Mintzberg's Model

Traditionally, the relationship between strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and organizational performance has been depicted as shown in Figure 1-2. In this model, organizations begin strategy formulation by carefully specifying their mission, goals, and objectives, and then they engage in SWOT analysis to choose appropriate strategies.

Henry Mintzberg suggests that the traditional way of thinking about strategy implementation focuses only on deliberate strategies. Minztberg claims that some organizations begin implementing strategies before they clearly articulate mission, goals, or objectives. In this case strategy implementation actually precedes strategy formulation.

Minztberg calls strategies that unfold in this way emergent strategies. Implementation of emergent strategies involves the allocation of resources even though an organization has not explicitly chosen its strategies.
See Henry Mintzberg website: www.henrymintzberg.com

Most organizations make use of both deliberate and emergent strategies. Whether deliberate or emergent, however, a strategy has little effect on an organization's performance until it is implemented.

The Relation Between Strategy Formulation And Strategy Implemenation

In order to achieve its objectives, an organization must not only formulate but also implement its strategies effectively. The Figure represents the importance of both tasks in matrix form and suggests the probable outcomes of the four possible combinations of these variables:

- Success is the most likely outcome when strategy is appropriate and implementation good.
- Roulette involves situation wherein a poor strategy is implemented well.
- Trouble is characterized by situations wherein an appropriate strategy is poorly implemented.
- Failure involves situations wherein a poor strategy is poorly implemented.

Diagnosing why a strategy failed in the roulette, trouble, and failure cells in order to find a remedy requires the analysis of both formulation and implementation.

S.Certo and J. Peter proposed a five-stage model of the strategy implementation process:

1. determining how much the organization will have to change in order to implement the strategy under consideration, under consideration;
2. analyzing the formal and informal structures of the organization;
3. analyzing the "culture" of the organization;
4. selecting an appropriate approach to implementing the strategy;
5. implementing the strategy and evaluating the results.

Implementation is successfully initiated in three interrelated stages:

1. Identification of measurable, mutually determined annual objectives.
2. Development of specific functional strategies.
3. Development and communication of concise policies to guide decisions.