Strategic Implementation as a Core Competency: The 5P's Model

Whereas strategy formation has received robust examination in the literature, explicit guidance toward strategy implementation has been meager. Unfortunately, most strategic planning efforts fail during this crucial phase wasting significant resources already invested. Because of the abysmal success rates in plan realization, we suggest that the systematic strategy implementation requires a more integrative methodology. While it is feasible to theoretically separate the academic domains of strategic management, operations management, organizational behavior, etc., such an approach is not pragmatic for organizational leaders charged with conceptual execution. These leaders would benefit from a more inclusive framework so that strategic implementation, as opposed to the myopic focus on strategy formulation, might emerge as a core competency. Based upon this premise, we integrate theory and research from supposed disparate business disciplines to offer the 5P's model, a universal, comprehensive representation of effective strategy implementation.