Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control, Third Edition

258 Strategic Marketing: Planning and Control

appropriateness of the strategy and the effectiveness of execution skills

thus establishing four general positions.

1 Success: The ideal situation, an appropriate strategy and a strong abil-

ity to execute such a strategy. This should present little or no problem.

2 Chance: Here the strategy is poor, perhaps lacking detailed analysis or

not building on existing strengths. However it may be saved by effect-

ive execution. This may be such that we can adopt and adapt from a

weak opening basis and, with luck, do what is required. Clearly, the

degree of ‘inappropriateness‘ is highly significant. Is the strategy save-

able? Notwithstanding this question, this position always brings a

high degree of risk.

3 Problem: We are doing the right things badly. The strength of strategic

planning is dissipated by poor execution. Often the true value of

the strategy is not fully recognised and it is dismissed as being

inappropriate.

4 Failure: A no-win situation. With failure on all levels there is a danger

of struggling on with implementation and simply ‘throwing good

money after bad’. Organisations should try to learn from such situ-

ations. Do not make the same mistake twice.

Strategy

Success Chance

Problem Failure

Appropriate

Bad

Good

Execution skills

Inappropriate

Figure 13.1
Strategy and
execution (Source:
Adapted from
Bonoma, 1984, p. 72)

Clearly, there is an issue of subjectivity within defining good/bad and

appropriate/inappropriate and it is all too easy to be wise after the event.

It is simple to classify a strategy as inappropriate after it is deemed to have

failed. The key quest is to ensure strategies fall into the ‘success’ category.

Formulating an appropriate strategy has been dealt with in the preceding

chapters of this text and we will now focus on the execution of strategy –

in other words implementation.

Effective implementation can be viewed in terms of:

1 Understanding the fundamental principles of implementation.

2 Assessing the ease, or otherwise, of implementing individual projects.

Applying project management techniques