If you are embarking around the world in a hot-air

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wait for an incoming fax. Richard Branson
T
he unstable and ever-changing nature of todays
marketplace coupled with the increasing com-
plexity of organizations are making the execution
of tactical initiatives devilishly difficult. Veteran execu-
tives yearn for the good old days when life was simpler
and Murphys Law (If anything can go wrong, it will, and
at the most inopportune time) was the basis for jokes
rather than a description of daily operations. Those at the
top now have to become even more savvy to the chal-
lenges faced by front-line managers and employees, who
will determine whether their visions become reality. Their
strategies and tactics will give their firms a competitive
edge only if they are skillfully implemented.
Executives must recognize that the simplicity or intuitive-
ness of their tactical initiative has very little to do with the
challenge of implementing it. The challenge begins not at
the start of implementation but rather during the strategy
formulation process, which can be critical for tactical suc-
cess. Reliance on the Well cross the implementation
bridge when we get to it philosophy may place the firm
in a precarious position. Strategy implementation and
tactical implementation can and should interrelate be-
cause it is through the design and execution of marketing
tactics by front-line managers that higher-level strategies
are implemented.
Tactical implementationthe nuts and bolts and rolled-
up shirtsleeves of a firms operationsrequires front-line
managers to organize, plan, monitor, and in many cases
perform the tasks necessary to translate strategic goals
into marketing actions. Tactical initiatives take the form
of projects because they involve nonroutine activities as
well as coordination with people and groups throughout
the firm. Examples include such programs as advertising
campaigns, integrative promotions, sales force programs,
and new product initiatives.
The realities of putting tactics
to work confound people on
the corporate firing line every day.
Todays tumultuous marketplace and
growing business complexities dont
help. And front-line managers and
employees are the ones facing many of
these challenges while trying to make top
management dreams a reality. Attention must
focus on the critical yet often neglected issue of
effective tactical implementation, including
many of the misconceptions and factors that
contribute to its failure or success. Based on an
ongoing research program on marketing
implementation challenges, five key principles
of tactical implementation are highlighted here,
followed by eight recommendations to help
managers better cope with itrecommendations
that apply to all aspects of business.
53
Thomas W. Porter
Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of North
Carolina at Wilmington
Stephen C. Harper
Professor of Management, University of North Carolina
at Wilmington
Tactical implementation:
The Devil is in the details
One of the challenges of studying implementation at any
level is that there is often no clear boundary between it
and strategy. The experience of Royal Philips Electronics in
marketing its Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) technology
offers a vivid example of the kinds of problems compa-
nies have with tactical implementation. After spending
tens of millions of dollars on DCC development, Philips
stumbled in marketing the technology. One executive con-
cluded, Everything that could have possibly gone wrong
in the marketing has gone wrong. The company made
tactical errors such as flooding record stores with too
many DCC format music titles that did not sell. Upset,
retailers returned the tapes. Customers were frustrated
because they could not find the music they wanted.
Philips made another tactical error in handling a price cut
on existing models of the DCC machine. In its effort to
make way for the next years model, it cut prices so drasti-
cally that many stores were cleaned out long before any
new machines arrived.
The DCC was quickly deemed a flop, selling barely
200,000 units in its first five years. The question is: Was it
introduced with a flawed strategy, or did the mistakes
made during implementation ultimately doom this prom-
ising technology? That question may have no answer.
Bonoma (1985) indicates that when a plan or strategy
fails it can be hard to determine whether it was due to a
strategic error or to the failure to effectively execute a per-
fectly viable strategy.
Tactical implementation is not the routine execution of
prior decisions. It requires a cascade of additional
decisions necessary to put the strategy into place. And
it involves raising and answering many of the specific
who, what, when, where, why, and how questions that
are left out when most strategies and initiatives are
developed. Pressman and Wildavsky (1973) found
that 70 decisions were needed to implement a single
provision from an economic development program.
