On the Road to Achieving Successful strategy Implementation at
CPA
By Priscilla Tyrol
University of Groningen Faculty of Economics and Business
Contents
Abstract ... 0
1 Introduction ... 1
1.1 Purpose ... 1
1.2 Management Question ... 1
1.3 Aim of the Study ... 2
1.4 Organization Description ... 2 1.5 Diagnosis... 2 1.6 Design ... 3 1.7 Research Question ... 3 2 Theory ... 4 2.1 Conceptual Model ... 4
2.2 Perceived Successfulness of Strategy Implementation ... 5
2.2.1 Strategy ... 5
2.2.2 Perceived Successfulness of Strategy Implementation ... 5
2.3 Organizational Structure ... 6 2.3.1 Structure ... 6 2.4 Organizational Culture ... 8 2.4.1 Culture ... 8 2.5 Leadership Style ... 10 2.5.1 Leadership ... 10 3 Method ... 10 3.1 Research Method ... 12 3.2 Data collection... 12 3.3 Respondents ... 13 3.4 Procedure ... 13 3.5 Measure ... 13 3.6 Analysis ... 14 4 Results ... 15
4.1 Perceived successfulness of strategy implementation ... 15
Abstract
The research study done at Curacao Ports Authority, investigates how various organizational characteristics influence the Perceived successfulness of strategy implementation. The main organizational characteristics analyzed are; organizational structure, organizational culture and leadership style. The result of this study concluded that all the organizational
characteristics are positive related and have a positive influence on the successfulness of strategy implementation.
Keywords: Perceived Successfulness’ of strategy implementation, Organizational Structure, Organizational Culture, Leadership Style
1
1. Introduction
1.1 PurposeThis study investigates the influence of organizational characteristics on the successfulness of strategy implementation at Curaçao Port Authority (CPA). CPA is a company dedicated to the commercial development of the ports of Curacao. The organization is remaining in the same market but currently they are focusing on rebuilding themselves from a day-to-day operational focus to an organization that is goal-oriented, with the aim to operate more effectively and efficiently and increase profitability.To carry out this change, CPA formulated a new strategic plan, consisting out of a new vision, mission, its external opportunities and threat, its internal strengths and weaknesses and objectives and strategic objectives.
According to various studies, some organizations only realize 60 percent of the potential value of their strategies due the organization inadequacies in planning and implementation (Beer & Nohria, 2000). Furthermore Bonoma (1984) goes on by saying that well-formulated strategies only produce superior performance for an organization when and if they are successfully implemented.
1.2 Management Question
To change from a day-to-day operational focus to an organization that is goal-oriented, the current management team defined the following vision; “To become the number one port of choice in the region”. CPA, CTC and CPA, referred to as the “CPA group” also developed a mission. As the guiding principles for the overall change plan and a driver of the mission and vision, the management team of the “CPA group” developed a set of twelve strategic objectives. Each strategic objective consists out of a few strategic actions that are required to achieve the company’s objectives.
2 1.3 Aim of the Study
The aim of this paper is to identify, if aspects of the organization and leaders actions appear to have an influence on the perceived successfulness of the strategy implementation and furthermore how they influence the successfulness. The aspects of the organization that will be focused on are the organizational structure and culture. Leaders’ actions will be analyzed by focusing on the leadership style. According to Miller et al (2004), structure and culture may facilitate or hinder the readiness for changes, strategic decision brings about, which will influence the success or failure of strategy implementation and leaders manage strategic actions, and their actions have a relationship with outcome of the implementation process.
1.4 Organization Description
CPA is the harbor authority in curacao. It is a limited liability company whose main shareholder is the island government of Curaçao. CPA is a landlord port authority, managing a total of five ports and owning infrastructure and most of the superstructure of the ports. CPA has two sister-companies: Curaçao Towage Company (CTC), and Curaçao Pilots Organization (CPO).Together they offer quality, reliable and professional service to all in; -harbor, - coastal and ocean towage, salvage and emergency response jobs, barge and pontoon transportation and other jobs.
1.5 Diagnosis
In September 2011 the government of Curaçao appointed a new board of directors headed by a new director for CPA, with the responsibility of changing the organization from focusing on day-to-day operations to an organization that is goal oriented.
3 reacted when they were under pressure or was being forced by the environment and or external parties.
