Strategy Implementation Plan
Introduction
Bunnings Warehouse is a subsidiary of Wesfarmers company that deals with home improvement and retail hardware. Based in Australia, the company enjoys a great customer base, including small and medium-sized builders, building owners, and commercial businesses. The company wants a workforce of nearly 40,000 members. The company is focused on the provision of the most comprehensive range of improvement products in the lowest prices coupled by best service. The company is guided by principles like integrity, teamwork, respect, achievement and innovation.
One greatest virtue of Bunnings is to operate sustainably and ethically with a focus on encouraging and educating customers on the best alternatives for home improvement while holding on to waste management. While doing this, the company focuses on building the best and earning the right to have a competitive advantage. Therefore, the focus of this paper is to lay an implementation strategy for a new service Bunnings plans to introduce; repair assistance for its customers at home.
Changes Expected in Strategy Implementation
The mission, vision and values of an organization play a key role in aligning the critical elements of the organization to achieve an effective organizational design and a proper implementation of its strategies. Thus, Bunnings ought to use the McKinsey 7S model in this circumstance of introducing the new service of repair.
The first step in an implementation strategy is to define the system being implemented. The strategy entails a well-curated business plan or idea that gives the company a chance to formulate a plan of action to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The strategy should be clearly articulated in a manner that it reinforces the vision, mission and values of the organization. Therefore, the strategy of the organization is to introduce a service where customers will have repairs done at their homes; this would focus on any products bought at Bunnings warehouse. The strategy step requires that the strategy is aligned effectively with other elements in the organization to achieve harmony.
The second plan is to check on the structure of the company. Structure in this particular case means the way the company is organized. It involves the chain of command and the accountability relationships that constitute an organizational chart. Therefore, there is a need to check the way Bunnings Warehouse business units and divisions are organized and the persons accountable for each team. Introducing a home repair service for the customers requires the creation of a new department. Bunnings will have to reorganize its structure to accommodate this department, including recruitment of its head. Automatically, this would alter the chain of command and the organizational structure.
The next step involves looking at the system. A system means the business and all the technical infrastructure that ensures effective workflows and decision-making. These include the procedures and processes of the organization which guide the day-to-day business activities of the organization. While organizational change explained understructure, managers ought to be sensitive to the system. Implementing the strategy of the new repair service for Bunnings will require a change in routines and daily activities. First, there must be a guideline that customers will follow while notifying the organization about possible repairs. Secondly, there must be procedures needed that will define the actions steps of its staffs in addressing the requisition for repair. With a new department that would alter the organization structure, a few roles will change for the company’s managers.
Another thing that would change in the implementation of a new strategy in a company is the skills. Skills involve the capabilities and competencies that provide rooms for employees to achieve the objectives of an organization. The question of skills also goes hand in hand with performance. Whenever there is a change in an organization, the organization must establish the nature and type of skills that will be required to reinforce the new strategy. Therefore, Bunnings will need to identify the critical skills required for the repair service initiative. These may include customer care representatives, plumbers, electricians, and supervisors. The business must also ensure that the employees chosen to acquire these skills must perform and ensure that the company maintains a competitive advantage over its competitors. They must be competent enough to handle the customers at their homes and provide the repairs are done effectively.
Another element that will change is the staff. Staff entails talent management and all the human resource needed to make company decisions. The aspect of staff also involves training, recruitment and rewards systems. Whenever there is an organizational change that requires proper implementation, a business would establish the type of employees needed and the number that will satisfactorily articulate the strategy. The process of their recruitment, training, motivation and rewards is also considered.
Additionally, the business can also check on style and establish how its managers manage the company. This also extends to how the managers interact, the actions they take and their value in the company. Knowing the management style will help see how the new strategy will fall in place and the adjustments that will be required in the area of style.
Most importantly, the company must look into the shared values which are at the core of the McKinsey 7s model. Shared values include the norms and standards that guide employee behaviour and company actions. They form the foundation of the organization. Therefore, it is evident that the introduction of the repair service is likely to affect the shared values of the organization. Most likely, it will add more costs that should be looked into like excellent customer service, customer experience and achieving customer loyalty while conducting the repairs at home.
Change Management Strategies
Managing strategic change entails focusing on the type of strategic growth, the context of the strategic shift, leadership styles, and levers of strategic change. Therefore, the best approach would be for Bunnings Warehouse to exercise strategic control initiative. Strategic control requires that the managers of the Bunnings Warehouse monitor the ongoing activities in the implementation of the new strategy. They should ensure every personnel involved is appropriately supervised. Also, there will need to evaluate whether the activities are being performed effectively. For areas that are not appropriately aligned, strategic control demands that the managers take corrective action to improve performance.
Specifically, strategic control will entail direct supervision to ensure that the home repairs are done correctly and that the customers have a fulfilling experience. One major can be assigned direct control to strategic decisions with a focus on employee efforts in the implementation process. Strategic management also requires that the organization creates a system plan to control the allocation of resources; this would extend to monitoring their utilization. As well, strategic control can extend to focus on the cultural systems to standardize the norms of behaviour within the organization so that they are in line with the new strategy. The management can also create performance targets with a view of focusing on the outputs of an organization. This would help monitor revenue and service quality.
Strategy Evaluation and Measurement
Strategy implementation requires measurement of the strategy effectiveness. Effectiveness entails set of performance criteria that reflects the efficiency of internal operations. The best way to measure the efficacy broadly is to use the balanced scorecard and strategy map.
- The balanced scorecard approach
This approach was developed in 1992 by David Kaplan and Robert Norton. The balanced scorecard is a framework used to implement and manage strategy in organizations; in this case, the repair service initiative. The approach links the vision of the organization to the strategic objectives. Therefore, it creates a link to measures, initiatives and targets of an organization. It also helps with balancing financial measures with performance measures as well as overall organizational objectives. Concisely, the balanced scorecard focuses on four critical aspects of organizational performance. These include economic, internal, customer, and learning and growth. Most importantly, it takes into account the interests of the organization’s stakeholders.
The financial aspect questions how the organization can succeed financially, especially in a manner that pleases the shareholders. Bunnings Warehouse would require the formulation of high-level financial objectives so that the shareholders can have a clear view.
The customer element focuses on the objectives and measures that focus on the customer. Therefore, Bunnings Warehouse should formulate goals that will focus on its customers. The objectives and measures should aim at achieving customer satisfaction. The measures should also keep an outside view of the company and construct them from the customer’s point of view. The organization should aim to understand what the customers will need and not what the organization will need from the customers.
Concerning internal processes, the organization should aim at developing objectives and measures that determine the effectiveness of business operations. The standards should also focus on the conformity of the services to the needs and desires of the customers. The whole process involves reducing costs while creating new ideas and streamlining internal processes.
Another element of the balanced scorecard is an organizational capacity that concerns people’s skills and performance. The organization should formulate objectives that focus on highlighting the best culture, leadership and knowledge. The goals and measures should extend to infrastructure and technology. This element is critical because it gives room for investment; with a well-defined organizational capacity, Bunnings will be able to improve and create value for its customers. Organizational capacity will provide Bunnings with a framework for describing business strategy and develop measures that will inform all stakeholders about the progress of the system under implementation.
References
https://www.totalassignmenthelp.com/free-sample/bunnings-warehouse-case-study
https://www.bunnings.com.au/about-us
https://strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mckinsey-7s-model-framework.html