Figure 1 outlines three key phases in deploying tacti-
cal initiatives: (1) strategy formulation, (2) tactical
and project planning, and (3) execution. These phases
can and do overlap. For example, good strategic plans
will take into account implementation issues by incor-
porating various reality checks, reducing the likeli-
hood of proposed tactical initiatives that are terrific in
theory but impossible to implement. Likewise, it is
almost inevitable that as detailed action planning
takes place, additional strategic issues will emerge that
will have to be addressed well after the plans have
been approved. Moreover, during execution, imple-
menters may well engage in even more fine-grained
implementation planning by developing more de-
tailed agendas, to-do lists, schedules, and budgets for
specific tasks.
Strategic formulation: If you are not pointed in the
right direction, then The marketing component of the
overall planning process demonstrates the iterative rela-
tionship and cascading nature of planning and imple-
mentation. Tactical marketing initiatives are commonly
proposed and approved as part of the annual marketing
planning process. Product managers play a pivotal role in
this process because they specify the corresponding tacti-
cal initiatives they anticipate for the forthcoming year.
Tactical and project planning: Being pointed in the
right direction is not enough. Planning the details of
execution can be a challenge because numerous individu-
als and functional groups are needed to carry out the vari-
ous tasks. For example, an integrated ad campaign incor-
porating in-store promotion would likely require signifi-
cant involvement from the brand management team, an
advertising and/or promotion agency, the sales force (for
enlisting participation from retailers), manufacturing (if
there is any on-package labeling), and fulfillment de-
partments. Senior management, legal, and other groups
may also need to be involved. Tactical initiatives are best
managed as projects because they require action plans
and careful scheduling to coordinate group efforts.
Execution: The blocking and tackling of implementation.
The tasks and activities specified in project planning are
carried out during execution. The marketing managers role
becomes that of project manager, with the challenge of
coordinating work flows, ensuring that tasks are being effec-
tively performed, serving as the nexus of communication
54 Business Horizons / January-February 2003
Figure 1
Phases in the deployment of tactical initiatives
Strategy formulation activities
(Pre-implementation planning)
Project ideation
Developing initial support for project among decision makers
Estimating an expected budget and schedule
Identifying project goals and expected outcomes
Attaining approval for project
Implementation planning activities
(Tactical and project planning)
Detailed action planning
Resource planning
Facilitating buy-in with implementation participants
What-if analysis
Developing contingency plans
Execution activities
Carrying out planned activities
Monitoring and coordinating tasks
Communicating with project participants
Overcoming unanticipated problems
flows, and actively initiating communication activities to
ensure that everything is proceeding as anticipated.
Principles of successful
tactical implementation
T
hree key factors determine the success of imple-
menting a tactical initiative: (1) bringing it in at or
under budget; (2) executing it within the sched-
uled timeframe; and (3) following the implementation
plan. Failure often indicates the occurrence of one or
more unanticipated problems or faulty assumptions that
were difficult to overcome. Being on time and within
budget are only valuable if the resulting tactics appropri-
ately and accurately represent the strategic plans. Unfortu-
nately, implementers frequently must scale back tactical
initiatives because of resource constraints.
While the process is critical, quality is also important. An
architect may develop a fabulous design, but many of the
details will be left out by necessity. The craftsmen who
translate the plans into reality must make numerous
detail-related decisions during implementation. It is these
very details and myriad decisions by the front-line people
that determine whether the structure is a shining success
or a lackluster endeavor. Likewise, front-line managers
must make multitudes of critical decisions during tactical
implementation that can spell the difference between an
initiative succeeding or failing in the marketplace.
There is nothing sexy or glamorous about implementa-
tion. Implementers are like offensive linemen in foot-
ballthey are the unsung heroes if things go as planned,
and often the only ones singled out when something goes
wrong. Too often, senior managers responsible for formu-
lating strategies lose sight of the challenges faced by those
responsible for implementing them. Five key principles
make doing things right in tactical implementation just
as challenging as figuring out the right things to do
when formulating strategy.
