Successful strategy execution is the bridge between strategic goals and measurable results. An organization’s strategy outlines its goals, aspirations, and intended course of action. However, a strategy that remains confined to boardroom discussions holds limited value. It is the collective effort of employees that determines whether a strategy flourishes or falters.
However, effective strategy execution requires more than just outlining goals and directives. It involves aligning the workforce with the strategic vision, fostering a culture of ownership, and providing the necessary resources and tools.
Case in Practice: Al Saedan Real Estate Company
Al Saedan Real Estate Company, a leading real estate developer in Saudi Arabia, is a notable example of integrating strategy execution and employee performance. In 2021, the company initiated its internal project “STEP” (Strategy Transformation Project) and formulated a task force (Transformation Leaders) comprising members from various departments and organizational levels to execute and transform its new vision. Below, we delve into the various aspects of this strategy implementation.
1. Strategic Alignment, Clear Communication, and Cascading Goals
By implementing a transparent communication system, Al Saedan’s leadership ensured that each team member understood how their work contributed to the company’s ambitious goals. This approach not only boosted motivation but also streamlined efforts toward strategy execution.
2. Setting SMART Goals
Al Saedan implemented a goal-setting process that aligned individual employee goals with the company’s strategic objectives. Each employee had SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals that directly supported the strategic initiatives.
3. Performance Metrics and Feedback Loops
The company introduced a data-driven performance management system.
Cross-functional teams were formed to encourage collaboration and innovation.
Teams had access to real-time dashboards showing key performance metrics related to the strategy.
Regular one-on-one feedback sessions discussed progress, challenges, and development opportunities.
4. Empowerment and Autonomy
The teams had the autonomy to make decisions and experiment with new ideas, fostering a culture of ownership and creativity.
By tracking and sharing progress through visually appealing charts, employees were empowered to take ownership of their contributions.
This transparency fueled innovation and collaboration across departments, propelling the company toward its objectives.
5. Recognition and Rewards
Al Saedan Real Estate Company’s recognition and rewards program is designed to ignite motivation and inspire employees to excel in their respective roles while actively contributing to the attainment of the organization’s strategic goals. The program encompasses a variety of gestures, including personalized plaques and trophies for individual achievements, an extra day of paid vacation to express appreciation for hard work, performance-based bonuses tied directly to specific targets and milestones, and celebrations of team excellence marked by team lunches, certificates of achievement, and extensive company-wide recognition.
Furthermore, the company values long-term commitment and consistently outstanding results, providing opportunities for career advancement and growth, including promotions and salary increases. The spirit of innovation is also nurtured and acknowledged through the company’s “Innovation Awards” and innovation certificates. An annual awards ceremony serves as the grand culmination of the program, highlighting the best talents across the company’s different functions.
As a direct outcome of our strategic execution, we have recently launched numerous real estate projects. These ventures span across residential, commercial, and hospitality sectors and have been made possible through strategic alliances and partnerships we have forged along the way.
Engaged employees who fully grasp the company’s mission play a pivotal role in achieving our objectives. Moreover, our commitment to SMART goals has become the foundation of our strategic progress, ensuring that our objectives are not mere aspirations but actionable plans.
Our success is also a direct outcome of our dedication to data-driven approaches. Lastly, we have observed that our company’s culture, which champions employee empowerment, directly correlates with increased ownership, enhanced collaboration, and a continuous drive for improvement.
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About the Guest Expert: Rami Al Tawil, Organizational Excellence Director at Al Saedan Real Estate Company, holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology. With 19 years of expertise spanning Strategy Planning, Performance Management, Business Improvement, and more, he excels in aligning employees with strategic visions for consistent performance improvement.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Performance Magazine Issue No. 28, 2024 – Employee Performance Edition.
The complexity of the world today is affecting many layers of society, from global governments to companies to professional and personal pursuits. What this means for organizations is their decisions and actions are influenced by the new intricacies brought about by technological advancements, globalization, cultural diversity, and consumers’ increasing sophistication. Strategizing for success in such an environment has become more complex due to the varied interests, goals, and expectations of stakeholders.
The challenge for organizations is to recognize and reconcile these diverse interests while aligning them with the overall mission and objectives of the enterprise.
