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Selecting tactics to implement strategic plans
Author(s) -
Nutt Paul C.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.4250100205
Subject(s) - strategic planning , business , process management , situational ethics , plan (archaeology) , contingency plan , strategic management , strategy implementation , contingency , operations management , marketing , management , economics , psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , history
Strategic managers have been found to use sophisticated tactics to implement strategic plans, but seem to limit their effectiveness by applying them indiscriminately. A contingency framework that uses situational constraints, such as the manager's freedom to act and need for consultation, is developed to select among tactics preferred by practitioners. The framework was tested using 50 episodes of strategic planning. There was a 94 percent success rate when the implementation tactic recommended by the framework was used, and a 29 percent success rate when another (non‐recommended) tactic was applied, suggesting that following the framework's prescriptions may improve the success rate for strategic plan implementation. The implications this research for practicing managers are discussed.