Principle #1: What seems simple can be
deceptively complex.
Sometimes tactical initiatives are so simple in concept it
seems they could almost implement themselves. The sim-
plicity of the idea, plan, or action will often blind plan-
ners to the devilishly complex details of implementation.
Consequently, projects are sometimes undertaken without
a complete recognition of how difficult it will be to put
them into place. Numerous unanticipated problems are
destined to crop up when this happens. Delays, budget
overruns, and varying quality can have devastating effects
on competitiveness. If the situation is not corrected
quickly, the companys future may be in jeopardy.
Hickory Farms illustrates what can happen when a com-
pany enters this seemingly simple, deceptively complex
minefield. Believing that baskets would be more appeal-
ing to consumers as gift items than the traditional boxed
assortments, top management proposed selling gift bas-
kets containing assorted meats, cheeses, and other sun-
dries. From an execution point of view, however, this rela-
tively simple idea was quite complex and touched nearly
every department in the firm. The packing of boxes could
be automated, while the gift baskets had to be hand-
packed. The baskets chosen required international sourc-
ing, which was more complicated and time-consuming
than traditional domestic purchasing and acquisition.
Distribution was also a problem. Whereas boxes could be
easily stacked for shipping, baskets were awkward to han-
dle. Every one of these problems represented an initially
unanticipated obstacle that had to be overcome in order
to execute the firms strategy.
Two characteristics of Hickory Farms gift basket initiative
made implementation a challenging project. The first was
associated with project novelty; the implementers were
attempting to do things they had never done before. The
second arose from complexity, with the initiative requiring
the involvement of nearly every department.
Project novelty. Defined as the degree to which imple-
menters have the necessary project skills, experience, and
know-how, project novelty must be factored into the tacti-
cal equation. More novel implementations require key
participants to develop new skills or change their estab-
lished patterns of behavior. Those involved are put at the
base of the learning curve. Any time managers choose to
pursue a more novel initiative over a conventional one,
they must be prepared for the growing pains associated
with trial-and-error learning and the development of new
skills. Hickory Farms lack of experience with interna-
tional purchasing made the initiative more difficult and
time-consuming than had originally been anticipated.
Complexity. The number and diversity of participating
functions must also be factored into the implementation
equation. Managing a project becomes more complex
when more stakeholder groups are involved. Communica-
tion, coordination, and scheduling requirements are all
more intricate. Monitoring ongoing performance and cor-
recting deviations is affected. Oversights and misunder-
standings become harder to avoid. And dealing with the
variety of perspectives and preferences represented is an
issue; it may be harder to identify solutions that satisfy all
the participating functions.
Principle #2: Buy-in is not automatic.
By their nature, decisions, plans, and strategies involve
change. And few people welcome change, especially when
others initiate it. Resistance can range from subtle foot-
dragging all the way to covert sabotage. Thus, one of the
55 Tactical implementation: The Devil is in the details
most critical implementation tasks involves building the
mental commitmentor buy-into the initiative among
those groups and individuals asked to carry out the tasks.
Attaining such buy-in can be tough because front-line
managers rarely have the authority to direct the behavior
of people outside their functional unit. Without direct
control, notes Kanter (1983), the managers are relegated to
campaigning, lobbying, bargaining, negotiating, caucus-
ing, collaborating and winning votes. This is because
ideas must be sold, resources acquired, and people in
other groups persuaded to change. In Philipss troubled
DCC rollout, many of the problems stemmed from retail-
ers lack of buy-in to the strategy. If they had been more
willing to work with Philips, the critical problem of insuf-
ficient prerecorded tapes might have been avoided.
