Making Strategy Work: A Literature Review On The Factors Influencing Strategy Implementation

Although formulating a consistent strategy is a difficult task for any management team, making that strategy work - implementing it throughout the organization - is even more difficult (Hrebiniak, 2006). A myriad of factors can potentially affect the process by which strategic plans are turned into organizational action. Unlike strategy formulation, strategy implementation is often seen as something of a craft, rather than a science, and its research history has previously been described as fragmented and eclectic (Noble, 1999b). It is thus not surprising that, after a comprehensive strategy or single strategic decision has been formulated, significant difficulties usually arise during the subsequent implementation process.