Successful Strategy Execution: How to Keep Your Business Goals on Target (repost)

However smart your business strategy is in theory, it will have little effect if you fail to carry it out. A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit suggests that companies typically realise only about 60% of their strategy's potential value because of failures in planning and execution.

Corporate politics, personalities and turf wars, and misunderstood intentions and silo thinking combined with changing circumstances result in the strategic focus becoming dimmed or distorted. And this loss of focus is rarely noticed because few companies track performance against long-term plans.

Drawing on original research, together with work carried out by London Business School, Cranfield School of Management, UCLA and consulting firms, this book outlines the ways in which organisations such as Reuters, Diageo, Pfizer, Deutsche Bank and IBM are carrying out their strategy more effectively by: clearly identifying priorities, considering the deployment of resources well in advance, monitoring performance continuously, breaking strategy down into easily achieved objectives, intensive team-based coaching that ensures everyone understands their role and priorities, fostering a risk-friendly culture that encourages freedom of action if it supports key strategic goals.