Management may garner a higher level of buy-in if it con-
siders the people on the firing line as internal customers or
even internal consultants. When Saab launched a reposi-
tioning program, its executives, using considerable insight,
made a deliberate effort to bring front-line employees into
the loop. In addition to stressing the value and importance
of the program, managers asked employees throughout the
firm to provide suggestions and recommendations for
improving it. Employees and dealers alike were galvanized
behind the program when they had the opportunity to
view videotapes of actual in-depth interviews carried out
with target customers. Seeing and hearing consumers emo-
tional responses provided a powerful stimulus for change.
It also led to a greater level of buy-in to the program than
if management had merely given employees a table of
research statistics.
Most people might assume that a high level of buy-in can
be achieved only if people on the firing line have the
opportunity to be actively involved in determining what
is to be done (also known as context-level decision mak-
ing). Muczyk and Reimann (1989), however, found that
the opportunity for lower-level managers and front-line
employees to participate at the context level was not criti-
cal for buy-in. Instead, they found that as long as people
have the chance to participate in decisions about how
things are done (content-level decision making), they will
be committed to making it happen. This does not mean
management should deliberately keep the front line out of
context-level decisions. It does mean that if they are out of
that loop, management should make an even greater com-
mitment to plug them into the content level to help decide
how it will be done.
Senior management buy-in is essential. The need for
front-line people to buy in to a tactical initiative often
overshadows the need for top managements whole-
hearted support. Senior managers often falter in support-
ing a program when the details of implementation be-
come known. One manager we surveyed called such ten-
tativeness half steps. His example turned out to be fairly
typical for that firm. Senior managers at his division
wanted to reposition the company. Their strategy formula-
tion sessions identified much that would need to change.
Yet as they got deeper into the implementation, and the
need for training, funding, and other resources became
more explicit, they lacked the fortitude to follow through
with the program. They wanted the benefits of the pro-
gram without the pain of implementation. All too
often, said the manager, they wanted to dabble in some-
thing rather than jumping in with full commitment. And
they were reluctant to do an environmental impact study
of the various factors involved, or to ante up all the re-
sources necessary to enhance implementation.
The reluctance to commit resources and provide air
cover highlights the need for gaining senior management
buy-in and getting them to formally sign off on the initia-
tive. The relative visibility of the initiative within the firm
can affect its perceived importance and hence the buy-in
of those involved in executing the project tasks. Senior
managers can help signal the projects real importance by
helping to align incentives, providing resources for train-
ing, clearly communicating support for the program
throughout the firm, and not wavering in their commit-
ment through the life of the projects implementation.
If you want buy-in, make sure the system supports it.
The role of top management is to create an environment
that is conducive to performance. Management systems
should be designed to support the role tactical implemen-
tation plays in enhancing performance. The admonition
If you want something to happen, then you need to (1)
set specific goals for it, (2) encourage it, (3) fund it, (4)
monitor it, (5) appraise it, and (6) reward for it definitely
applies to the buy-in process. Like most things in life, peo-
ple will focus their attention on what is relevant and
rewarding to them. While senior management encourage-
ment may help rally the troops, financial carrots (or con-
sequences) that are directly tied to implementation effec-
tiveness can go a long way toward influencing behavior.
56 Business Horizons / January-February 2003
The study
This article focuses attention on the critical yet often neg-
lected issue of effectively implementing tactical initiatives.
The examples and conclusions are drawn from an ongo-
ing research program on marketing implementation chal-
lenges. Data collection for this research involved in-depth
interviews with 35 front-line managers as well as survey
research with a sample of approximately
175 separate tactical marketing initiatives.
Although the research and observations
were based on marketing, the recommenda-
tions apply to all aspects of business.
Program metrics affect buy-in and performance. One of
the most important ways for implementers to build in
financial carrots is to set clear and measurable metrics for
assessing the performance of the program and those
implementing it. Frequently, buy-in problems boil down
to a misunderstanding of the responsibilities and obliga-
tions of project participants in executing project plans.
