Although the formulation of organisation strategies is reportedly easier, many organisations struggle when it comes to implementation of their strategies. Given that such strategies are in most cases informed by well researched market data and information, the strategy implementation challenges could then be linked to the role characteristics of strategic leaders, such as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of a CEO personality in strategic leadership in order to contribute to addressing the challenges of strategy implementation. The main methodology used was qualitative through unstructured interviews with 13 incumbent CEOs. A quantitative methodology was also employed to assess the personalities of the CEOs using standard personality test. The research found that strategic leadership practices are biased towards strategy implementation than the envisioning which typically supports the building of more resilient strategies. The research found that CEO Personality has a role in strategic leadership and this was suggested by the integrated analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data. Interviewed CEOs also provided lived experiences that support this suggestion. Organisations need to invest in envisioning and understanding the personalities in work places to build more resilient strategies. Further research is proposed to look at personality roles in different industries. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study was initiated due to the need to address process of moving from strategic planning to strategy implementation within the South African hotel industry. The idea of strategy implementation might seem straightforward: namely that the strategy is formulated and then implemented. However, transforming strategies into action is a far more complex and difficult task. Numerous impeders hamper this process. The main deliverable of the investigation was to develop a conceptual and practical strategy implementation model for the South African hotel industry. The intention of the strategy implementation framework was to serve as a tool that assists in the process of moving from strategic planning to strategy implementation. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed for data gathering. The first phase involved five in-depth interviews with executives from three to five star rated hotels. The second phase involved the completion of a structured questionnaire by a sample of 61 three to five star rated hotel managers. Although the data gathering covered the entire strategic management process, there was a specific focus on strategy implementation and the impeders associated with this process within the South African hotel industry. The data from both the phases were analysed and a draft conceptual and practical model was developed. The intention of the researcher was to present a model that is both user-friendly and easy to understand, as well as practical for use by all levels of management with varying educational qualifications, within the hotel industry. A draft model was subsequently presented during a focus group session to a group of hotel executives, managers and management consultants for review. The discussions focussed on a number of aspects relating to the model, including but not limited to the ease of understanding of the model and concepts and its practicality in assisting hotel practitioners move from strategic planning to strategy implementation. Based on the discussions from the focus group, a revised and final model was developed. While the research focussed on the hotel industry in South Africa and therefore its primary application is for the South African hotel industry, further research could be done to investigate the potential application of the model in hotels located in other countries. The model might also be adaptable for use in other service industries. In addition, the research focussed on developing a model that would assist practitioners in the hotel industry move from strategic planning to strategy implementation. During the research, it became apparent that the need for customised hotel industry specific strategy implementation tools is a niche requirement. However, further research must be conducted to investigate, review and ascertain the availability of management and practical tools that could help hotel managers in the monitoring of strategy implementation and if not, a model or scorecard could be developed, taking into account the idiosyncratic nature of the hotel industry. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Tourism Management / unrestricted

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Strategy implementation is crucial for organizational success, yet it remains one of the most challenging aspects for business as many organizations struggle to translate their strategies into successful implementation. Furthermore, despite its importance, the exploration of strategy implementation has paradoxically both fascinated and eluded researchers’ attention who often view strategy implementation as a mystery. The study begins by addressing the significant gap in existing literature concerning the role of managers in strategy implementation, more precisely how their structural managerial actions influence commitment. Structural managerial actions include the strategic tools and practices managers use to guide the organization towards its strategic objectives. Additionally, existing research suggests that these actions influence employees’ determination and willingness to perform tasks to support the strategy implementation, a concept referred to as commitment. While acknowledged by some authors, the relationship between structural managerial actions and commitment remains underexplored and thus represents a significant gap in the current literature of strategy implementation. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to explore how structural managerial actions impact commitment during the strategy implementation process, thereby providing a deeper understanding to the current mystery of strategy implementation. In line with this purpose, the goal of this study is to address the following research question: • How do structural managerial actions impact commitment during the strategy implementation process? To improve the understanding of the strategy implementation process, and to promote its inclusion in strategy research, a single case study has been conducted. Through an abductive research approach, this study collects empirical data through seven semi-structured qualitative interviews with managers at the organization under study, focusing on their experiences and perceptions related to strategy implementation, commitment, and structural managerial actions. Furthermore, a thematic analysis was performed to code themes and sub-themes for the analytical chapter of the study to be able to answer the study’s purpose and research question. The findings reveal a two-step relationship where different structural managerial actions first impact factors like role clarity, organizational support, communication, feedback and involvement, common understanding and perceived contribution. In turn, these factors are critical for enhancing overall commitment during strategy implementation. Moreover, the study highlights that different structural managerial actions have different significance for different factors. Together these findings contribute to understanding of how structural managerial actions impact commitment during strategy implementation.