1.6 Design
CPA new strategic plan, included a new vision, mission and S.M.A.R.T formulated strategic objectives and is formulated with the aim to increase efficiency and organizational profit. Furthermore CPA wants to maximize the use of its ports as much as possible and commercialize it by constantly searching for new opportunities and come with new projects and services that will contribute to the developments of their ports. Example of these activities include, work with other ports in the region, open maritime institution on the island, etc. while focusing on new development they also want to improve their current operations by, developing training for the personnel, managing their ports more efficiently, etc.
The new strategic plan will influence the employees’ way of working in various ways; first, everybody will be involved from the top management to the employee on the work floor. Second, working in teams will be required. The use of team will create the potential for CPA to generate greater outputs with no increase inputs and will increase the organizational performance, thus decrease inefficiency. Third, it will create transparency between department and the authority level within CPA and improve the communication between and within the departments. In concrete this means that, the teams as well as each individual employee is responsible and accountable for their own actions, this is done with the aim to increase the employee work performance and encourage taking of initiatives.
1.7 Research Question
4 2 Theory
2.1 Conceptual Model
For understanding the research topic and to be able to answer the research question a conceptual model is developed. The conceptual model consists out of the central concept also referred to as the dependent variable and the independent variables’. The central concept of the study is the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation and the independent variables are; the Organizational Structure, the Organizational Culture and Leadership Style. This section of the paper will start by first defining the central concept followed by definitions of the independent variables and as last, analyzing the relationship between the dependent and the independent variable. The definitions and the analysis of the relationships will be based on various literature studies.
To answer the research question; three sub questions were formulated, namely;
1. How does the organizational Structure influence the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process
2. How does the organizational Culture influence the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process
3. How does the Leadership style influence theperceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process
Figure 1; Research Conceptual Model
5 2.2 Perceived Successfulness of Strategy Implementation
To understand the concept of successfulness of strategy implementation, must be first made clear what strategy and strategy implementation actually is. Once these two terms are defined the concept “perceived successfulness of strategy implementation” will be better understood. 2.2.1 Strategy
According to Lorsch (1986) strategy is the stream of decision taken over time by top managers, which, when understood as a whole, reveal the goals they are seeking and the means used to reach these goals”. A more broad definition of strategy is the one made by Mintzberg. Mintzberg (1987) defines strategy based on 5p’s; plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective. Strategy is a plan, a consciously intended course of action or guideline for dealing with a certain set of situations. A ploy is a plan with a more narrow and specific scope or a certain maneuver. Strategy is a pattern, a pattern of emerging actions and behavior, according to this theory, strategy is not a preconceived plan, but a consistency in behavior. Strategy as a position, the organization niche in the environment, in this concept strategy becomes the mediating force between organization and environment. Strategy as the perspective; the way the organization’s members view the organization’s environment, the organization’s identity and themselves as members of the organization
2.2.2 Perceived Successfulness of Strategy Implementation
6 2.3 Organizational Structure
Organizational structure can have profound impact on strategy, because it has a direct effect on the strategic decision-making process (Fredrickson, 1986). Furthermore the organizational structure is crucial in supporting and driving the strategic plan (Evan & Richardson, 2008).
2.3.1 Structure
Various literature are used to the define organizational structure, Jones (2010) defines organization structure as the formal system of task and authority relationships that control how people coordinate their action and use resources to achieve organizational goals. In addition, Ramaswami, Flynn & Nilakanta, (1993), identifies organizational structure based on three other dimensions namely;centralization, formalization and specialization/differentiation. Centralization refers to the extent to which decisions are shared (Ramaswami et al, 1993) and the delegation of authority (Jones 2010). Authority is the power to hold people accountable for their actions and to make decision concerning the use of organizational resources. When the authority to make important decisions is retained by the managers at the top of the hierarchy, authority is said to be centralized, which can be identified as bureaucratic approach. In contrast when the authority to make important decision about the organization resources and to initiate new projects is delegated to managers at all levels in the hierarchy, authority is highly centralized (Jones 2010).
Formalization is the degree to which written rules and procedures are used to standard operations. A high level of formalization typically implies centralized authority. A low level of formalization implies that coordination is the product of mutual adjustment between employees and decision making is a dynamic process in which employee uses their knowledge to change or solve problems (Jones 2010).