Because clearly understanding expectations is essential,
setting metrics is one of the keys to successful implemen-
tation. Metrics help clarify the tactical goals and the ex-
pected deliverables. Allowing implementers to close the
loop and judge the effectiveness of the program or initia-
tive, they can be set to assess both strategic outcomes and
critical process (or implementation) outcomes. Cypress
Semiconductor Corporation relies on metrics to foster a
no surprises environment as a means to do the mun-
dane better than anyone else. Its CEO, T.J. Rodgers
(1990), noted that metrics are critical to his firms success
because it operates in a treacherous and unforgiving
business. In any given week, some 6,000 goals in its
database come due. He noted that discipline, accountabil-
ity, and relentless attention to detail are essential.
Principle #3: Surprises must be
anticipated and avoided.
Those involved in planning should recognize the two
rules of implementation: (1): Stuff happens; (2) When
things seem to be going smoothly, remember Rule #1.
Effective implementation often boils down to the ability
to anticipate and avoid potential problems that can occur
during a project. Although implementation problems are
a fact of life, highly effective implementers succeed in part
because they are more diligent in identifying and assess-
ing risks. They look for causal links between project ele-
ments and potential negative outcomes.
The Pepsi Stuff promotion that tied in with the film
True Lies shows how implementers can be taken by sur-
prise by not thinking through all the details of their tacti-
cal initiatives. Pepsi ran test ads for a promotion in the
Northwest in which a Harrier jet could be acquired for
seven million Pepsi points. Since points could be pur-
chased from Pepsi at a cost of 10 cents per point, this
made the price of a Harrier jet a mere $700,000. A college
student sent a check to Pepsi for $700,000 in an attempt
to claim the jet. Although Pepsi was ultimately able to
win the legal battle, the whole episode could have been
avoided with better foresight. Running what-if scenarios
for various events (and doing a little math) may have
revealed the possibility that someone might actually take
Pepsi up on its offer.
The increasing incidence of discontinuities in todays mar-
ketplace makes it impossible for even the savviest people
to anticipate all the possible ways an event might unfold.
The question now becomes, Is there anything that imple-
menters can do to better anticipate and avoid potential
downstream problems? Those organizing for implemen-
tation should be able to reduce the frequency and severity
of surprises by using more experienced managers, engag-
ing in a more fine-grained level of planning, identifying
project risks, and developing contingency plans.
Managerial experience. Keren (1987) has shown that
more experienced individuals are better able to anticipate
unusual or uncommon occurrences. Just as expert bridge
players are better-calibrated bidders because they take into
account more unusual events or hands, more experienced
implementation managers are likely to have deeper, richer
knowledge structures of the variety of factors and contin-
gencies to take into account to achieve tactical objectives.
Experience plays a key role in the development of percep-
tiveness and intuition. Perceptiveness involves the ability
to see things others may not see. Intuition involves sens-
ing subtle cause-and-effect relationships and coming up
with the answer without consciously knowing how you
got it. These skills are particularly valuable when there is
limited information and time is of the essence.
Planning for implementation. The value of detailed
planning is a catch-22. Too much can lead to paralysis by
analysis; too little can result in chaos. The lack of plan-
ning often produces inefficiencies, omissions, needless
overlap, and high anxiety for all involved. When Crawford
Greenwalt was president of DuPont, he said, One minute
spent in planning saves three or four minutes in execu-
tion. If his logic were carried to the extreme, however, it
would result in the plan never being implemented be-
cause it would never be completed.
When it comes to implementation, however, the evidence
seems to suggest that developing highly detailed plans has
significant value as long as it does not foster a false sense
of predictability or paralysis by analysis. Detailed plan-
ning usually enhances implementers, stakeholders, and
managements understanding of the problem because it
requires methodically thinking through the situation,
which reduces the likelihood that oversights will occur.
Thus, the process may have considerable value by provid-
ing significant insights.
Adopting anticipatory management. Anticipatory man-
agement involves taking mental journeys into various pos-
sible futures before taking the physical journey and com-
mitting resources. Risk analysis can be a key way to en-
hance anticipatory planning. It uses what-if scenarios to
identify factors that could potentially derail the project.