It is essential for the survival of the mining industry to look at the effective streamlining of organisations that can survive in the downturn in the gold cycle and meet the state demands placed on the industry. This study outlines challenges in South African gold mines and investigates the fit of the strategy implementation with the theory of implementing strategy on through the combined organisational design approach of looking at organisational structure, strategic and management control systems and organisational culture as well as corporate governance and strategic leadership. The research focus is on the implementation of generic strategies in South African gold mines pertaining to general industry issues such as strategies to address profitability and sustainability, dealing with the regulatory framework in terms of state intervention in the minerals sectors (SIMS), the Social and Labour Plan (SLP) and the Minerals and Petroleum Development Act of 2002, amended 2013 (MPRDA) and socio-economic concerns through the mining charter and wage demands. The purpose of the research is to explore how management perceives the implementation of strategies in general, without specific attention to the strategies developed for the organisation. The research will explore strategy implementation in South African gold mines and test the theory for the implementation of strategy. The research design is a qualitative study with individual semi-structured interviews. Participants were purposefully selected based on their experience in management roles in South African gold mines. The results of testing the developed theory-based strategy implementation against the practical application of strategy implementation shows an acceptable match in terms of corporate governance and strategic and management control systems. Gaps are identified in terms of organisational structure and culture. Strategic leadership and the strategic implementation plan show larger gaps compared to the theory, which is a concern. Though sound strategies may be in place, implementation fails. The absence of strategy implementation plans is noticeable and not linked back to strategic leadership. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

It is essential for the survival of the mining industry to look at the effective streamlining of organisations that can survive in the downturn in the gold cycle and meet the state demands placed on the industry. This study outlines challenges in South African gold mines and investigates the fit of the strategy implementation with the theory of implementing strategy on through the combined organisational design approach of looking at organisational structure, strategic and management control systems and organisational culture as well as corporate governance and strategic leadership. The research focus is on the implementation of generic strategies in South African gold mines pertaining to general industry issues such as strategies to address profitability and sustainability, dealing with the regulatory framework in terms of state intervention in the minerals sectors (SIMS), the Social and Labour Plan (SLP) and the Minerals and Petroleum Development Act of 2002, amended 2013 (MPRDA) and socio-economic concerns through the mining charter and wage demands. The purpose of the research is to explore how management perceives the implementation of strategies in general, without specific attention to the strategies developed for the organisation. The research will explore strategy implementation in South African gold mines and test the theory for the implementation of strategy. The research design is a qualitative study with individual semi-structured interviews. Participants were purposefully selected based on their experience in management roles in South African gold mines. The results of testing the developed theory-based strategy implementation against the practical application of strategy implementation shows an acceptable match in terms of corporate governance and strategic and management control systems. Gaps are identified in terms of organisational structure and culture. Strategic leadership and the strategic implementation plan show larger gaps compared to the theory, which is a concern. Though sound strategies may be in place, implementation fails. The absence of strategy implementation plans is noticeable and not linked back to strategic leadership. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Business strategy in itself is a well-known concept in today’s academic literature and extensive research on strategy formulation can easily be found. Strategy implementation on the other hand has not been researched to the same extent. This seems to be contradictory when one takes into consideration that effective and efficient strategy implementation has been proven to have an incredibly large impact on the success of any firm, company or organisation. Furthermore, no strategy will be beneficial for a company if it cannot be implemented. Adding to the complexity of this situation, middle management has long been disregarded concerning the strategy process or even thought to be detrimental. However, in recent years there has been a shift and research has started to recognise the importance of middle managers. The thesis aims to provide a deeper understanding of how middle management actively operates when implementing strategy. By doing so the thesis may be of value for middle managers and companies working with strategy, by increasing awareness about middle management’s influence on the strategy implementation process.  