INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOZHIKODE

Post Graduate Programme in Management

Course Outline

Course Name Strategy Implementation Year and Batch II Year, 2016-18,

PGP20
Term V Course Credit 3
Total no. of 15 Session 2 hrs
sessions Duration
Instructor(s) Sumit Mitra
Contact Details 0495-2809108
Office Faculty Block 1, Room No. 108

Introduction
This course will primarily focus on the application of strategic implementation. While
Strategy Implementation is the focus of this course, we recognize that it cannot be isolated
from Strategy Formulation; feedback during implementation is input into formulation. The
strategy process is circular and on-going with influence from environmental as well as internal
autonomous forces. H a v i n g u n d e r t a k e n Strategy Formulation, it is Implementation
and Execution success that will give desired results and will culminate in the success of the firm.
But implementation has no laid down formula and will need understanding of challenges faced in
different situations of strategy implementation to develop a success map. Therefore study of cases
highlighting different implementation scenarios is found to be best for understanding strategy
implementation.

Learning Outcomes/Course Objectives

This course helps students understand:
1. The strategy formulation-implementation linkage
2. Use frameworks to comprehend the organizational complexities of strategy
implementation
3. Identify specific roles of leaders, functional areas, organization systems and processes
in the success of a strategy.

Textbooks and Learning Materials

There are no specific textbook for this course. Relevant sections of the text book prescribed for
Corporate Strategy would be used:
1. Strategic Management by Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson and Manikutty, Cengage, 9th edition

Additional Reading(s)
As indicated in the Session Plan below

Pedagogy Used/Learning Process

This course would be thought through a combination of readings, case discussions, group
learnings and lectures with intent to cover varied perspectives. The instructor expect the
students to participate actively in the class. Students are expected to read the textbooks or
other assigned readings outside of class and participate in the critical evaluation of the material
through class discussion.

1
Session Plan

Sessi Topic Readings Case(s)

on
1 Introduction to 1. Bradach.J.L "Organizational Alignment: New Balance Athletic
Strategy The 7-S Model." Harvard Business Shoe Inc.
Implementation School Note (1996). (*) 606094-PDF-ENG

Understanding 2. Mintzberg, H. and Waters, J.A., 1985. Of

Implementation strategies, deliberate and emergent.
using 7S Strategic management journal, 6(3),
pp.257-272.

2 Implementing 1. Spear, S. and Bowen, H.K., 1999. "Deaconess-Glover

integrated socio- Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Hospital (A)-
technical system production system. Harvard business 601022-PDF-ENG
(TPS) review, 77, pp.96-108. (*)

2. Adler, P.S., 1993. Time-and-motion

regained. Harvard Business Review,
71(1), pp.97-108.

3 Strategy and 1. Olson, E. M., Slater, S. F. and Hult, G. T. Renault-Nissan

Structure M. (2005). The importance of structure alliance in 2008:
and process to strategy implementation SM166-PDF-ENG
Business Horizons, 48(1) pp. 4754.

4 Management 1. Introduction to the Management Control ATH Technologies

Control Process Process By David F Hawkins, HBS 9- (A): Making the
105-044. Rev May 5, 2005. Numbers- 9-117-013
ATH Technologies (B)
9-117-014.
5 Performance 1. Grady.M.W. 1991. Performance ATH Technologies (C)
Measurement and measurement: implementing strategy. 9-117-015.
Control- Balanced Strategic Finance, 72(12), p.49.
Score Card
2. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P., 2000.
Having trouble with your strategy? Then
map it. Harvard Business Review,
78(5). (*)

6 Balanced Score 1. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P., 2001. Domestic Auto Parts
Card contd.. Transforming the balanced scorecard (DAP)
from performance measurement to
strategic management: Part I. Accounting
horizons, 15(1), pp.87-104.

2. Kaplan, R.S. and Norton, D.P., 2001.

Transforming the balanced scorecard
from performance measurement to
strategic management: Part II.
Accounting Horizons, 15(2), pp.147-160.
7 Role of Leadership 1. Bower, J.L. and Gilbert, C.G., 2007. How HCL Technologies (A)
in Strategy Managers' everyday decisions create or 408004-PDF-ENG
Implementation
2
 destroy your company's strategy. Harvard
Business Review, 85(2), pp.72-9. (*)

2. Montgomery, C.A., 2008. Putting

leadership back into strategy. Harvard
Business Review, 86(1), p.54.

