings, resources, marketing and sales approaches, manufacturing capabilities / capacity, customers, distribution channels, technology, type of market and its requirements, and revenue and profit goals.
While formulating Corporate Strategy, senior executives should consider and seek answers to the following questions:
- What is our existing Corporate Strategy?
- Is our Corporate Strategy explicit or tacit?
- What are the critical assumptions that make our existing strategy viable?
- What is going on in the market—in terms of social, political, technical and financial environment?
- What do we seek to accomplish in terms of our growth, size, and profitability targets?
- What markets we are eyeing to compete in?
- What businesses we intend to operate in?
- What locations and geographies will we compete in?
Competitive Strategy
Competitive or Business Strategy specifies for an enterprise the core reason on which it contests its rivals. It depends on an organization’s competences, advantages, and disadvantages compared to the market and the rivals.
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In the modern age, organizations are striving to form a sustainable Supply Chain system to cope with the challenges that are arising. Such issues include the 
emission of hazardous substances, excessive resource consumption, Supply Chain risks, and complex procedures.
Through Strategic Planning, organizations around the globe are adopting strategies to become a sustainable organization. In fact, there is an increasing trend towards organizations adopting sustainable Supply Chain Management practices.
Gaining a Foothold on Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Management is the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of Supply Chain activities. It addresses the fundamental business problem of supplying products to meet demand in a complex and uncertain world.
Looking at Supply Chain Management, we can see that it draws on the value chain concept of business strategist, Michael Porter. It looks at supply issues at the multi-company level. It creates net value, builds a competitive infrastructure, leverages worldwide logistics, synchronizes supply with demand, and measures performance globally.
The need for Supply Chain Management came about when shorter product life cycles and greater product variety has increased Supply Chain costs and complexity. And as outsourcing, globalization, and business fragmentation became a common practice, there was now the need for Supply Chain integration. This was further emphasized with the advances in emergent technologies. which created more opportunities for Digital Transformation within Supply Chains.
The 4 Levels of Supply Chain Management Strategies
There are 4 Levels of Supply Chain Management Strategies. The first 3 strategies are foundational Supply Chain Strategies.
Before any Supply Chain can be considered sustainable, there are 3 foundational Supply Chain Strategies that need to be undertaken.
- Legal Supply Chain Strategy. There are a number of legal rules and regulations that need to be followed by organizations. The Supply Chain Strategy must cater to all legal rules. An example is a ruling according to the Restrictions of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) wherein an organization must not rely on the mercury, cadmium, and chromium as they result in huge emission of hazardous substances.
- Ethical Supply Chain Strategy. To become an ethically strong organization, it is required that the organization operates with integrity and focus on what is right. The organization could develop a policy that governs the organization’s operations. It is also essential that the Supply Chain quality assurance team that is built complies with ethical sustainability.
- Responsible Supply Chain Strategy. To become responsible, the organization could spend resources in compliance with sustainable rules. The organization could set up training and development programs to drive sustainability within the organization. It can also focus on environment-friendly activities to boost its social responsibility.
Before an organization can become sustainable, significant efforts must be exerted to put the 3 foundational Supply Chain Strategies in place within the organization.
Reaching the Level of Sustainability
Sustainable Supply Chain Strategy has become increasingly important as more and more organizations are focusing on putting it in place. According to the MIT Slogan Review, over 75% of organizations listed in the S&P 500 reported sustainability reports where it shows that catering up to the responsibility is becoming highly challenging and important. There has been a significant increase and inclination towards sustainability and this depicts the importance of becoming sustainable.
With the passage of time, it has become evident that organizations around the globe are becoming fond of sustainable considerations.
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Strategic Supply Chain Planning is the “Pegasus of Strategy.” It can soar, but it also needs to keep its feet on the ground.
Companies with a global supply chain now need to introduce its strategic left hand to its operational right hand. To make planning more valuable, its strategic supply chain planning needs to combine strategic planning with its tactical supply chain planning. The importance of aligning strategic direction to the supply chain has become of utmost importance.
Senior Managers formulate strategies to maximize shareholder value. Supply chain planners run optimization models to minimize costs. If scenario planning is combined with supply chain planning, the best of both worlds is achieved. The company can expect to achieve a long-term competitive advantage.
Strategic Supply Chain Planning provides the framework in selecting projects that best support the organization’s supply chain objectives and strategies. It plays an essential role within the Planning Spectrum.
The Planning Spectrum
Within the Planning Continuum are 3 decision-making models of importance to the business.
The range of Strategic Planning approaches across the Planning Spectrum depends on the fundamental changes it is focused on. Strategic Planning, Strategic Supply Chain Planning, and Tactical Supply Chain Planning differ in terms of scope of decision making, decision horizon, flexibility to act, and possible tools to use.
Let us take a look at Strategic Planning. In Strategic Planning, its scope of decision making covers the entire nature of the business. This means that the planning scope covers the reevaluation of the business model.
When undertaking Strategic Planning, there are several tools that can be used. Organizations may use the Framework Analysis or lower-level analysis that may entail the use of spreadsheets. Dynamics tools and other simulation tools may also be used.
If we look at the Strategic Supply Chain Planning, its scope of decision making is more focused or directed. This is undertaken to determine whether there is a need to open or close plants and distribution centers. It is used to determine whether there is a need to modify capacity, change product offerings even the decision to manufacture in-house or to outsource it. Strategic Supply Chain Planning is more directed towards a specific area.
Once Strategic Supply Chain Planning has been undertaken, it is appropriate to follow this up with Tactical Supply Chain Planning. It is at this point wherein organizations now have to plan out and determine which plant should produce what product over the coming months depending on the demand forecast.
When undertaking the Planning Spectrum, it is best to understand the scope of decision making of each planning approach for organizations to achieve the best results.
Other Organizational-based Tools
The 3 Planning approaches have demonstrated effective use of organization-based tools to maximize results and impact. One is the use of Optimization Models for Strategic Supply Chain Planning. The Optimization Model has been known to have been applied effectively by corporations such as Baxter International, Inc., Pet Inc., and GM.
Baxter International, Inc. has been successful in using SAILS or Strategic Analysis of Integrated Logistics Systems. It has been used to evaluate consolidated approaches. Pet Inc was able to used SAILS to assess supply chain synergies from 2 potential acquisitions.
The use of the Optimization Model in Strategic Supply Chain Planning and Tactical Supply Chain Planning differs both in design and use. Hence, it is essential for organizations to have a good understanding of the Planning Spectrum to effectively integrate to use the Optimization Model.
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