Therefore, organizations should address and enhance stakeholder engagement and incorporate their feedback during strategy execution to minimize any negative impacts and increase the likelihood of successful plan implementation. A proactive approach is required to meet these challenges, starting with the early identification of stakeholders and the analysis of their expectations and interests. After identification, it is essential to group stakeholders according to specific criteria. This ensures a certain degree of consistency in the approach and organizational messaging and helps address their expectations uniformly.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an example of an organization that manages the involvement of its stakeholders. NASA provides some examples of stakeholders identified using a Life Cycle Stage approach. Considering the planetary impact of its missions—”NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery”—a broad spectrum of stakeholders is involved, from internal staff to the planetary environment and the public (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. NASA Stakeholder Identification throughout the Life Cycle | Adapted from the NASA website
NASA has an extensive approach to stakeholder identification and their expectations. The organization links them with the strategic objectives that the mission is meant to achieve. Understanding the mission objectives ensures that the project team collectively works toward a shared vision.
NASA also acknowledges the importance of involving stakeholders in all phases of a project. According to the organization, this involvement should be incorporated as an intrinsic “self-correcting feedback loop,” significantly improving the likelihood of mission success.
Capturing this comprehensive feedback is crucial as it avoids unexpected features emerging later in the life cycle. For example, space asset protection may call for certain design modifications, which could be costly to incorporate into a system that has already been developed. Reaching an understanding between the technical team and stakeholders about what is expected or intended for the system/product is crucial in the operational execution of the mission.
The organization ensures that the technical team comprehensively grasps the expectations and how they can be fulfilled by the product. Furthermore, it ensures that the stakeholders have reached a consensus on this understanding. In situations where it is determined that there are gaps or unclear statements, this procedure could lead to further improvement of the first set of stakeholder expectations.
Figure 2. NASA Information Flow for Stakeholder Identification | Adapted from the NASA website
One reason for strategy execution failure often stems from neglecting stakeholders who wield a significant influence over implementation. Early engagement ensures that diverse perspectives are considered during the strategy development phase, leading to a more comprehensive and well-informed plan. Continually engaging stakeholders fosters a culture of transparency, trust, and accountability throughout execution.
Effective stakeholder management requires two things throughout the process: communication and active collaboration. As the organization advances through strategy execution, ongoing communication and collaboration with stakeholders help in addressing challenges, obtaining valuable feedback, and making necessary adjustments in real-time.
Therefore, an inclusive and continuous approach to stakeholder involvement at all stages of strategy execution is a key driver for success, ensuring that the strategy remains adaptable, responsive, and aligned with the overarching goals of the organization.
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Editor’s Note: This was originally published in Performance Magazine Issue No. 29, 2024 – Strategy Management Edition.
Putting up a business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a journey of navigating unique opportunities and challenges. The MENA region presents a dynamic environment for entrepreneurs and established corporations due to its diverse markets, rich cultural heritage, and fast-growing economies. However, thriving in this region requires more than looking outward. It starts with internal clarity—a well-crafted strategy that seamlessly integrates planning, measurement, and execution.
Strategy Planning
According to the State of Strategy Management Practice – 2024 MENA Region Report, 76% of organizations in the region utilize a formal approach to strategic planning and 56% of respondents review strategy annually or every three years. However, while 39% employ a consistent process without relying on a specific methodology, 37% adopt a structured approach based on established techniques and tools.
Based on these statistics, Cristina Mihăiloaie, a Strategy and Performance Management Expert and Chief Operating Officer at The KPI Institute, explained in a webinar that deliberate strategy planning is the predominant approach in the MENA region. Deliberate strategy planning is a structured process in organizations, where a clear strategy is developed through a strong top-down and bottom-up engagement, ensuring high strategy awareness and effective communication.
However, Bori Péntek, a Management Consultant at Systaems who specializes in organizational development and human resource management, believes that deliberate strategy planning is too complicated to achieve success on its own, “Mostly, it offers an illusion of stability that is not there anymore in the external or internal environment. A lot of things have to work very well for the deliberate strategy to work.” Thus, achieving effective strategy planning in the MENA region requires balancing structured formal methods with adaptable informal approaches or emergent strategic planning. Emergent strategic planning allows organizations to adapt to change by prioritizing flexibility and iterative processes over traditional linear methods. Implementing such an approach is also shaped by the organization’s size and unique industry characteristics.
Moreover, identifying potential obstacles early enables proactive risk management. This approach allows organizations to create effective contingency plans that minimize risks and enhance their strategies. Once the plan is established, the focus shifts to strategy measurement—monitoring progress using key performance indicators (KPIs), frameworks, target setting, and automation to ensure objectives are met.