Project team members are thus better prepared to identify
potential problems, assess the probability that they will
occur, and make changes in the plan where needed.
Contingency planning is another key facet of anticipatory
management. When there is little time to review the
whole situation and craft a whole new game plan, having
57 Tactical implementation: The Devil is in the details
fairly explicit contingency plans in the original planning
process in case of undesired events can provide a firm
with a quick response capability that will give it an edge
over firms that are more reactive. Contingency plans need
to be developed if: (1) the consequences of error are too
high, (2) the probability of error is too high, (3) the con-
sequences of reacting slowly are too high, or (4) a combi-
nation of two or more of these factors. The growing need
for anticipatory management and contingency planning is
captured in the US West ad, You either make dust or you
eat dust.
Principle #4: Time pressure is the enemy
of effective implementation.
We live in an era when time is of the essence. Speed-to-
market is considered critical whether a company wants to
be a first mover or a fast follower. Issues such as rapid
prototyping, concurrent design and manufacturing, just-
in-time delivery, competing on Internet time, and 24/7
availability are seen as keys to success. The first-to-market
mentality says it is more important for a product to be
first than to be exceptional. However, such a fixation on
time can have serious repercussions. How many e-firms
rushed their offerings to market in an attempt to be the
first in a particular market space only to earn the ill will
of customers when their products failed to live up to the
hype? If a company lacks the time to get it right the first
time, it surely wont have enough time to fix it and get it
right later.
A major pharmaceutical firm had two products in the
same product class, one an established but eroding mar-
ket leader, the other brand new. A strategy was developed
to maintain the sales of the established product while
growing sales of the new one by targeting them to two
different segments. Although the strategy made sense on
the surface, the effort turned out to be a disaster. Tactical
implementation was contingent on the sales forces ability
to convey product information to medical decision mak-
ers. However, with no time to promote the program inter-
nally through training or other means, the sales force did
not understand the specifics of the new positioning for
each product. When the program was introduced to them,
the result was mass confusion. The established market
leader lost share and the new product floundered.
Principle #5: There will be problems to
respond to.
The unpredictability of what lies ahead means that as
people implement plans they will have to: (1) size up the
uniqueness of the situation, (2) scan the surroundings for
clues that modifications need to be made during imple-
mentation, (3) determine what to do, and (4) make ad-
justments when it becomes apparent that the original
plan will not succeed.
Early warning systems enable quicker detection of and
response to small problems before they can escalate into
major ones. Such systems are critical for the success of
marketing projects. A television cable company created a
promotion designed to introduce current users of digital
satellite systems to its digital cable offering. Participants in
the promotion were offered a free three-month trial.
When their bill arrived, they were instructed to submit a
coupon as payment for the monthly service. However, as
too often occurs, a creative and potentially profitable mar-
keting program backfired due to poor execution. Appar-
ently the bill processing department was not alerted to the
promotion. So when a coupon was sent in as payment
for the service, the account was not credited as having
been paid. Customer service representatives fielding com-
plaints gave conflicting information because many were
unaware of the promotion. When an account became
listed as past due, it was turned over to the collection
department, who proceeded to seek payment through
telephone calls and irksome letters.
This example highlights the importance of: (1) attending
to details, (2) having people on the firing line involved in
planning, (3) attaining buy-in from all departments in-
volved in the implementation, and (4) recognizing when
things are not going as planned. If those managing the
digital cable promotion had been more alert to the billing
problem, if the customer service personnel had stepped in
to fix the problem when alerted to the situation, or if the
bill processing personnel had questioned what to do with
the unanticipated coupon being submitted as payment,
the problems with this promotion could have been expe-
ditiously resolved.
