Msanii Nay wa Mitego akitoka kituo cha polisi kati ikiwa ni muda mfupi baada ya agizo la Waziri Mwakyembe kutaka aachiwe huru pic.twitter.com/k1EWzlrYju— millard ayo (@millardayo) March 27, 2017
'Asante kwa wote walioamka na kuwa upande wangu, upande wa haki, walioamini kile ambacho nimekifanya nawashukuru sana'-Nay wa Mitego pic.twitter.com/kbtHHz7rcV— millard ayo (@millardayo) March 27, 2017
'Matumizi ya nguvu hayalipi! Kurekebisha kwa upendo hulipa! Hongera Rais, Hongera Mwakyembe kwa uamuzi wa Busara dhidi ya muziki wa Nay-Nape pic.twitter.com/duW0951fwj— millard ayo (@millardayo) March 27, 2017
Many readers will recognise the fact that their business strategies in many cases are disconnected from execution. Many will also acknowledge that most of the execution work being delivered is opportunity-driven rather than a planned effort defined as part of the strategic planning process.
When business developers are positioned in companies where strategy is disconnected from execution, their role tends to quickly deteriorate, and they become absorbed to support the line organisation's tactical priorities. But instead of accepting this as a fact of corporate life, business developers must proactively engage themselves in reconfiguring the strategy management process in the company – for the benefit of the company, making sure they work to bridge the gap between ambition and performance.
According to Kaplan & Norton, the lack of alignment is typically the result of a poor strategy management process which leaves top management with an inconsistent way to describe strategy, CFOs unable to link budgets to strategy and the majority of middle managers and workforce incapable of understanding the strategy.
"When business developers are positioned in companies where strategy is disconnected from execution, their role tends to quickly deteriorate, and they become absorbed to support the line organisation's tactical priorities"
The traditional strategy management process – still in operation in the majority of large companies – is kicked off halfway through the fiscal year. The CEO invites the management team to the annual update on budget performance to debate strategy going forward. A short time hereafter, the same meeting is taking place on a divisional or business unit level and soon after on functional levels of the organisation. Towards the end of the third quarter, the CFO takes over and initiates the annual budgeting cycle – typically a combined top-down and bottom-up process. Finally, by the end of the fourth quarter, the HR organisation conducts annual performance reviews and co-ordinates the establishment of new functional and individual targets for the year to come.
When the investment pays off, the key factors for success are that the business developers themselves have
Participated proactively in the processes that connect strategy and implementation
becoming an integrated part of the way strategies are defined and executed
•Followed a simple set of rules of engagement
enabling them to challenge status quo while respecting the corporate DNA
A. Connecting strategy and implementation
When introducing the concept of being "integrated" earlier, we identified business development as performing three activities
•Investigating strategic options (external/internal)
•Executing strategic projects
•Orchestrating strategy management
We have found that many business development units are in fact investigating new opportunities and executing projects. What is new to many, and what is essential for units to become truly "integrated", is to work to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation – to perform the orchestration of strategy management.