8 Culture and Strategy
Implementation
1. Bushardt, S.C., Glascoff, D.W. and Doty, Aligning Culture and
D.H., 2011. Organizational culture, Strategy at A. P. Nichols
formal reward structure, and effective - W11423-PDF-ENG
strategy implementation: A conceptual
model. Journal of Organizational Culture,
Communication and Conflict, 15(2),
p.57. (*)

2. Mooij, M., 2010. Tailoring your strategy

to fit the culture. IESE Insight, 2(5),
pp.23-30. (*)
9 Implementing Blue 1. Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R., 2004. Making a Blue Ocean
Ocean Strategy Blue ocean strategy. Harvard Business Strategic move that
Review, 82(10), 76-84. (*) discourages Imitation:
The case of Wikipedia-
2. Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R., 2014. BOS020-PDF-ENG
Blue ocean leadership. Harvard business
review, 92(5), 60-72.
10 Implementation 1. Kotter, J.R., 2007. Leading change-Why Procter & Gamble, 2015
challenges in a crisis transformation efforts fail. Harvard 715429-PDF-ENG
Business Review, 85(1) (*)

2. Reisner, R.A., 2002. When a turnaround

stalls. Harvard Business Review, 80(2),
pp.45-52.
11 Strategy 1. Argyris, C., 1991. Teaching Smart Caroline Regis at Excel
Implementation in People How to Learn. Harvard Business Systems
Entrepreneurial Review, 69(3), pp.99-109. 915515-PDF-ENG
Firms
12 Implementation and 1. Radjou, N., Prabhu, J., Kaipa, P. and State Bank of India-
the Public Sector Ahuja, S., 2010. How to ignite creative SMS Unhappy
leadership in your organization. Harvard
Business Review, 19.

2. Thamby.A 2004, Resurrecting a Bank:

Key Lessons From the Turnaround of
Indian Bank, IIMB Management Review
16(1) (*)
13 Strategy 1. Bernstein, Ethan, and Nitin Nohria. Xiaomi
Implementation "Note on Organizational Structure."
Challenges in Harvard Business School Background
Global Companies Note 491-083

2. Yaprak, A., Xu, A.P.S. and Cavusgil,

A.P.E., 2011. Effective global strategy
implementation. Management
International Review, 51(2), pp.179-192.
14 Project Presentation
&15
(*): These are must reads that are to be used to analyze case for the corresponding session
3
Evaluation Components/Assessment of Student Learning

Assessment Tool Weightage

Class Participation & Case Discussion 30%
Quizzes (best 2 out of 3) 20%
Group Project & Presentation 20%
End term Examination 30%
Total 100%

Class Participation & Case Discussion - 30 Marks

Active and thoughtful class participation will be critical for learning. Marks for class
participation will be awarded on the basis of the contribution made in the class, particularly
during case discussion. In evaluating class participation, the quality rather than the frequency
of contributions will matter the most. In assessing the quality, the following would be
considered:
Does the participant simply repeat the facts of the case or he / she provides analysis to
broaden our understanding of the issues facing the protagonist?
Does the comment fit well into the flow of the discussion? Is he /she linking the comments
to comments made by others?
How significantly did this students participation contribute to the learning of the section
as a whole?

Quiz20 Marks
There will be three surprise quizzes during the term, either at the beginning or the end or middle
of class to test the students understanding of readings, up to date knowledge of case and even
class discussions. There will NOT BE any make-up quizzes for those quizzes missed.

Group Project 20 marks

This is a group project aimed at testing the students understanding of international business
strategies of the MNCs. This will also evaluate their mastery over a body of analytical tools
and strategic frameworks and the ability to take an integrative point of view. The details would
be provided later in the class.
Evaluation Criteria for Reports
Content and relevance of the content - 8 marks
Analysis - 8 marks
Structure of the report - 4 marks

General rules for the reports

All the groups have to submit both printed copy and soft copy of the report. Direct copy-paste
from websites (except for tables and diagrams) will be considered as copying and will get only
zero marks.
Report format- Times News Roman font size 12 and 1.5 spacing. The report should be
printed on an A4 size sheet. First page should contain the name of the group members,
Enrolment number and the name of the industry analyzed. (The marks for structure of the report
will consider these formatting issues also)

End Term Examinations (30 marks)

The examination would be a combination of small caselets and cases. The details would be
announced later in the class.