Harvard Case - REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES
"REVIEWING STRATEGY-EXECUTION CAPABILITIES" Harvard business case study is written by Xavier Gilbert. It deals with the challenges in the field of General Management. The case study is 16 page(s) long and it was first published on : Dec 31, 2013
At Fern Fort University, we recommend a comprehensive strategy execution framework that focuses on enhancing leadership, improving communication, and aligning organizational structure with strategic goals. This framework will address Fern Fort University's challenges in strategy execution by fostering a culture of accountability, promoting collaboration, and leveraging data-driven decision making.
2. Background
Fern Fort University (FFU) is a private university facing challenges in executing its ambitious growth strategy. Despite a strong brand and a solid financial position, FFU struggles with internal communication, a lack of clear accountability, and a siloed organizational structure. This hinders the university's ability to effectively implement its strategic initiatives, leading to missed deadlines, budget overruns, and a decline in employee morale.
The case study focuses on the university's efforts to expand its online learning programs, a key component of its growth strategy. However, the initiative faces significant obstacles due to the lack of coordination between departments, unclear roles and responsibilities, and a resistance to change within the university's traditional academic culture.
The main protagonists in this case study are:
- Dr. Emily Carter: The university president, passionate about FFU's growth and committed to implementing the online learning strategy.
- Dr. John Smith: The dean of the School of Business, a strong advocate for the online learning initiative but facing resistance from faculty within his department.
- Ms. Sarah Jones: The director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, responsible for developing and implementing the online learning platform.
3. Analysis of the Case Study
The case study highlights several key issues hindering FFU's strategy execution:
Strategic Misalignment: While the university has a clear growth strategy, the execution plan lacks alignment across departments. This leads to conflicting priorities, duplication of efforts, and a lack of shared understanding of the overall goals.
Organizational Structure: The traditional hierarchical structure of the university creates silos between departments, hindering collaboration and communication. This siloed structure impedes the efficient flow of information and resources, crucial for successful strategy execution.
Leadership and Communication: The lack of strong leadership at the departmental level and ineffective communication channels contribute to the challenges faced by FFU. This results in a lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities, leading to confusion and frustration among employees.
Change Management: The university struggles with managing the resistance to change, particularly among faculty members accustomed to traditional teaching methods. This resistance hampers the successful implementation of the online learning initiative.
Performance Evaluation: The absence of clear performance metrics and a robust evaluation system hinders the university's ability to track progress and identify areas for improvement. This lack of accountability further contributes to the challenges in strategy execution.
Framework Analysis:
- SWOT Analysis: FFU possesses strong brand recognition and financial resources (Strengths). However, the university faces challenges in adapting to technological advancements and managing change (Weaknesses). The growing demand for online education presents a significant opportunity (Opportunities), but competition from other universities poses a threat (Threats).
- Porter's Five Forces: The higher education industry is characterized by high rivalry among institutions, low bargaining power of suppliers (faculty), moderate bargaining power of buyers (students), and high threat of new entrants (online learning platforms).
- Balanced Scorecard: This framework can be used to develop a comprehensive set of performance metrics across four key perspectives: financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth. This will help FFU track progress and identify areas for improvement in executing its strategy.
4. Recommendations
To address the challenges faced by FFU, we recommend the following:
1. Enhance Leadership and Communication:
- Leadership Development Program: Develop a comprehensive leadership development program for departmental heads, focusing on strategic thinking, communication skills, change management, and team building.
- Centralized Communication Platform: Implement a centralized communication platform to facilitate information sharing, collaboration, and transparency across departments. This platform can be used to share updates on strategic initiatives, disseminate key performance indicators, and foster open dialogue.
- Leadership Coaching: Provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to departmental leaders to support their development and enhance their ability to effectively lead their teams.
2. Re-structure for Collaboration:
- Cross-Functional Teams: Create cross-functional teams composed of representatives from different departments to work on strategic initiatives. This will foster collaboration, break down silos, and promote a shared understanding of goals.
- Matrix Structure: Consider adopting a matrix organizational structure to enhance collaboration and flexibility. This structure allows for multiple reporting lines, enabling employees to work on projects across different departments.
- Shared Service Model: Implement a shared service model for administrative functions, such as IT, finance, and human resources, to improve efficiency and reduce duplication of efforts.
3. Embrace Change Management:
- Communication and Training: Develop a comprehensive communication plan to inform faculty and staff about the online learning initiative, its benefits, and the necessary changes. Provide training on the new online platform and support resources to facilitate a smooth transition.
