Introduction
Strategy implementation entails the process of turning plans and strategies into actions to accomplish strategic goals and objectives. A strategic plan’s performance is more significant than the strategy itself, and many companies having strategic plans usually fail to implement them as required. Moreover, many businesses have a good plan in place but are unable to implement it effectively. The paper will cover strategy implementation at Walt Disney Company, control strategy, and qualitative analysis of the balanced scorecard.
Implementation of Strategy at Walt Disney Company
Walt Disney Company, also known as Disney, is a global mass media and entertainment entity headquartered in Burbank, California. It was established in 1923 by two brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney, as a cartoon studio. Walt Disney, the mission is to inform, entertain, and inspire people worldwide (Disney, 2021). The company uses storytelling, reflection on iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make clients feel entertained. For the business to be successful, there should be a plan, strategy, and management skills; however, a strategic plan can only be productive when supporting goals are documented for implementation.
The development of a business strategy is a demanding and complex procedure, and leaders need to devote resources, time, and effort. Selection of the strategy that promotes enterprise growth requires diligence. The creation of strategies at Walt Disney Company may be achieved by having a structured strategic plan supported by strategic leadership and implemented through emergent strategy systems. The company must have a vision and mission that efficiently aligns with the plan and obtain desired outcomes. Once the vision, mission, and values are in place, a documented strategic plan is developed. The program recognizes the steps required to accomplish the company’s task. The strategic plan needs to be written as a short-term (3-6 months) or a long-term (1-3 years) process.
Any change in the company affects the employees, who are the most critical asset the firm has. Seemingly, losing a company’s employees is expensive due to hiring and obtaining the best replacement. Any change suggested should be handled with care to avoid antagonizing the working environment. The employees should be involved in the implementation of strategy, and their insights and concerns accommodated. Implementation of Strategy into the organization tends to bend the company life into the aspired plan (Merkus et al., 2019). There are five common vital challenges of implementing a strategic plan, including:
- Poor goal setup: since objectives are complex and large, requiring substantial resources
- Deficiency of alignment: mainly caused by collaboration conflicts and prioritization issues
- Incapacity of tracking progress: several companies use spreadsheets for tracking objectives, which is ineffective.
- Employees disconnected from the strategy: people generally prefer routine and order
- No leading indicators or measurements: implementation of a strategy cannot progress without measuring tools
Control of Strategic Implementation
Control of strategic implementation is designed to evaluate whether the entire strategy should be transformed in the light of unfolding outcomes and events. There is a relationship linked to the incremental actions and steps that execute the complete strategy. Ideally, strategic implementation control does not substitute operational control. A contrasting operations control and strategic implementation control constantly queries this strategy’s specific direction in Disney Company. There are two basic types of implementation control elaborated as follows:
Monitoring Strategic Thrust
Two main approaches help enact implementation controls. They emphasize monitoring strategic thrust, such as agreeing in the planning procedure, whereby thrusts are essential in strategy success. Diligently crafted strategies cannot necessarily go wrong but will practically evolve and change during the third to fifth-year implementation. The other approach uses stop/go evaluation connected to a series of significant thresholds, including costs, time, research, and development linked to specific thrusts.
Milestone Reviews
Milestones are objectives that are set in a business, having a team, date, and personal responsibility. They are essential points in a program’s development, especially where vast commitments of resources are required. The review of milestones generally entails a full-scale reevaluation of the strategy and the prudence of continuity and re-emphasizing of the direction Disney Company should move. The purpose of control in the current strategy is the provision of the plans.
Quantitative Analysis of Finances and the Scorecards of the Company
Walt Disney has a generic strategy for competitiveness benefits that capitalize on its specialty and services. The Michael Porter model states that a generic competitive strategy allows the business to generate and maintain its competitiveness inside its target market (Williams, 2019). The strategy is based on the Disney products’ uniqueness from those of competing companies. The analysis will be conducted to understand the performance and the behavior of the business. The central process role is the presentation of the specific hypothetical situation regarding the numeric values. It will help gauge performance, evaluate financial tools, and make predictions of the prospect revenue. The quantitative analysis method to use in this case study is regression analysis which involves statistical equations that can predict and estimate the effect of a single variable on another. Entire organization structures and the employees will contribute to the company strategy level.
References
Disney. (2021). Disney – Leadership, history, corporate social responsibility. The Walt Disney.
Merkus, S., Willems, T., & Veenswijk, M. (2019). Strategy implementation as performative practice: Reshaping organization into alignment with strategy. Organization Management Journal, 16(3), 140-155.
Williams, A. (2019). Disney’s generic competitive strategy & intensive growth strategies. Panmore Institute.