Chapter 10 Chapter 8: Execution in Strategy
Execution of strategy can't just be done by top managers or middle managers, but by everyone in the company from top to bottom.Only when all employees of the company work together around a strategy, regardless of success or failure, can the company become a firm and powerful executor.Overcoming obstacles within the organization is a key step in strategy execution, otherwise the best strategy will fail.
Ultimately, though, the effective execution of a strategy depends on the attitudes and behaviors of a company's people.For the established strategy, the company needs to create a culture of loyalty and dedication, so as to motivate employees to implement the inner spirit of the strategy, not the literal meaning.Only when the employees' personal will is consistent with the company's new strategy, can employees implement the strategy voluntarily rather than passively.
This becomes even more of a challenge when pursuing a blue ocean strategy.When strategic adjustments require employees to change their original work habits and step out of their comfort zones, employees will uneasily guess what strategic adjustments mean?The company's top management really wants to win future development through adjustments?I still want to use the strategic adjustment as an excuse for layoffs.
Employees who were further away from the decision-making process had less knowledge of the strategy-making process and had the most unease.For front-line employees, the implementation of strategy is reflected in their daily work.A strategy that doesn't take into account what they think and feel is bound to leave frontline workers feeling like a thorn in their backs.Just when the top feels like it has just made the right strategic choice, that may not be the case at the bottom.
Here comes the sixth principle of blue ocean strategy: make execution part of the overall strategy from the start.Creating a culture of loyalty and dedication among employees at all levels of the company and improving employees' awareness of strategy implementation can minimize the management risks caused by distrust, lack of cooperation or even resistance to the strategy.This kind of management risk exists no matter in the implementation of the blue ocean strategy or the red ocean strategy, but because the blue ocean strategy is usually accompanied by greater reforms, its management risk is also greater.Reducing this risk is crucial to the implementation of blue ocean strategy.Companies must go beyond the original carrot-and-stick incentive mechanism and introduce fair process methods and concepts into strategy execution.
Our research shows that fair play is a key variable in the success or failure of a blue ocean strategy.The presence or absence of fair operation determines whether the company's strategy implementation efforts are fruitful or futile.
Lubber is a world-leading manufacturer of liquid coolants, mainly used in the metalworking industry, with hundreds of product categories.Therefore, for buyers, selecting the right type of coolant is a delicate process that must be tested on the machine before being determined by fuzzy control logic.The whole process is time-consuming and expensive for both buyers and sellers.
To this end, Rupp has developed a professional system using artificial intelligence, which can reduce the complexity of the entire selection process, reduce testing time and costs, and increase the selection error rate from the industry average of 50% to only 10%. %, these are the benefits that customers can get.For Rupp itself, the sales process has been significantly simplified, expenses have been reduced, and sales representatives can spend more time developing new customers.
However, this win-win innovation strategy ran into trouble from the start.It's not that the system itself is bad, but that salespeople don't accept this innovative strategy.
Since the sales department was not involved in the process of strategic decision-making and strategy implementation, a problem emerged that neither the management team nor the developers could have anticipated.In the eyes of sales reps, the most rewarding part of their job is helping customers choose the right one from the wide variety of coolants available.But with the professional system, their job loses its original most valuable part and becomes just to get more orders, which of course makes them very dissatisfied.
Salespeople felt their jobs were threatened, so they often expressed doubts about the professional system in front of customers, and sales did not increase.The management found that the sales department did not cooperate, and gradually realized the importance of prior and reasonable process management to reduce management risks.Ultimately, management decided to withdraw the system from the market while improving mutual trust with the sales department.
So, what exactly does fair operation mean?What role does it have for strategy and execution?Although concepts such as "fairness" and "justice" have existed since ancient times, the concept of "fair operation" was not proposed by two sociologists, John W. Thibaut and Laurens Walker, until the 1970s.In their research on judicial psychology, they put forward the concept of "procedural justice" for the first time.In their research, they found that people's trust in the judicial system is based on trust in the fairness of the process.Whether the trial process is fair is as important as whether the trial result is fair.If people think that the trial process is fair, then they are often satisfied with the final judgment.
Transplanting the concept of "process justice" to management is what we call "fair operation".In the judiciary, the fairness of the process makes people have the expectation of the judicial result that they are ready to accept in advance.In company management, introducing fair operation into strategic decision-making can make employees have more trust in the final strategy and implement it voluntarily.
Conscious implementation of a strategy is certainly better than passive implementation. It enables employees to focus on the internal requirements of the strategy, exert their own enthusiasm and creativity, and even do their best outside the scope of their duties.Figure 8-1 shows the characteristics of people's attitude and behavior towards work in the process of fair operation.
The definition of fair operations includes three interdependent elements: engagement, explanation, and clarity of expectation.These three elements are very important no matter for the top managers or the sales staff of the store. We call this the 3E principle of fair operation.
"Participation" means allowing individuals to have a voice in the strategic decision-making process, including dissent and debate.Such communication shows that the management respects individual opinions, and the encouragement of debate can stimulate everyone's thinking and form more comprehensive opinions of higher quality.The role of participation enables management to make more informed strategic decisions, and also makes all employees involved in the decision-making process responsible for the implementation of the final strategy.
"Explanation" is to make the final decision comprehensible to all those involved in and affected by the strategic decision.Explaining the philosophy behind strategic decisions reassures employees that their views and interests are considered in the overall strategy.Even if their opinions are not accepted, employees can still trust the company's strategic deployment.At the same time, the process of explanation is also an effective feedback process for listening to employees' opinions.
