"1. As you think about your own organization, what has been its biggest challenge insuccessfully implementing its strategic plan?Solution:According to Karla Norwood and James Cardwell, there are four barriers that preventstrategy implementation. They are mentioned below:•Motivation and inspiration lacking from senior management. •Communication is not clear•Existence of inconsistency between the management regarding what should be done and howit should be done•Time constraintAccording to the research done by Kaplan and Norton, the four barriers to strategy foundby them are as follows:•The barrier of vision•The barrier of people•The barrier of resources•The barrier of managementAmong the above-mentioned barriers, the biggest challenge faced in my ownorganization stands to be the barrier of management. Less than even an hour was spent permonth by 85% of the team of executives to discuss strategy. There is no review of monthlyoperations conducted within our staffs. Even if it is conducted, then it will not help. Operationsreview focuses on discussion related to financial results and emphasizes on variances that are acomparison between actual and budgeted. The discussion will totally avoid giving any attentionon true drivers of value in the business as the strategic plan does not involve company’s budget. Another barrier also faced that I would like to mention is the communication barrier.Communication is really poor. It is not known to anyone that what is happening and easy way isnot present to detect the same. Cross-functional communication is poor which is hinderingtiming of the project. More time is taken to complete tasks. The progress achieved on a project isnot shared. We are not informed about the plans of a project or the progress made by the team. Itwas once communicated by top management that a lot of time is taken and wasted to informpeople other than the primary team working on the project about things performed on the project.The secondary team that is not directly related to project preparation or development need not beinformed. Due to this, performance of the company hampered and strategy was not properlyimplemented as lower level staffs were not at all clear with what strategy is followed by thecompany. Proper communication is not present between the top-level management and lower- level staffs which prevented strategy implementation. This was a very challenging issue faced inmy organization. 2. Again, thinking about your own organization, in what ways do you see the organization?sstructure supporting achievement of the organization?s strategic objectives?Solution:Successful execution of strategy of an organization requires every person’s focus in thatorganization. It depends on the leaders to monitor, reward, and create as it is stated. Successfulstrategy implementation depends on the way in which the problem is represented and identified.Strategies will be changed more often, more solution will be considered, solutions will beevaluated more carefully before dumping them, and more workable solutions will be reached byexpert solvers of the problem during strategy implementation. In my self-owned organization,three C’s of Strategy Implementation suggested by Scott Edingeris strictly followed. Thefollowing are recommended by Scott Edinger in his article “Three C’s of ImplementingStrategy”:• „?Clarify your strategy”:Strategies are often conveyed as statements of high-level that resonate with executivelevel and board but with personnel in the front-line and mid-level, they fall flat. If a strategy isnot understood by people, then developing a connection with it is not possible. So clarification ofthe strategy is required to be done in the first step in such a manner that implementation of thestrategy can be supported by the organization’s people (Edinger, 2017). This is followed strictlyin my organization and is done in a good manner. This ties the strategy with objectives andorganization and explains clearly what the organization intends and plans to do.• “Communicate your strategy”:An organization has never seen by me where communication was done with adequateclarity or it was done too often. The second is C is communication. The key is to use multiplemeans to communicate powerfully the strategy essence at every organizational level (Edinger,2017). This is really beneficial for my organization and that is why my own organizationcommunicates in an effective manner. • “Cascade your strategy”:If strategy indicates what is to be done, then how it is to be done is indicated by tactics.The strategy is required to be cascaded all over the organization and reach the components thatare tactical and practical in the everyday job of people in order for the strategy to be wellimplemented (Edinger, 2017). Managers are involved in this process and assisted in thetranslation of strategy elements of our business to their own areas that are functional. Thisallowed them to own and develop the strategy cascading process and design plans forimplementation with a high prospect of execution.Following and implementing the three C’s in my own organization helped the structure of theorganization to successfully support accomplishment of strategic objectives of the organization. Five factors that we follow for implementing success are mentioned below:•Commitment: Commitment is essential from the managers, employees of the organization andthe entire organization as a whole for implementing success.• Willingness and ability to change: Change is inevitable. It should not be restricted as it canthen make the organization stagnant. Strategy keeps on changing with the rapidly changingenvironment and business needs. So willingness and ability to change are essential. • The structure of the organization supporting strategy: The organization is required to bestructured in such a way that strategy is supported by it. • Capability to measure development and progress: It is essential to track the progress inorder to determine whether the strategy is implemented according to plan and is assisting in theprogress of the organization. • Understanding priorities clearly: Priorities must be understood clearly so that strategicobjectives can be supported by organization structure. This helps in implementing strategysuccessfully. 3. Once more, thinking about your own organization, what form of strategic control is usedand how effective do you believe it is in supporting achievement of the organization?sstrategic objectives?Solution:The focus of strategic control is on twin questions that are: (1) whether implementation ofthe strategy is being done according to the plan and (2) the strategy produces the results that areintended. Strategic control indicates to keep on the strategy with its implementation. It alsoinvolves problem detection or detecting required changes in the strategy and making requiredmodifications. Strategic control can be of four types as mentioned below:• Premise Control:The basis of every strategy is certain predictions or premises of planning. The premisescentering the strategy are checked constantly and methodically to see whether they are still valid.It is designed for this purpose (DuBois, 2017). • Special Alert Control:This control involves a reassessment in a rapid and rigorous manner of the strategy of anorganization due to the immediate occurrence of an event that was unforeseen. For example, anoutsider acquires the business of a competitor. An intense and immediate reassessment of thestrategy of the firm is triggered by such event (DuBois, 2017). • Implementation Control:Strategy implementation occurs as a sequence of steps, investments, acts, and activitiesover a period that is lengthy. Being a manager, it is required to mobilize resources, reassigning oremploying staffs, and perform special projects. Implementation control is required to beperformed with the unfolding of events. Implementation controls are of two types: (1) strategicprojects or thrusts and (2) reviews of the milestone. Information is provided by strategic thruststhat assist in the determination of whether shaping of the overall strategy is done according to theplan. The strategy’s progress is monitored at various milestone or intervals with the help ofmilestone review (DuBois, 2017).• Strategic surveillance:A wide variety of events outside and inside the organization by which tracking of thestrategy of the organization may be affected are observed by strategic surveillance. It believesthat important information that is unanticipated can be uncovered through monitoring numeroussources of information. These sources include The Wall Street Journal, trade magazines,conversations, trade conferences, and observations (DuBois, 2017).The above-mentioned controls are followed strictly in my organization. Differentdepartments are assigned for the same. Following these in an above-mentioned way has been "