In the MENA region, the balanced scorecard (BSC) continues to be the most widely used performance management system (PMS) with 40% of respondents claiming their organization uses the framework. It is followed by objectives and key results (OKRs) at 34%, which has grown by 70% in popularity compared to last year due to its short-term focus that boosts agility and flexibility. However, many still claim that there is no formal PMS in place (36%), a significant increase from 24% in 2023.
Moreover, a large proportion of organizations in MENA continue to face challenges in working with KPIs, with 32% struggling to select the right KPIs, 20% having difficulty aligning KPIs and targets across the organization, and 17% encountering issues in collecting performance results for KPIs.
With Bori’s experience as a management consultant, she shared, “Irrespective of whether you use BSC or OKRs, you’re going to have these challenges. It’s not about selecting one system and just going along with it. It’s about leveraging the strength of each system by thinking wisely about where they can be used.”
Thus, it is recommended that organizations consider creating a hybrid PMS to overcome challenges related to KPI selection, target setting, and aligning strategic initiatives with broader organizational goals. A hybrid system combines KPIs to track routine business activities with OKRs to assess the success of strategic initiatives. This approach ensures that day-to-day operations are efficiently managed while strategic goals are clearly defined and actively pursued.
Building on strategy measurement, the focus now shifts to execution, where organizations turn plans into results. This phase involves overcoming challenges such as fostering collaboration, integrating new technologies, and adapting to market changes. As globalization and digital transformation reshape industries, translating strategy into results has become more complex. Effective execution also relies on strong project management, initiative prioritization, and organizational agility, ensuring businesses remain adaptable in a dynamic environment.
In the MENA region, most organizations (39%) report success in strategy execution, while a substantial number (44%) remain neutral about their execution capabilities. When asked about the reasons for strategy failure, the top three responses were ineffective cross-functional collaboration (42%), lack of leadership support (40%), slow decision-making and approval (33%), and insufficient resources for projects to succeed (33%).
To address cross-functional collaboration, Cristina advised nurturing the right rituals. “Procedures become quickly obsolete, but rituals are what we do and how we do it, are the unwritten rules that govern the workplace. It’s not necessarily about the work procedure, it is more about how people come together and get things done.”
She also added that it’s important to create multidisciplinary teams rather than work in silos, to have regular performance meetings and use KPIs to understand the business better, to challenge selves constructively, and to promote transparency and collaboration in problem-solving.
The State of Strategy Management Practice – 2024 MENA Region Report can serve as a starting point—a guide to navigating the complexities of strategy planning, measurement, and execution. This report, a collaboration between The KPI Institute and Systaems, explores challenges and success factors in business planning, strategic transparency, performance management systems, KPI deployment, project management, organizational agility, AI adoption, automation, and more. It gathers insights from executives, managers, and strategy experts, while also featuring best practices shared by professionals in the field. Click HERE to download the full report.
One of the most important factors in running a successful business is strategy implementation, where general, strategic objectives are translated into precise activities that involve bringing ideas to fruition. Operational performance is used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of these activities in achieving strategic goals and objectives. Meanwhile, governance provides the structure and rules needed to monitor performance and achieve objectives, which requires good planning, resource allocation, and management.
Governance mechanisms are critical to guiding, monitoring, and improving strategy planning and execution. Roles and accountabilities should be clear: the board of directors sets the company strategy, goals, and overall direction. Top management ensures the strategy is translated and cascaded to the lower managerial levels. Middle management is critical to ensure the implementation of strategic objectives.
Upon receiving clear direction from the top management, middle managers should also set clear responsibilities and metrics. Metrics should be set to monitor success impartially. Clear roles and their coordination could also be ensured by appointing a strategy/performance office responsible for overseeing the strategy process, contributing to setting strategic objectives, and coordinating performance measurement.
Organizational Hierarchy | Source: The KPI Institute – C-KPI Course
The purpose of governance is to ensure that an organization continuously fulfills its mission by coordinating its strategy with its operational goals, procedures, and standards. Procedures and processes are essential to the success of an organization, as these help ensure that resource allocation is done properly, with all stakeholders having a clear role in how the organization’s objectives are achieved. In the case of a company where multiple projects run at the same time in various areas, this is especially important. Confusion, overlap, and miscommunication may arise in these situations, therefore, clear rules, guidelines, and accountabilities should be set up.
