Best Practices in Strategy Implementation

© 2014 Blue Canyon Partners, Inc.

Best Practices in Strategy

Implementation


“The road to success is always

under construction…”

NO SHORTCUTS

--LILY TOMLIN

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New Business Models

Shifts…

from a domestic business to a global business

between a business market and a consumer market

in the focus between small customers and

large customers

between a project business and a service business

from a product sales to a solutions offer

from a bricks-and-mortar channel to an e-channel

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Challenges in Implementing New

Business Models

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The Portrait of Success

“What will success look like in three years?”

Portrait

of

Success

Performance Metrics

Financial Metrics

Operating Metrics

Market Share Metrics

Differentiation & Value Proposition

Product & Service Offer

Competitive Standing

Match to Customer Requirements

Organization

Organizational Structure

Reporting Relationships

Functional Roles & Responsibilities

Decision-Making Cadence

Marketing & Sales Competencies

Operations

Supply Chain Management

Build-to-Order

Kitting, Assembly

Inventory Management, Fulfillment

Market Presence / Impact

Position with OEM Customers

Channel & End Customer Outreach

Brand Image

* See Atlee Valentine Pope and George F. Brown, Jr., CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping

Your Customers Overcome Theirs, Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, © 2010, Chapters 17 & 18.

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http://codestinybook.com/



The Portrait of Success

“What will success look like in three years?”

Portrait

of

Success

Differentiation and Value Proposition

Identify XYZ as a supplier that is the energy

efficient expert. (e.g., has earned the energy

efficiency ‘seal of approval’, is knowledgeable and

can educate confused customers, is on top of

emerging change and complexity.)

Brings a breadth and depth of all window

systems and components to the market

(including XYZ-made and consolidated with non-

XYZ made products.)

Fast in delivery by offering product configuration

and consolidator capabilities to customers.

Has built strong, trusted relationships with key

OEM customers and their value added regional

specialty retailers.

XYZ is positioned to meet the higher demand

levels forecasted in later years in new construction.

Organization Operations

Market Presence

Performance

Metrics

6

Differentiation & Value

Proposition

Product &

Service Offer

Competitive Standing

Match to Customer

Requirements


Basic Blocking and Tackling

Choose a

Decision

Strategy

Revise and

Update

Necessary

Elements

Implementation

Develop

Feedback on

Progress

towards Goals

Define a

Monitoring and

Management

Plan

Communicate

the Plan and

Gain Approvals

and Buy-in

Allocate

Resources and

Budgets

Assign

Responsibility

and Authority

(Who)

Develop an

Action Plan

(What and

When)

See Atlee Valentine Pope and George F. Brown, Jr., CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping

Your Customers Overcome Theirs, Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, © 2010, Chapters 17 & 18.

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Underlying Themes for Implementation

Monitor Murphy’s Law

Executive Ownership

Monday Morning Action Clarity

Early Successes

The A Team

Killer Variables

Contingency Planning and Funding

See Atlee Valentine Pope and George F. Brown, Jr., CoDestiny: Overcome Your Growth Challenges by Helping Your

Customers Overcome Theirs, Austin, TX: Greenleaf Book Group Press, © 2010, Chapters 17 & 18.

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Focus and Attention

“Just because it isn’t rocket science

doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.”

Detailed, Fact-Based Strategy and Plan

Best-in-Class Project Management

Full-Time Project Team with the Right Skills

Communication, Monitoring, Learning, and

Removing Barriers

Recommendations from a Survey of Executives on the Topic of Managing Changes in a Firm’s Business

Model. See George F. Brown, Jr., You Know It Ain’t Easy, Blue Canyon Partners, Inc., © 2011.

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http://www.bluecanyonpartners.com/insights-and-publications/articles/you-know-it-aint-easy/


Best Practice Recommendations

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you can’t overdo the basics

1. Focus on the Six “Blocking and

Tackling” Basics….

Establish an implementation framework: What, Who, When, Communications, Resources, Monitoring

“Don’t neglect the details”, “Measure twice, cut once”, “Plan the work and work the plan”, “Check your work”, etc.

“Horror stories” involve shortcomings in the basics

The three-team approach

Communicate where you are going and why it will benefit the organization

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2. Assign the Right Team Members

Who Have Leadership and

Implementation Skills

The “A team”

Never turn over the implementation process to

“the organization’s homeless.”

