Organizational strategy – definition and meaning
A company’s organizational strategy is everything it intends to do to achieve its goals and objectives. The term refers more to long-term goals than short-term ones. In other words, how a company needs to evolve to get to where it wants to go. Organizational strategy also includes a detailed assessment of what it needs to do. We refer to all the actions the company plans to take as its strategic plan.
Before developing its strategy, the company must compare how it is now with how it wants to become. Specifically, where it wants to be at a given future date. It must define the differences and then list what it needs to do to get there.
According to SmallBusiness.Chron.com, senior management creates the company’s larger organizational strategy. Its middle managers, on the other hand, adopt plans and goals to fulfill the strategy step by step.
Organizational strategy is closely related to organizational studies. The academic field of organizational studies analyzes organizations. Specifically, it analyses them to determine what makes them thrive or fail.
Cambridge Dictionary says that organizational strategy refers to:
“The plans of a large company or organization about how to develop, deal with changing markets, etc.”
When a company makes the transition from its current state to an intended future state, we call it organizational change.
Organizational strategy – execution is crucial
According to several studies, many companies fail to execute their strategies successfully. A Wharton School article says that the problem is not with the planning. In fact, most of the strategies are good. The problem is with execution.
You must be able to deliver on your intent. Unfortunately, most companies are not good at it. In fact, the majority of executives admit that their companies are not good at execution.
In a Harvard Business Review article, the authors said 60% of employees admitted that their organization was weak at execution.
The authors, Gary L. Neilson, Karla L. Martin, Elizabeth Powers, had invited thousands of employees to complete an online assessment. An assessment specifically about their organizations’ capabilities. They eventually had 125,000 profiles representing over one thousand companies.
When they asked the employees whether important strategic plans rapidly turned into action, most said no.
What is an organization? If you have a group of individuals who work together with the same aim, you have an organization. In other words, members of an organization share a common goal.
Video explanation
Why organizational strategies are important
In this Virtual Strategist video, Erica Olsen talks about why organizational strategies are so important for companies. She begins by talking about the strategies for climbing a mountain.