7 According to Fredrickson (1986) the organizational structure may motivate or impede strategic implementation. The relationship between structure and strategy exist because, organizational structures enforces “boundaries of rationality”, that accommodate members “cognitive limitations. By defining responsibilities and communication channels, the organization structure allows organization to achieve “organizational rational outcome”. Furthermore it helps management to control the decision making environment and it facilitates the processing of information (Fredrickson, 1986). Fredrickson (1986) states, that “when management chooses a particular organization form, it is providing not only a framework for current operations but also the channels along which strategic information will flow.
Although there is a link between organizational structure and strategic implementation Frederickson (1986), according to Miller (1997) Organizational structure has much less importance on success than other factors. Miller (1997) goes one step further by saying that organizational structure on their own does not appear to lead to successful outcomes. Based on a research conducted by Miller (1997), about success and failure of the implementation of strategic decisions conducted at six organizations, it showed that the structural arrangements of the organization was unhelpful and in other cases it showed that the structural reconfiguration can ease the implementation.
8 2.4 Organizational Culture
According to Cabrera & Bonache (1999) one of the key factors that give an organization a competitive advantage in today’s environment is the organizational culture. Evan & Richardson (2008) goes one step further by saying that, Organizational Culture, which is something that cannot be changed overnight, is often said to be the most powerful influence that determines the success of the strategic plan.
2.4.1 Culture
Culture is that which a group of people learns over a period of time, as the group tries to solve its problems of survival in an external environment and its problem of internal integration (Tripathi & Tripathi, 2009). Jones (2010) defines Organizational culture as the set of shared values and norms that control organizational members’ interactions with each other and with people outside the organization.Furthermore, different organizations have different culture, because they possess different terminal (end state that the organization seeks to achieve) and instrumental (desired modes of behavior the organization encourages) values. According to Gupta (2011) organizational culture can serve as a tool to improve productivity and it has a significant effect on an organization’s long term sustainability, economic performance and outcomes like profitability, turnover, and commitment. Organizational culture emerges from a number of factors; the top management and how they behave and operate the history and traditions within the organization, strong groups within the organization, the policies and practices, including rewards, recognition and promotion (Yemm, 2007).
9 tradition, consistency, cooperation and conformity, decision-making, harmonized rules and procedures are valued as the key to success. This culture produces behaviors focused on predictability and smooth operations. The “Compete (Market)” culture emphasize stability and control and concentrates more on external issues, their primary objective are profitability, bottom line results, strong market niche, stretch targets and secure customer bases and produces highly competitive behaviors (Cameron & Freeman, 1991).
Miller (1997) identifies culture receptivity as being one of the factors that influence success. Culture receptivity is defined as the degree to which organizational culture is conducive to the process of implementation (Miller 1997). A research about success and failure in the implementation of strategic decisions conducted at six organizations, showed that at one of the organizations where managing Director and senior staff was brought in, successful implementation through culture receptivity was achieved by reframing some taken for granted company norms, ways of operating, and fostering an acceptance to change and risk. A contrast result was observed in an organization were the senior managers did not promote the change. The managers were in agreement of the change, but during the implementation of the change, they were not actively promoting it, nor providing a culture in which theimplementation could succeed. Howeverwhen a new chief executive was recruited to the company, at a later stage of the implementation plan, the pace picked up considerable (Miller, 1997). Another study carried out by Miller et al., (2004) where they examined 150 strategic decisions, 5 each from 30 organizations, a casewas illustrated where receptivity was one of the factors that lead to the achievement of the strategy. Inside the organization was a strong “team feeling”, furthermore the company core values, such as a belief in the quality of the products and loyalty to the firm helped shaped the receptive culture. The climate was one in which development and changes were interpreted as “progress” rather than a threat.
10 2.5 Leadership Style
What leadership do, matter in terms of whether the organization will achieve its goals or not (Miller et al., 2004). Furthermore leaders are strongly associated with the strategic changes which occur in their organization (McGee et al., 2010). According to O'Regan & Ghobadian (2004) one of the principal tasks of leadership is to ensure the effective implementation of the organization strategy. This indicates that strategy implementation and the success thereof is the leadership responsibility.
2.5.1 Leadership
Various definition of leadership can be found in the literature. According to Robbins & Judge (2012) leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision of set of goals. Supporters of leadership defines leadership based on their responsibility and argues that, leaders by their roles are responsible for making of decision with the purpose to help their organization adapt and succeed in the competitive environments (O'Reilly et al., 2010) According to Bass (1985) leadership can be distinguished between two main styles, transformational and transactional leaders. Transformational leaders are leaders who are able to motivate followers to perform above expectations and transcend their self-interest for the sake of the organization (Robbins & Judge, 2012). They are characterized by four characteristics; individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspiration motivation and idealized influence (Bass & Avolio, 1993). These four characteristics result in extra effort from workers, higher productivity, higher morale and satisfaction, higher organizational effectiveness, lower turnover, lower absenteeism, and greater organizational adaptability (Robbins & Judge, 2012).
11 The likeliness of successful strategic implementation happening increases, when leaders strongly communicate the need for change, actively engage the employees in creating the vision for the change, demonstrate forcefully through their own behaviors how to move in that direction and constantly reinforce progress (Cummings, 2006). This implicate that one of the factors that influence the successfulness of strategy implementation is the way leadership communicates to the employees about the new strategy.
Palmer et al. (2009) identifies two approaches leaders can use when communicating change to the employees namely, getting the word out or getting buy-in. getting the word out is about providing information about what is going on and “buy-in” is communicating with the employee as obtaining “buy-in” in relation to the change. It also includes getting information from them that will be useful in achieving the change, identifying what is important to the employees’, and uncovering what they see as the cost and benefits of the change. Furthermore getting people to buy in depends on what they are buying into, whether the employees affected by the change, perceive the change as favorable to them, whether the change has been justified (Palmer et al. 2009) and whether they have been educated, giving explanations of the change (Daly, 1995). According to Daly (1995), employees expect justification and education about the need for change both whether they perceive the outcome of the change as being fair or unfair and whether they perceive the process of the change implementation as being fair or unfair. Furthermore educating the employees’ about the organizational change enhances the commitment towards the change (Kotter & Schlesinger (1979).
12 3 Method
The method section will describe what was done and how the research was carried out in order to answer the sub questions and the main research question. This section will consist out of the following subjects, first the research method is described, followed by type of data collected, then information about the participants, description of the procedure used and finally the measures and analysis are described.
3.1 Research Method
This thesis has an exploratory approach with the purpose of understanding how organizational factors influence the successfulness of the strategy implementation, and is therefore based on the qualitative method. Furthermore according to Blumberg, Cooper & Schindler (2011) qualitative studies base their accounts on qualitative information (e.g., word, sentences and narrative) and this research is based on the interviews, in which sentences and narratives will be used to analyze the case study.
3.2 Data collection
To be able to answer the research question and the sub question, theoretical data and data about the organization itself was needed.
The theoretical data was gathered from previous literature research that covered the variables and the possible relationship between them. This approach was used to build the theoretical framework of this research study.
13 3.3 Respondents
To gain information about organization and to be able to analyze the independent and dependent variable and their role in the organization, participant of the organization who could provide such information was needed. To get different point of views, two participants were asked to be interviewed. Because of the research topic, which is based on the organization as a whole, no particular department, nor gender, nor age-group was chosen. Participant one was the male human resource manager. His department consists out of five subordinates. His responsibilities consist out of managing and guiding employees, giving advice to the line managers, developing human resource instruments, advising the organization director and negotiating of the labor agreement (CAO) “Collective Arbeids-overeenkomst”. He is working for the company for about 38 years; he started as a human resource assistant and is working for 25 years as the manager in the human resource department. Participant two was the male technical operations manager. His department consists of 15 subordinates. His main responsibility is the technical maintenance of the CPA properties, including, buildings, installations, cranes, wharfage. He is working for the company for about12 years, he started as chief of technical department then he became the manager technical department and currently he holds the position of the manager of the technical operations.
3.4 Procedure
The research study is based on an organization abroad. A family member that worked for this organization was contacted and asked about the changes going in the organization and what the possibilities were the do an interview with some organization members. This family member offered him-self to be interviewed and selected another participant to be interviewed.
3.5 Measure
To measure the variables questions were formulated that covered both the dependent variable; successfulness of strategy implementation and the three independent variables; organizational structure, organizational culture and leadership style. For the dependent variable, the questions formulated were as follows “how do you define success” and “what are the factors
that you think influence the successfulness of strategy implementation?”
14 degree of participation in decision making, how information flows, the degree of formalization and the degree of specialization.
To measure the leadership style, questions were formulated based on the theory of Bass & Avolio (1993) and Robbins & Judge (2012) which would identify the leadership style that the leaders in the organization portray.
To measure the organizational culture question were formulated based on the theory of Cameron and Quinn (1999), which would identify the type of organizational culture that exists in the organization
3.6 Analysis
15
4 Results
This chapter describes the results of the research question, how organizational structure, organizational culture and leadership style influence the successfulness of strategy
implementation. The interview results is given in the following order, in the first section the results of the dependent variable is given, followed by the results of the independent variables which is categorized by the sub question.
4.1 Perceived successfulness of strategy implementation
The first section of the interview covered the topic of success. Two questions related to this topic were asked namely; how do you define success? And what do you think are the factors for the
successfulness of strategy implementation?
The respondents’ defined success as follows;
“For me success is dependent on the extent to which my goals or intended result are positively
reached”
“I define success as an achievement of planned objective, which can be both long term and short term
objective”
When asked about what do they think are the reason or factors for successfulness of strategy implementation the respondents had the following answer;
“Having a clear structure, a clear goal, a good coaching from the leadership and having a good
climate within the organization”
“It is important have congruence between the organization strategy and the organizations values and
16 4.2 Organizational structure
To be able to analyze the influence of organizational structure on the successfulness of strategy implementation, several questions were being asked based on the theory of Jones (2010) and Ramaswami et al, (1993) in order to answer the questions “How does
organizational structure influence the successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process?”
The questions were focused on three topics, centralization, formalization and
specialization/differentiation. After the interview, the organizational structure of CPA can be best described as being both centralized and centralized with formalized procedures and with both high and low task specialization. The following results substantiated this outcome. At CPA strategic decisions takes place during the weekly meetings were both the managers and the members board of directors attend. Based on the input of all those attending the meetings a final decision is made. The middle and lower level, division chefs are responsible for making of daily and operational decision. Based on this answer can be concluded that strategic decisions are centralized to the managers and members of the board of directors, while the daily and operational decision are centralized to the managers and the division chefs (Head).
Communication within and between the department flows horizontally and vertically. This is done through work meetings, which takes places once in two months between all the
hierarchical levels, the managers and the division chefs. Each manager and division
chef(head) is than responsible for the flow of the information with their department or unit. When asked how the work procedures are lay-out and whether these are known to the employees, the response was that based on the new strategic plan, at the moment much attention is paid to the ISO handbook (procedure), the organization is making sure all the work instructions, processes and procedures are written down in the ISO handbook and that this are known to every employee, “A print of the ISO handbook is available for every
employee in Computer Database of CPA”.
17 When asked, how CPA structure influence the successfulness of strategy implementation? The respondents both agreed that structure has a positive influence on the successfulness of strategy implementation.
“An organization structure that is effective is also less bureaucratic, and the sooner intended
results will be achieved”.
“Having a clear structure makes it clear who is accountable to whom, who is responsible to
whom regarding the achievement of targets and thus has a great chance of leading to the success of the strategy implementation”.
Organizational Structure
Respondent 1 Respondent 2
Decision Making Authority +/- +
Responsibility ++ ++
formalization + +
Communication ++ ++
Flow of information + +/-
specialization/differentiation + +/- Influence on Successfulness of strategy implementation + + Strong negative: - - , Negative: - , Neutral: +/- , Positive: + , Strong Positive; + + Table 1: Organizational structure influence on successfulness’ of strategy implementation
The results in table 2 shows, that the overall outcome of the organizational structure on the influence of successfulness of strategy implementation is positive related.
4.3 Organizational Culture
To be able to analyze the influence of organizational culture on the successfulness of strategy implementation, several questions were being asked based on the theory of Cameron and Quinn (1999) in order to answer the questions “How does the culture influence the
successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process?”
Based on the answer of the respondents’ can be observed, that the culture of CPA based on the theory of Cameron and Quinn (1999), contains at least one or more characteristics of the all the four culture types. CPA has very strong characteristics of the clan and hierarchical culture, thus they are primarily focused on internal process, and some moderate
18 Characteristics of the clan culture can be observed based on following factors, CPA has mutual trust and understanding with his employees, each employees is aware of what his/her department expect from them and also their contribution to the their department and the organization as a whole. According to one respondent; “CPA is an organization that really
focuses on the well-being of its employees, the organization organize different social activities for its employees. The organization has its own volleyball, football and softball team, in which each employee can participate. During the year different competitions are held between the teams.”Furthermore attention is also give to employees for non-work
problems. According to one respondent “CPA is very flexible when it comes to personal and
family matters, doctor appointments during working hours whether it be personal or
accompanying a family member is given priority”. CPA also has a full-time social worker
in-house and they hired additional employees to help with afterschool childcare for the children of the employees.
Characteristics of the hierarchy culture can be observed based on following factors, as mentioned before at the moment the organization main priority is on having all work activities and processes and procedures written down in ISO handbook and that employees comply with the standard and rules.
Characteristics of the adhocracy culture can be observed based on following factors. Based on the new strategic plan the organization is seeking for new opportunities’ in the external
environment. “CPA is visiting different port agencies in the region, meeting with different
shipping agency and they are also taking part in difference conferences”. Furthermore the
organization is planning on investing in new projects. “Due to an increase in the amount of
cruise ships visiting the island of Curacao, “CPA is planning on investing in a second cruise terminal, “Mega Pier” and building and developing a cruise village for the tourists”.
Characteristics of the market culture can be observed based on following factors, as mentioned CPA defined S.M.A.R.T formulated objectives, with the aim of increasing efficiency and profit. According to one respondent; “CPA is current working on its Key
19 When asked, how organizational culture influence the successfulness of strategy
implementation?
The respondents both agreed that culture has a positive influence on the successfulness of strategy implementation. One respondent summarize this importance by saying that;“The
organization culture optimizes the mutual communication needed to achieve the organization target, it increases involvement and it also promotes cooperation between the employees and the organizational goals”.
Organizational Culture
Respondent 1 Respondent 2
Organization Core Values + ++
Organization Norm +/- ++
Attitudes and behavior of employees ++ +/-
Employees way of working + +/-
Employees way of thinking ++ +/-
Employees Acceptance of Change ++ + Teamwork within organization ++ +
Organizational climate ++ +/-
Supporting organization values and norms + ++ Influence on Successfulness of strategy implementation + + + Strong negative: - - , Negative: - , Neutral: +/- , Positive: + , Strong Positive; + + Table 2: Organizational Culture influence on successfulness’ of strategy implementation
The results in table 2 shows that for one of the respondents the aspects of culture is has very high importance, while the other respondent considers the aspects of culture somewhat less important. Thus while the overall outcome is positive related to the successfulness, one respondent considers the influence as being strong positive and the other positive.
4.4 Leadership Style
To be able to analyze the influence of leadership style on the successfulness of strategy implementation, several questions were being asked based on the theory of Bass et al. (1985, 1993) in order to answer the questions “How does the leadership influence the successfulness
20 To be able to identify the leadership style questions were asked, which covered the
characteristics of the transformational and the transactional leader. The first couple of question where related to the transactional leader, followed by the characteristics of transformational leader. Based on the answer of the respondents’ can be observed, that leadership style at CPA incorporates both the characteristics of the transformational and the transactional leader. The following results substantiated this outcome.
To identify the transactional leader the focus was on how the employees are made aware what is expected from them, how they are rewarded and how they are motivated to achieve their targets.
the At the beginning of May the head of the department/manager sits down with their subordinates and explain to them what target needs to be achieved within their department and the type of rewards they will be receiving if these targets are achieved. An employee has from May till September to work on accomplishing these targets. At the end of September the employee is evaluated by the manager to see if the targets have been accomplished. Based on this evaluation the employees are given incentives in the form of bonuses. If the targets are not achieved the employee will not receive the incentive. These meetings take place
individually between the employee and the head of department.
During the period between May and November, evaluation meetings take place at least once per two months. In this meeting the manager together with the employee, evaluate how far the employee has come in reaching the targets. During these meeting the managers will give the employee directions on how to better his/her performance if this is needed.
To identify the transformational leader the focus was on the relationship between the
managers and their subordinate and how the subordinates’ are challenged and the empowered. The respondents answered, that the subordinates are constantly remembered about the goals that need to be achieved this is done in what CPA calls “overleg” meetings. Employees are also challenged by letting them make decision and participate in solution making when problems arise. Also the subordinates are allowed to set their own targets, by this means the employees are also aware what is expected from them.
When asked how the leader talks about the future, one particular response was that “the
21 Another characteristic of transformational leadership is that the leaders empower their
subordinates.The empowered of the employees is done in the “overleg” meetings and by giving them more responsibilities. Although the employees are challenges and empowered one respond says “there isn’t any kind form of teaching or coaching going on in his
department”.
When asked, how leadership style influence the successfulness of strategy implementation? The respondents both agreed that the leadership style has a positive influence on the
successfulness of strategy implementation. “The leadership style can encourage and motivate,
and coach the employees in the direction of the change”.
“Depending on the leadership style, leaders will appreciate the employees and influence them
toward his mission and vision”.
Leadership Style
Respondent 1 Respondent 2
Leadership Style in General ++ +
Leader behavior + +
Leader Communication Style ++ ++
Buy-in +/- +
Getting the word out + +/-
Reward ++ +
Motivation ++ +
Goals + +
Influence on Successfulness of strategy implementation + + Strong negative: - - , Negative: - , Neutral: +/- , Positive: + , Strong Positive; + + Table 3: Leadership Style influence on successfulness’ of strategy implementation
22
5 Discussion
This chapter describes the overall conclusion based on what has been written in the result section. Furthermore, the research question will be answered, followed by some
recommendations and the limitation encountered during the research.
5.1 Conclusion
The research question of this study is: How do the organizational characteristics influence
the successfulness of the strategy implementation?
In General can be concluded based on the results in section four, that there is a relation between all the organizational characteristics, organizational structure, organizational culture and leadership style with the successfulness of strategy implementation, although the
literature review does not completely support all the relationship. Each relationship will be analyzed based on the sub questions.
How does the organizational structure influence the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process?
Due to the new strategic plan, CPA decentralized some decision making authority, has high formulization and focuses on both high and low level of specialized employees.Although the respondent think that the organizational structure is positive related to the success of strategy implementation, literature acknowledges that there is a relationship but that this relation does not really have an influence on success.
How does the organizational Culture influence the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process?
Although both respondents acknowledge that there is a relationship between culture and the success of strategy implementation, respondents one see this relationship as being strong positive related, while respondent two see this relationship as positive (see table 2). The main ways that the respondents identified on how these variables influence each other are the; organization core values and norms, Attitudes and behavior of employees, Employees way of thinking, Supporting organization values and norms, Teamwork within organization,
Organizational climate and Employees Acceptance of Change.
23
How does the leadership style influence the perceived successfulness of strategy implementation during the change process?
The leaders at CPA have the characteristics of both the transactional and the transformational leader. According the Cleve (2011) the transformational leadership style has more influence on the successfulness of strategy implementation that the transactional leadership style. Because both leadership styles can be identified, the relationship between the leadership style and the perceived success of strategy implementation can be seen as positive. According to Robbins & Judge (2012), both leadership styles are required and important, the best leaders possess characteristics of both the transactional and transformational leader. Furthermore both respondents’ have identified communication as being how these two variable influences each other.
5.2 Recommendations
As mentioned before, strategy implementation is a process that may take a few months’ or a couple of years (McGee et al., 2010), and the success there of can be measure based on the results after the implementation is carried out. The results can be identified in a few months or in a few years, therefore the recommendations given in this section, will be given with the purpose that they will lead to perceived success of the strategy implementation.
According to Miller (1997) Organizational structure has much less importance on success than other factors and that organizational structure on their own does not appear to lead to successful outcomes, in contrary Miles and Snow (1978) argues that internal structure and process must fit with the strategy for the implementation to be perceived as successful. And having a structure that is not aligned with the organization strategy, will lead to inability to mobilize resources and ineffective execution, meaning lost opportunity for competitive advantage (Palmer et al., 2008). Based on the literature can be suggest for CPA to find an alignment between their structure and their strategy.
24 Furthermore, although CPA sees the organizational norm and values as one of the factors that influence whether success is achieved, another approach could be to introduce a new group of powerful change agents that will come in the organization with the purpose of changing the deep-rooted ways of thinking of the employees. According to Miller (1997) the introduction of a new group of powerful change agents can be an effective “new broom” that will change the deep-rooted ways of thinking.
5.3 Limitations
Some limitation could be observed during the research study. One of the primary limitations is that only two departments of the whole organization took part in the research and from each department only one respondents was included. Meaning that the result has a low reliability and cannot be applied or generalized through the whole organization.Another limitation is the traceability of the answer to the respondents. Due to the fact that only two respondents were interviewed, the statement can be easily traced back to the respondent.
25
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