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What HR is Missing When it Comes to Strategy Execution



Recent i4cp research found that only about one-quarter of business leaders rate their organizations highly effective at executing strategy. In an exceedingly competitive global market, the fact that most businesses fail to successfully execute critical strategic initiatives poses serious risks to performance and sustainability.

In the latest edition of From Now to Next, available now as a complimentary download, John W. Boudreau offers his insights on strategy execution and the reasons why so many organizations struggle.

Dr. Boudreau is a member of i4cp's Thought Leader Consortium and is recognized worldwide for his breakthrough research on bridging the gap between human capital, talent, and sustainable competitive advantage. He also serves as a professor and research director at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and Center for Effective Organizations, respectively, and regularly contributes to Talent Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and CFO.com.

Overlooked considerations

Many factors can contribute to ineffective organizational strategy execution, including a lack of clear focus about a vision for the future, lack of accountability, inconsistent leadership capabilities, unsupportive cultures, or misaligned talent processes. However, Dr. Boudreau believes that one key issue underscores most difficulties:

"Many organizations fail or have difficulty because they formulate strategies that are naïve to the realities of their workforce and/or their employment markets."

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In his exclusive interview with i4cp, Dr. Boudreau argues that being able to change the strategy is as important as--perhaps even more important than--having the right strategy. Other topics he addresses include:

  • The most effective elements of successful strategy execution
  • The issues that Chief HR Officers aren't thinking about--but should be
  • The companies that are excelling at strategy execution--including some surprising global firms
  • The future of strategy execution over the next decade
This edition of From Now to Next concludes with four next practices in strategy execution--discovered by i4cp research--that HR leaders can implement immediately. High-performance organizations demand assured leaders who can design and execute advantage-building business strategy.


Become an assured leader.