Mindfulness. Effective implementers are mentally alert to
the situation so that when unexpected problems emerge
they are prepared to respond sooner and with fewer re-
sources. One senior manager, reflecting on what made an
individual a superior implementer, indicated that such peo-
ple are paranoid about details. Their belief that things go
wrong makes them extremely vigilant for the potential
emergence of problems. This characteristic appears closely
related to the concept of mindfulness, defined by Weick,
Sutcliffe, and Obstfeld (1999) as a cognitive capability that
leads to a rich awareness of discriminatory detail and a
capacity for action. Implementers rarely have the luxury of
focusing on one project at a time. Most front-line managers
operate in a world of spinning plates. At any one time
they might be working on several projects, attending to
their daily responsibilities, and handling the latest crisis.
Today, more and more time is spent running back and
forth from one wobbling plate to the next to keep them
from crashing. In a zero-sum world, the time devoted to
problem solving subtracts from the time available for prob-
lem seeking. This is unfortunate because the more time that
can be invested in identifying potential fires, the less time
and resources will be needed to put them out.
58 Business Horizons / January-February 2003
The role of improvisation. Effective implementation fre-
quently requires improvisation prowess because things
rarely go as planned. The experience of Jim Lovell, Jack
Swigert, and Fred Haise on Apollo 13 is a dramatic exam-
ple of effective improvisation when just about anything
and everything went wrong. Improvisation coupled with
tenacity by astronauts and ground crew alike overcame
seemingly insurmountable odds to bring the astronauts
safely back to Earth. They confirmed the belief that neces-
sity is truly the mother of invention.
While the kind of problems that occur while implementing
tactical initiatives in the corporate arena may not match the
drama of the Apollo 13 mission, they do require many of
the same skills. Front-line managers must be prepared to
improvise appropriate and unique responses in the face of
critical unanticipated problems. Successful improvisation
frequently involves creativity, teamwork, leadership by dif-
ferent people at different times, and the ability to devote
full concentration and attention to the moment.
Managerial guidelines
T
he need for detailed planning, the value of includ-
ing implementation participants early in the plan-
ning process, the need for clear metrics, and the
alignment of incentives to enhance performance appear to
be little more than common sense. But if implementation
is simply a matter of common sense, why do firms strug-
gle so mightily to implement their tactical initiatives? The
following section highlights some uncommon sense
about improving implementation effectiveness.
1. Hone your implementation skills.
Getting to the top today takes more than an advanced
degree from a prestigious B-school; you have to demon-
strate that you can make things happen, which requires
excellence in implementation. It may not be glamorous,
but earning the label of someone who gets things done
by paying attention to the details can be more valuable
than having a freshly minted MBA. Unfortunately, most
business curricula do a poor job of preparing the next
wave of front-line managers for effective implementation.
Likewise, many in-house management training programs
are woefully lacking when it comes to providing insights
into the challenges and nuances of implementation. Firms
that make an effort to ensure that first-time managers
develop these critical skills early will be more successful
than firms that merely throw their people into the fire.
Preparing for the challenges associated with tactical
implementation should include case studies that foster
mindfulness, as well as project management tools and
what-if simulations. Tactical initiatives usually have all the
characteristics of projectsthey are unique, complex, and
require a great deal of coordination and planning. How-
ever, front-line managers required to implement them
often fail to take advantage of the useful tools and tech-
niques available to them.
2. Prepare for the unexpected.
There is no such thing as a perfect plan or a failsafe sys-
tem. Planning and implementation is a question-and-
answer process. Most managers operate in a reactive mode
by spending their time coming up with answers to todays
questions and solving todays problems. Some operate
more proactively, directing their attention to identifying
the questions that will need to be answered. By scanning
the horizon for potential problems, they are able to pre-
vent problems or minimize their consequences. A few
managers, however, have embraced anticipatory manage-
ment. By running scenarios, they not only identify emerg-
ing questions, they give their firms an edge by having the
answers before their competitors or customers are even
aware of the questions. Anticipatory managers not only
prevent problems, they position their firms to capitalize
on emerging opportunities.
