Why I think SMEs in Ghana need Hrebiniak's Model of Strategy Execution

When SMEs in Ghana are unable to execute a strategy, the first reaction is mostly to rearrange the organizational chart or experiment with incentives but striving to clarify decisions right and improve information flow both up and down the chain of command would be significantly more successful.

This approach for successfully implementing this is depicted in Hrebiniak's Model of Strategy Execution

This model will provide SMEs in Ghana with an overview of the independent organizational components that must interact with one another to properly implement the business strategy:

Corporate strategy; which is concerned with the whole organization and the business units within it such as portfolio management, diversification, and resource allocations.

Beware that inadequate attention to the role of businesses in the corporate portfolio and the performance metrics for which businesses are held accountable can dull or negate the execution process at the very start.

Business strategy; which focuses on products, services, and short-term operating objectives.

Key issues, elements, and needs of strategy must be translated into objectives, action plans, and “scorecards” and this translation is an integral and vital part of the execution process.

Corporate structure; across the whole organization

My professional advice for business leaders is to consider the balance between centralization and decentralization and the costs and benefits associated with each

Business structure; methods used to achieve coordination across the units comprising organizational structure

Coordinating the diverse units of an SME seeking to achieve common goals can be difficult. Still, this coordination is needed and various methods are available e.g. teams, integrating roles, and matrix structures; to share knowledge and improve communication across the diverse functions

Incentives and controls; this is to ensure that individuals put the organizational strategy into practice

On one hand, incentives motivate or guide performance and support the key aspects of the strategy-execution model. Controls, in turn, allow for the revision of execution-related factors if desired goals are not being met.

My professional take is execution will suffer if people are rewarded for doing the wrong things. Execution will fail when no one has skin in the game. Feedback on performance is also needed so the organization can evaluate whether the right things are indeed being accomplished in the strategy execution process.

In summary, while it is very difficult to formulate a strategy, it is even harder to put the strategy into practice across the enterprise.

The model provides a logical approach to implementing strategy. It draws attention to the parts of the organization which need to be coordinated to implement a strategy and it is designed to help managers to focus on how strategic goals are to be translated into decisions across the organization