- Incentives and Recognition: Offer incentives and recognition to faculty members who embrace the online learning initiative and actively participate in its development and implementation.
- Pilot Programs: Implement pilot programs for the online learning initiative to gather feedback, identify challenges, and make necessary adjustments before full-scale implementation.
4. Implement Data-Driven Decision Making:
- Performance Metrics: Develop a clear set of performance metrics aligned with the university's strategic goals, including key performance indicators (KPIs) for the online learning initiative.
- Data Analytics: Invest in data analytics capabilities to track progress, identify trends, and make informed decisions based on data insights.
- Regular Reporting: Establish a regular reporting system to track progress against performance metrics and share key findings with stakeholders.
5. Basis of Recommendations
These recommendations are based on the following considerations:
- Core Competencies and Consistency with Mission: The recommendations align with FFU's mission to provide high-quality education and its commitment to innovation and growth.
- External Customers and Internal Clients: The recommendations focus on improving the university's ability to meet the needs of its students and faculty by providing a more engaging and accessible learning experience.
- Competitors: The recommendations address the competitive landscape in the higher education industry, particularly the growing demand for online learning programs.
- Attractiveness: The recommendations are expected to lead to increased student enrollment, improved efficiency, and enhanced brand reputation, ultimately contributing to the university's financial sustainability.
6. Conclusion
By implementing these recommendations, FFU can overcome its challenges in strategy execution, effectively implement its online learning initiative, and achieve its ambitious growth goals. The university must prioritize leadership development, communication, collaboration, and data-driven decision making to create a culture of accountability and innovation.
7. Discussion
Other alternatives not selected include:
- Outsourcing the online learning platform: This option could provide expertise and resources but might compromise control over the platform and student experience.
- Merging with another institution: This option could provide access to resources and expertise but might lead to cultural clashes and loss of identity.
Risks and Key Assumptions:
- Resistance to change: Faculty members may resist the adoption of online learning, potentially delaying implementation and affecting student engagement.
- Technological challenges: The university may encounter technical difficulties in developing and implementing the online learning platform.
- Financial constraints: The implementation of these recommendations may require significant financial investment, which may be challenging given budgetary constraints.
Options Grid:
| Option | Advantages | Disadvantages | Risks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enhance Leadership and Communication | Improved communication, clearer roles and responsibilities | Requires significant investment in leadership development | Resistance to change, potential for conflict |
| Re-structure for Collaboration | Increased collaboration, improved efficiency | Difficult to implement, potential for disruption | Resistance to change, potential for conflicts |
| Embrace Change Management | Increased buy-in from faculty, smoother implementation | Requires significant effort and resources | Resistance to change, potential for delays |
| Implement Data-Driven Decision Making | Improved decision making, better performance tracking | Requires investment in data analytics capabilities | Data privacy concerns, potential for misuse of data |
8. Next Steps
- Establish a task force: Form a cross-functional task force to develop and implement the recommendations.
- Pilot program: Launch a pilot program for the online learning initiative to test the platform and gather feedback.
- Develop a communication plan: Create a comprehensive communication plan to inform stakeholders about the changes and address concerns.
- Track progress: Monitor progress against performance metrics and make adjustments as needed.
By taking these steps, FFU can successfully execute its growth strategy and position itself for continued success in the evolving higher education landscape.
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Case Description
A "radar chart" is proposed to visualize where the company needs to improve. It can also be used to support the discussion of any group of executives on the reasons for failure of most strategic initiatives; they may do that by assessing their own company against the six proposed required capabilities and by comparing notes with each other. The six required capabilities are: 1) Companies need to have a clear and well-communicated strategy, with clear and well-communicated strategic priorities, to which strategic initiatives contribute in a clear and well-communicated way. 2) Companies need to have a cadre of executives at different levels selected for their entrepreneurial and action-learning capabilities. 3) Companies need to understand and encourage action-learning and know how to plan execution accordingly. 4) Companies need to have an inclusive approach to execution. 5) Companies need to be serious about follow-through and see it as an essential part of action-learning. 6) Companies need to realize that, in the end, lack of respect for people, is a sure cause for execution failure. These capabilities are described at length in the book Smarter Execution, published by IMD (also available from Amazon UK). Learning objectives: This note is very effective to support a group discussion on the execution capabilities of a company. It can be used by a senior management team before they decide to launch strategic initiatives; it can be used as part of a kick-off workshop when launching a strategic initiative; or it can be used along the way during execution to identify and correct execution frustrations.
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