Challenges of implementing strategic plans in Organizations: a case of Deloitte Company
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Mzumbe University
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A Thesis Report Submitted to Mzumbe University, Dar es Salaam Business
School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree
of Master of Science in Human Resource Management (MSc-HRM)
The strategic management process involves not only strategy formulation but also strategy implementation. The strategies formulated are actualized in the implementation of the strategic plan. Much of the time, implementation of strategic plans poses the greatest challenge in strategic management as this, by and large, would determine the actual outcomes and results of the firm’s strategic plan. It therefore appears at the end of the strategic planning processes whose other ingredients include idea conception in the mission and vision, tactical plans and operational objectives. Effective implementation of strategic plan does not guarantee results as planned. The strategy itself as well as the implementers and the implementation process can influence the outcome. This study sought to establish the challenges faced by Deloitte in implementing strategic plans. A case study of Deloitte was used to achieve the research objective. Both primary and secondary data related to the area of study were used. To gather primary data, the researcher relied on the interview guide administered to the employees and the top managers, questionnaires to different employees of the organization, reading various documents related to the study. Content analysis of the interviewee responses was applied. The research findings revealed that overall; organizations face some challenges during strategy implementation process. Some challenges are the employees' unawareness on the availability of the strategic plan in their organization. Also there was little or no integration of the results of strategic plan with their day to day activities. The strategic plan is treated as something separate and not directly linked to the daily management of the business. Not only that but also not all the people charged with executing the plan are involved from the onset at Deloitte. Only very few, who are all from the top management, are involved in the planning process, and the plan is brought down to other team members for their execution. Another challenge found was that people at Deloitte are not enlightened as to what is expected of them, so they just do their best to make the job done in any way possible. The findings also showed that there is an inherent lack of accountability in the planning process which leads to problems and sometimes complete failures in the plan's execution. In order for organizations to reduce or remove this problem, they
The strategic management process involves not only strategy formulation but also strategy implementation. The strategies formulated are actualized in the implementation of the strategic plan. Much of the time, implementation of strategic plans poses the greatest challenge in strategic management as this, by and large, would determine the actual outcomes and results of the firm’s strategic plan. It therefore appears at the end of the strategic planning processes whose other ingredients include idea conception in the mission and vision, tactical plans and operational objectives. Effective implementation of strategic plan does not guarantee results as planned. The strategy itself as well as the implementers and the implementation process can influence the outcome. This study sought to establish the challenges faced by Deloitte in implementing strategic plans. A case study of Deloitte was used to achieve the research objective. Both primary and secondary data related to the area of study were used. To gather primary data, the researcher relied on the interview guide administered to the employees and the top managers, questionnaires to different employees of the organization, reading various documents related to the study. Content analysis of the interviewee responses was applied. The research findings revealed that overall; organizations face some challenges during strategy implementation process. Some challenges are the employees' unawareness on the availability of the strategic plan in their organization. Also there was little or no integration of the results of strategic plan with their day to day activities. The strategic plan is treated as something separate and not directly linked to the daily management of the business. Not only that but also not all the people charged with executing the plan are involved from the onset at Deloitte. Only very few, who are all from the top management, are involved in the planning process, and the plan is brought down to other team members for their execution. Another challenge found was that people at Deloitte are not enlightened as to what is expected of them, so they just do their best to make the job done in any way possible. The findings also showed that there is an inherent lack of accountability in the planning process which leads to problems and sometimes complete failures in the plan's execution. In order for organizations to reduce or remove this problem, they
Keywords
strategic plans