This thesis is partially exploratory and partially descriptive with a qualitative and deductive nature. In order to answer the purpose, a research strategy of case studies was used where empirical data was collected from interviews held with six different middle managers.  An implementation process model that described the different phases of strategy execution and supporting activities surrounding implementation was created. The developed implementation framework had its foundation in previous research concerning strategy implementation from an organisational perspective. The data that was collected from the middle managers was then analysed and compared to the model. By modifying the implementation process model using the information received from the middle managers a verified implementation process model was created which takes into account the middle management perspective.   The most important findings suggest that middle managers are important for the implementation process. An implementation process model from a middle management perspective has been developed which presents the phases of execution and what impact middle managers have during the course of the implementation. The findings further suggest that middle management can increase the successfulness of a strategy if allowed influence from start to finish. / Strategier i sig självt är ett välkänt område i dagens akademiska litteratur och man kan enkelt hitta utförlig forskning om strategi formulering. Implementeringen av strategier är däremot inte ett lika populärt forskningsområde. Detta är något motsägelsefullt när man tar hänsyn till att en effektiv implementering av strategi har visat sig ha en väldigt stor påverkan på företags framgång. Dessutom kan ingen strategi vara fördelaktig för ett företag om strategin ej kan implementeras. För att öka komplexiteten av detta har mellanchefer länge blivit förbisedda eller till och med ansetts vara skadliga för strategi processen. Dock håller detta på att ändras och mellanchefer börjar mer och mer anses som viktiga. Denna uppsats försöker skapa en djupare förståelse för hur mellanchefer aktivt arbetar när implementering av strategier sker. Genom detta kan uppsatsen vara av värde för mellanchefer och företag som arbetar med strategier genom att bidra med en ökad medvetenhet om mellanchefers påverkan på implementeringsprocessen.  Uppsatsen var delvis explorativ och delvis deskriptiv med ett kvalitativ och deduktiv tillvägagångssätt. Fallstudier användes där data samlades in via intervjuer med sex olika mellanchefer.  En modell som beskriver implementeringsprocessens olika faser och stödjande faktor skapades. Modellen var baserad på tidigare forskning om implementering av strategier från ett företagsperspektiv. Data som samlades in från mellancheferna var sedan analyserad och jämnförd med modellen. Genom att anpassa modellen med informationen från mellancheferna en verifierad implementeringsprocess utifrån ett mellanchefsperspektiv skapades.  Det viktigaste resultatet antyder att mellanchefer är viktiga för implementering av strategier. Implementeringsmodellen ur ett mellanchefsperspektiv presenterar faser av utförandet av strategi och effekten mellanchefer har under implementeringsprocessen. Resultaten antyder även att mellanchefer kan öka strategiers sannolikhet för framgång om de har möjlighet att bidra från stat till slut.

This study offers insight into the perceived leadership behaviour of sales managers in a pharmaceutical organisation in South Africa. The study specifically investigated the extent of the relationship between leadership behaviour of sales managers and motivation of sales teams during the implementation of strategic alliances. The study followed a mixed methods approach and had a correlational research design. The population in this study was the fifty four (54) sales representatives and their respective sales managers of the six sales teams identified, who are directly responsible for implementing strategic alliances. The population was demarcated into six (6) sales teams with each team reporting to a separate sales manager. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The quantitative data were analysed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r). The qualitative component was analysed using a content analysis. The findings of the correlation analysis suggest that an overall positive and moderate relationship exist between autocratic leadership behaviour of sales managers and the motivation of sales teams. A similar relationship exists between team leadership and extrinsic motivation. A positive and weak relationship exists between directive and supportive leadership and motivation. Similarly, a positive and weak relationship exists between team leadership and intrinsic motivation. However, the extent to which these relationships exist varies between the sales teams. The findings of the content analysis indicate that task-oriented leadership behaviour may exert the strongest motivator for sales teams when implementing strategic alliances. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Gaseller kallas företag som växer i en enormt snabb takt. Det finns idag ingen allmänt vedertagen definition av vad ett gasellföretag är, men vanligtvis brukar man inom forskningen säga att ett gasellföretag har en säljökning med minst 20 % per år i 2-5 år. Trots att dessa företag endast utgör 2-10 % av alla små och medelstora företag fast de endast utgör en så liten del så utgör det till mer än 40 % av alla nya jobb som skapas på arbetsmarknaden. Problematiken för dessa företag som kallas för gaseller är att en stor del av dessa företag inte har någon längre livscykel. Lika snabbt som de kommer in på marknaden lika snabbt försvinner de igen. Skillnaden mellan företagen är dock stor och vissa lyckas mycket bättre än andra.Just det faktum att vissa gasellföretag lyckas så mycket bättre än andra är en intressant sak att undersöka. I denna studie undersöks om det kan vara så att ett företags strategiska val kan påverka ett gasellföretags möjlighet att utvecklas och förbli ett gasellföretag och i så fall på vilket sätt det kan påverka. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i Mintzbergs (1993) superstruktur och använder sig även av de tankar och idéer som Markiewicz (2011) har utvecklat angående barriärer som kan tänkas finnas vid ett strategiimplementerande i organisationer.Studiens syfte att undersöka hur ett företags strategival påverkar dess möjlighet att utvecklas och förbli ett gasellföretag har fordrat en kvalitativ metod. Därför bygger det empirska materialet på observationer på det utvalda företaget samt intervjuer med personer på de olika nivåerna i företaget.Uppsatsen visar hur ett speciellt företag som har en brant tillväxtkurva som ett gasellföretag agerar för att på ett så bra sätt som möjligt implementera en strategi som ska göra det möjligt för företaget att förbli ett gasellföretag. Mintzbergs (1993) superstruktur och Markiewicz (2011) fyra barriärer angående strategiimplementering i organisationer har varit det teoretiska stödet i uppsatsen. / Gazelles are companies which have an annual increase in sales of at least 20 %, for a running period of 2 to 5 years. Despite all this these companies only stands for 2-10 % of the entire market of small to medium sized business. Despite this small number they are accounted for more than 40 % of all the new jobs who are created. The problem these companies are experiencing is that their lifecycle are short. As fast as they enter the market they disappear. The differences between the companies are large and some of them succeed better than the others.The fact that some gazelles do better than others is an interesting subject to investigate. This study investigates if a company’s strategic decisions may affect it´s possibilities to evolve into a gazelle company and how it does it. The study has its base in Mintzbergs (1993) superstructure and it uses the thoughts and ideas of Markiewicz (2011) resolving around his implementation barriers.The purpose of this study is to investigate how a company´s strategic choice affects their capability of sustaining the levels required to be called gazelles, this have steered the study in the direction of a qualitative study. That is why the empirical studies are built up from observations and interviews with individuals from different hierarchical levels.This essay shows how a specific gazelle company acts to implement strategies to make sure that they will remain a gazelle. Mintzbergs (1993) superstructure and Markiewicz (2011) four barriers regarding strategy implementation has been the theoretical support in the essay.The essay itself is written in Swedish.

Purpose - The aim of this research is to examine higher education (HE) internationalization in terms of international recruitment and academic collaboration with the focus on a single institution case study. The research investigates how the case study university conducts HE internationalization, identifies key implementation issues of HE internationalization, and develops an education-specific market entry dynamic framework. The discussion of the difference in the process of internationalization across faculties is also included. Design/methodology/approach - This research adopts the interpretivist philosophy and inductive approach, with focus of a single institution. Based on the positions and job responsibilities, the total of 20 interviewees from three key departments (Corporate, Department 2 and Faculty) were selected and 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted. The total of 329 pages of interview transcripts were analyzed. Other types of data collection include observation and secondary documentary data. The answers from each group were used in a comparative analysis, resulting in an overlap pattern structure that indicates the level of the university's internal integration. Data analysis strategies include content analysis, critical discourse analysis (CDA), colour coding, and categorization of meaning. Findings and contributions - The market entry dynamic framework is the main outcome of this research. This framework provides a number of education-specific modes of entry and programme delivery methods to guide institutions' internationalization. The implementation issues raised in this research indicate that the university's internal integration has a major impact on HE internationalization. These issues highlight the areas where the university needs to improve. Faculty-specific factors explain the difference in the process of internationalization across the four faculties at the case study university, and explain the reasons why the levels of internationalization are different among these faculties.