3. Effective execution is not possible
without a supportive infrastructure.
If details are crucial to effective execution, then systems
must be in place to help develop and monitor details.
Plans and strategies can point people on the firing line in
the right direction, but the people will not be able to hit
the bulls-eye unless they are given the infrastructure
needed to make it happen. Management information
systems must provide timely and accurate information. If
awareness is a prerequisite to change, then targets need to
be set, performance monitored, and contingency plans
quickly triggered when variances are detected.
4. Building buy-in is a fundamental
implementation task.
The surest way for implementation to run into trouble is
when the individuals or groups counted on to do the exe-
cution tasks fail to follow through with an appropriate or
timely effort. The challenge is that employees from other
functional groups often think of performing tactical initia-
tives as unrelated to their core responsibilities. Key struc-
tural ways to enhance buy-in include setting appropriate
metrics for measuring task performance and aligning
organizational systems to reward good performance. Buy-
in will be enhanced when participants understand the
value of the initiative. Involving them in implementation
planning and enlisting the aid of senior management to
communicate the importance of the initiative throughout
the firm are key ways to build buy-in.
59 Tactical implementation: The Devil is in the details
5. Top management must provide
direction, not directions.
Anyone who has remodeled a house knows that plans will
have to be modified as soon as the first board is removed.
Our architect and craftsman example illustrated the
dilemma of details, which is especially acute when the
situation changes from one moment to the next or when
implementation planners do not have extensive experi-
ence about the challenges on the firing line. The architect
needs to give craftsmen a sense of what the final result
should be and a set of clear blueprints. Craftsmen must
then be free to analyze the unique situation, fill in the
blanks, develop the details, and improvise when needed.
6. Like a fine wine, implementation
takes time.
Time pressure may be a fact of life in companies, but not
allocating enough time to perform implementation tasks
can be a big mistake, leading to a variety of errors, over-
sights, and miscommunications. Too often top managers
set artificial deadlines based on when they would like to
see things implemented rather than on a careful planning
and sequencing of tasks. Planners must therefore have a
thorough understanding of time requirements.
7. Management must provide air cover
for reality checkers.
Mindfulness is a valuable attribute, but some business-
people see it as being cynical, negative, not a team player,
or downright nuts. Just as companies need open-minded,
free-wheeling individuals who can think outside the box in
brainstorming and new product development sessions, they
also need people who can find flaws and are willing to pro-
vide a timely sense of reality. Their skills need to be used
when appropriate. These people also need to be protected
from those who dont like to be challenged.
8. Make simplicity a virtue.
The lesson of implementation is that simplicity in concept
is not equivalent to simplicity in execution. Implementa-
tion will be considerably more straightforward if tactics
require minimal involvement from other units and do not
require employees to perform unfamiliar tasks. Strategists
and implementers who can correctly determine whether
initiatives are legitimately straightforward or are seemingly
simple but deceptively complex will be valuable assets.
I
n football, the quarterback may call the right play, but
if a lineman misses a block the strategy will not suc-
ceed. Implementation success in business works the
same way. An innovative strategy may be developed, but
its success rides on the effectiveness of the managers on
the firing line to attend to the myriad details necessary
not only to enact the strategy but to do it right, on time,
and within budget.
If times were stable and actions could be repeated over
and over, it would be a lot easier to fine-tune details and
improve execution. The true test of tactical implementa-
tion in the years ahead will be whether people can do
well the first time. Competing in the marketplace will be
like exploring new terrain. Innovative marketers, like the
early explorers, do not have precise maps to guide them.
They too need people who can size up the unique situa-
tion, develop a plan of action, monitor success, and make
quick changes. Firms with operating systems that can de-
velop details, continuously monitor the things that can
make a difference, and be able to come up with answers
to the who, what, when, where, and how much ques-
tionsand do it all quicklywill thrive. Those that dont
will fall by the wayside.
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60 Business Horizons / January-February 2003