Reliable, comprehensive financial and non-financial information is at the core of governance, as it serves decision-making. Reporting procedures are crucial to ensure the right processes are set up to disclose the necessary data to the stakeholders, with mechanisms for regular reporting to share performance data and progress updates. Performance reporting is important as it disseminates information, communicates progress, forecasts progress, and updates status to stakeholders.
Moreover, decisions are taken based on the information received, and an organized process for review and decision-making, such as regular strategic review meetings or performance review sessions could be implemented. Periodic performance reviews measured against objectives should be conducted to analyze gaps, identify areas for improvement, and initiate corrective actions.
Governance cannot be properly implemented without the adequate behaviors of people.
Since emotions play a large role in shaping behavior, it becomes all the more crucial for leaders to facilitate buy-in from the organization. Leaders should provide trust, guidance, and direction, instilling the necessary behaviors that support the organization’s objectives. Communication should be clear and consistent to provide clear direction.
As resistance is natural given the fear of the unknown or the perceived negative changes, it is important to address employee concerns and provide support. Some of the potential barriers are removed when support is provided to ensure that employees understand the strategy, their roles, and how their performance contributes to strategic objectives.
In conclusion, governance is indispensable for an organization’s success and reputation. By establishing clear structures, processes, and accountability mechanisms, governance ensures that the company operates in alignment with its objectives, values, and legal obligations. It provides a framework for effective decision-making, safeguarding the interests of shareholders, employees, customers, and other stakeholders. To summarize, governance isn’t merely a corporate formality—it’s the cornerstone of organizational excellence and trust in the modern business world.
For more in-depth articles about strategy, click here.
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Editor’s Note: This article was first published on May 8, 2024 and last updated on September 17, 2024.
In today’s fast-paced business environment, mastering strategy management is more critical than ever. It allows you to define your competitive edge, implement proper resource allocation, risk management, and performance measurement, and most importantly, drive innovation while building resilience for long-term success.
Committed to empowering organizations in that pursuit, The KPI Institute launched the State of Strategy Management Practice Report in 2022. The State of Strategy Management Practices Report is a detailed examination of current trends, challenges, and innovations within the realm of strategy management. This report synthesizes data from a wide range of sources, including surveys of industry leaders, interviews with experts, and an analysis of real-world case studies.
The report consists of three main sections: Strategy Planning, Strategy Measurement, and Strategy Execution. Each of these sections includes several areas of interest such as general practices, strategy review, key performance indicators (KPI) deployment practices, strategy execution challenges, and project management practices. It also offers recommendations for best practices to enhance strategy management and equip organizations to better navigate emerging trends and disruptions.
The State of Strategy Management Practice Report is an annual publication, and the continuity allows organizations to stay adaptable in a changing business environment. With this ongoing commitment, organizations are able to grasp the broader perspective and identify patterns and shifts, allowing them to adjust strategies and make continuous improvements.
In the State of Strategy Management Practice – 2023 Middle East Report, results in the Strategy Planning section show that most surveyed professionals see strategy formulation as consistent and structured, with 47% using specialized methodologies. In contrast, 38% reported no specific methodology, indicating a more flexible approach. It is also important to note that 15% acknowledged an informal process. Although an informal process may offer flexibility, it’s important to consider the potential drawbacks and challenges that arise from having a strategy without a strict framework.
Furthermore, in the Strategy Measurement section, 22% of respondents reported that their organizations lack a formal performance management system (PMS). The absence of a PMS creates several challenges, obstructing strategy execution and limiting the organization’s ability to adapt to change and capitalize on opportunities. This is further reflected in the Strategy Execution section, where professionals were asked about their organizations’ success in executing strategy; 57% acknowledged being aware of cases where the strategy had failed.
Given these red flags, it is crucial to recognize that strategy management practices must evolve to meet organizational needs and adapt to the external environment. To determine whether the figures above have improved and if organizations have enhanced their strategy management, The KPI Institute conducted another research this year, diving more into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The findings will be presented in the third edition of the State of Strategy Management Practices Report.
The State of Strategy Management Practices Report – 2024 MENA Region will be available soon. This report presents statistics from over 100 organizations and features insights from leaders of top companies. This edition has been more refined as it offers advice from The KPI Institute’s own experts on developing more effective organizational systems for strategy planning and execution.
Stay tuned for the official release date and details on obtaining your copy. For updates and exclusive content, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.
