Fifty per cent of leaders don’t believe they have a winning strategy and nearly all report missing major opportunities. This is because where their company aims to go is disconnected from what it is able to accomplish, say experts.

Strategy That Works, a new book from Harvard Business Review Press by authors Paul Leinwand, Principal at PwC’s Strategy& and Cesare Mainardi, retired CEO of Strategy&, demystifies the perennial question of “why are certain companies so successful?”

Strategy That Works guides corporate leaders through real-life examples of how successful companies around the world have bridged the gap between strategy and execution to rise to the top of their industries.

“Around the world, we are seeing companies wrestle with how to develop strategies that keep them competitive in an increasingly complex global marketplace,” said Dennis Nally, chairman PricewaterhouseCoopers International.

“All too often companies don’t think about strategy and execution together – Strategy That Works is an excellent guide to what  companies need to do to bridge the gap and deliver sustained success.”

“The strategy to execution gap is something we often experience in the region”, said Per-Ola Karlsson, Partner with Strategy&. “Many companies here set ambitions and develop strategies that are stretching their organizations’ capabilities to the limit. A careful understanding of how to pace implementation and build new capabilities is required to achieve desired outcomes.”

So how can companies close the gap between strategy and execution?

“Executing your strategy well requires a focus on differentiated capabilities, clarity of purpose and vision, and embedding strategic goals in the culture of the business,” said Dr Anil Khurana, partner PwC Middle East.

“The result of extensive and independent research on 14 diverse, successful, global companies that have distinguished themselves through what they do consistently well, Strategy That Works demonstrates how the effective execution of a great strategy is what sets highly successful companies apart.”

Companies such as Apple, Starbucks, Danaher, Natura and retail brand Zara, which have stayed astonishingly successful in a challenged retail market due to the combination of their differentiating capabilities, serve as case studies throughout the book, and open the door to understanding the five Acts of Unconventional Leadership that yield success.

The Five Acts of Unconventional Leadership:

1.    Commit to an identity: Instead of chasing growth wherever it may occur - focus on your differentiating capabilities and grow by being consistently clear-minded about what you do best.

2.    Translate the strategic into the everyday: Build and connect the cross-functional capabilities that deliver your strategic intent… instead of copying others.

3.    Put your culture to work: Instead of organizing and reorganizing, celebrate and leverage your company’s assets and cultural strengths.

4.    Cut costs to grow stronger: Instead of cutting across the board, stay focused and prune what doesn’t matter to invest more in what does.

5.    Shape the future: Reimagine your capabilities, create demand, and realign your place in the market on your own terms… instead of reacting to changes by others.

Author Paul Leinwand stated: “The companies we studied have powerful aspirations and have created the capabilities to deliver on their aspirations, a combination that provides the only form of sustainable success we have found.”

By embodying the five acts, these companies profiled in Strategy That Works demonstrate a key differentiating factor: they understand how to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, added Leinwand. – TradeArabia News Service