A strong team can “do the right things…right”

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3. Develop Formal, Explicit

Organizational Competencies

Around Implementation

Specific training during an implementation project

Formal education and on-the-job training

Avoid learn-on-the-fly approaches

Reinforce that implementation is important

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4. Arm the Implementation Team with

Tools and Resources

Project management tools

Communication protocol tools

Implementation rhythm: work streams, reviews

Linked to management processes

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5. Get Executives Involved and

Committed–Early

Executive involvement is critical

Can’t be either “last minute” or occasional

Must involve high-frequency interactions

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6. Connect the Strategy Team and the

Lessons That it has Learned to the

Implementation Plan and Process

Strategy team remains a vital source of insight

Knowledge can help avoid problems

Retain expertise through involvement on the

implementation team or during the monitoring

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7. Champion Realistic Milestones

and Early Successes

Achieve success through a succession of short steps

Prioritize solving small problems

Avoid unrealistic milestones

Provide adequate resources to address unexpected

contingencies

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8. Pre-plan the Monitoring Process

Be proactive

Spot killer variables

Role play competitor responses

Develop a “Plan B”

Avoid delays and dead time

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9. Bring Lessons From Other

Environments into

Implementation Planning

Identify and tap other insights from other

environments

Factual content (e.g., how long does it take to…)

and best practice insights (e.g., in China, one key

to success involves…)

Catalog the unknowns identify relevant sources

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10. Manage External Customer Chains

Every project will eventually extend “outside its core”

Develop insights about the implications for “outside”

Motivate their involvement and collaboration

Answer “what’s in it for me?”

Communicate what will change and what won’t

Don’t fail to forecast third-party implications

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Implementation Tool:

External Dashboards

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Summary

Focus

Keep people informed

Be optimistic

Be prepared to find alternative routes

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For greater insight into the

ideas presented, visit:

codestinybook.com

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http://www.codestinybook.com/


About Blue Canyon

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What do we do?

Address growth challenges

Commoditization

Pricing pressures

Value creation

Channel conflict

Competitive threats

Generic brands

Stalled business models

New market expansion

Hindered major customer

relationships

Capturing service rewards

Mergers & acquisitions

What makes us

different?

Foster win-win outcomes

Centered on

understanding complex,

external environments

[markets, customers,

channels, competitors]

Customer-driven strategies

Based on what the

market is telling us

Leverage proven

methodologies to develop

cutting-edge answers

Gets clients to make

decisions and to take

action

What is our

experience?

Industries

Agriculture

Vehicles

Construction

Distribution/Wholesaling

Electronics

Industrial Equipment

Oil & Gas

Packaging

IT & Telecommunication

Tools & Equipment

Utilities

And more….

Who are we?

Management

consulting firm

Serve Global 1000

business-to-business

companies

Team of seasoned

consultants

U.S. & global capabilities

with offices in Chicago and

Beijing

Overview

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Our Global Reach

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Blue Canyon has spanned the globe, researching, defining, and building

action-oriented growth strategies for its global clients. Our clients include

firms from North America, Europe, and Asia, and our assignments have taken

Blue Canyon team members to more than 45 countries.


Our Thought Leadership

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Our work has been featured in a

wide array of leading publications

American Management Association

Business Excellence

Chief Executive

Consulting Magazine

Marketing Management

Corp!

Customer Service Manager

Forbes

Industrial Engineer

Industrial Management

Industrial Supply

Industry Week

Material Handling & Logistics

Sales and Service Excellence

Transport Topics


Our Team

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Blue Canyon professionals hold

advanced degrees from some of the

finest educational institutions

PhDs in economics from Harvard and

Carnegie Mellon and MBAs from

Kellogg, the University of Chicago,

University of Michigan and Wharton

Well-rounded in a wide variety of

disciplines, including mathematics,

manufacturing technology, rhetoric,

Soviet studies, and liberal arts from

universities such as Northwestern

University, University of Illinois, The

University of the South, University of

Chicago, Colorado College and

Washington University

Our staff comes to us with experience

from other prestigious consulting

firms and broad and deep industry

experience, having held positions at:

DRI/McGraw Hill

JPMorgan Chase

General Electric

Harvard University

National Bureau of Economic Research

Blue Cross Blue Shield

Rockwell Automation

EDUCATION INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE