Execution of Strategy Essay

Executives, or corporate-level managers, are in charge of many things governing the success of the company as a whole. Among these are developing a strategic vision and business mission, setting objectives, crafting a strategy, implementing and executing a strategy and evaluating the performance of the strategy. Strategies are especially important because of the value-creation process that occurs because of it. Sometimes, though, execution of strategies fail and the question here is â€Å"why? † One possible reason is that the strategies developed by the executives are too broad and do not take into consideration the environment of the firm at the operational level, which is the lowest level and the closest to the markets. One possible way to curb this problem is through a bottom-up approach, wherein the operational-level managers submit their proposed strategies and the corporate-level managers evaluate and approve these, or the top-bottom-top approach, wherein the corporate-level managers forward their suggested strategies to the operational-level managers, who make changes accordingly, and evaluate the said changes before approving the strategy. Supple Supply Chain According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2007), the term ‘supple’ means to be able to easily adapt to new circumstances. When we say that a supply chain is ‘supple’, we simply mean that a firm is very flexible in terms of its ability to synchronize its functions and those of its’ suppliers to match the flow of service, information and materials with cutomer demand. A firm’s environment is constantly changing, especially in our day and age with the advent of technology which brings about major changes to the flow of communication. A firm that cannot take advantage of these changes is sure to fail. For example, the Daimler-Chrysler Corporation had a major problem with regards to the delay in production when a certain portion of its parts was just a tiny bit too large or too small; it would have taken ages for changes to be made. Today, however, using a program called ‘Powerway’, which ables the firm to collaborate more easily with their suppliers, the firm can now avoid delays by forseeing the problem and adjusting accordingly before it even occurs (Mayor, 2007). The best strategy a firm can employ to ensure a supple supply chain is to take advantage of the advancing technology, as the Daimler-Chrysler Corporation has done. The new programs developed by the IT industries offer a way for firms to know and understand the production and business processes to allow for quick response to changes in the firm’s market (Mayor, 2007). One thing to understand, though, is that one should not confuse a ‘supple supply chain’ with a ‘responsive supply chain,’ because a responsive supply chain is a strategy of the firm to counter uncertain demand wherein a supple supply chain is a characteristic of the supply chain. Reference http://www.cio.com/article/119301/The_Supple_Supply_Chain http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/supple