"Clear expectations" requires that after the strategy is formulated, the management must clarify the new rules of the game.Although expectations may be harsh, employees should be informed in advance of the criteria by which performance will be judged and what penalties will be imposed if opinions are not fulfilled. What exactly is the new strategy trying to achieve?What are the overall goals and phased goals?What are their responsibilities?In the process of fair operation, specific goals, expectations, and division of responsibilities are not the most important. The most important thing is that everyone can have a unified and clear understanding.When employees have a clear understanding of the strategic expectations, then all kinds of wrangling and prevarication will be less, and the rapid implementation of the strategy will be replaced.
All in all, the above three principles work together to bring about fair operation, and all three are indispensable.
How do the 3E principles have a profound impact on the execution of corporate strategy?Let’s take a look at the story of Elco, an elevator manufacturer.At the end of the 1980s, the elevator industry market shrank, and in some large cities in the United States, the vacancy rate of office buildings exceeded 20%.
Due to the shrinking market, Aike tried to reduce costs and get rid of the fierce competition by introducing the blue ocean strategy.As a key step of the overall strategy, the company plans to adjust the original management mode of mass production to the "unit production" mode of production in groups. The management has reached a consensus on this point and is ready to implement it as soon as possible.
The company is planning to introduce the new management model at its subsidiary Chester plant for trial first, and then promote it to another Highland (High Park) plant.The reason is simple. The labor relations in the Chester factory are simple, and there is even no trade union.The management believes that the staff at the Chester plant will be very cooperative during the process of model transformation.In the words of the company: This is an ideal workforce.The highland factory's labor union is powerful, and it is likely to oppose the new model.Management hopes that the success of the mode switch at the Chester plant will have a positive demonstration effect on the Highland plant.
The theory is beautiful, but the reality is unpredictable.The new management model quickly caused chaos in the Chester factory. Within a few months, costs were out of control, performance declined sharply, and employees even considered re-union.The desperate factory manager had to ask the head office for help.
Although the Highland Factory has always had a reputation for being uncooperative, the situation this time is quite the opposite.The manager of the Highland plant was worried about accidents every day, but nothing happened in the end.Although employees felt that the new decision was not good, they believed that the company treated them reasonably, and they were willing to cooperate, so they quickly completed the transplantation of the new model, which was precisely a key component of the company's new strategy.
Careful analysis reveals that there are reasons behind the seemingly anomalous results.At the Chester plant, Eco's management violated all three basic principles of fair operation.First, employees are not involved in decision-making.Due to the lack of experience in transplanting the new model, Eco hired a consulting company and asked the consulting company to design a management model transplantation plan as soon as possible without disturbing the original work order.So, when the workers of the Chester factory went to work the next day, they found a group of strangers in suits and ties among them.There were even rumors that these people were still wandering around the workshop after get off work in the factory, which made the workers talk even more.
During this time, the factory manager was not in the factory, but was negotiating with consulting experts at the company headquarters. The original intention was to avoid interfering with production, but it turned out to be counterproductive.The rumors escalated further as the crew became restless, speculating on why their captain had abandoned ship.Everyone started to believe that the factories were going to lay off workers, they were going to be laid off.The fact that the factory manager often goes out without explaining the reason is obviously avoiding the workers, which means that the management is "going to end this place."A sense of trust and responsibility quickly evaporated among the workers at Chester.
Soon, the workers saw in the newspaper that other factories closed down with the help of consulting companies. They believed that their own factory also planned to lay off workers, and the danger of losing their jobs was imminent.In fact, Eco Company did not mean to close the factory, they just wanted to break through the competition dilemma by reducing costs and improving production efficiency.Unfortunately, workers have no way of knowing this.
Chester's management also did a poor job of explaining the strategy.They failed to explain to workers what the new strategic decision was and how it would affect the way workers worked.Managers only informed employees of the decision in a short, hour-and-a-half meeting.Employees hear that their long-established ways of working will be abolished and replaced by something new called a "production cell."No one explained why the strategic adjustment was needed, how the company intends to stand out from the competition, and what important position the manufacturing link plays in the overall strategic adjustment.The workers were silent and on pins and needles, ignorant of the philosophy behind the strategic adjustment.The managers took the silence of the workers as acquiescence and acceptance, forgetting that it took months for them to accept the adjustment of the "production unit" in the new strategy.
Once the plan is established, the factory begins to deploy the production process.When workers asked about the reasons for job adjustments, they were simply told that it was to “improve efficiency” without explaining how to improve efficiency.Workers were bewildered about what was happening to them, and some were disgusted with their new positions.
Managers also neglected to explain to workers what was expected of them under the new production model.They just told employees that in the future, the performance evaluation will be based on the group as a unit instead of individual evaluation, and that efficient workers should work closely with less efficient workers in the same group.But managers did not go further to explain how the new team-based work style was supposed to work.
Due to the violation of the 3E principles of fair operation, employees lost trust in management and strategic adjustments.Although in fact the new unit production model has great benefits for workers, such as easier leave and shift scheduling, and the opportunity to receive various skills training, etc., but workers only see the bad side.Fear and insecurity erupted among the workers, who refused to help "lazy people who couldn't even do their own work" as meddling, saying "I do my job and you do yours internal affairs".
The exemplary workforce at the Chester plant began to fall apart.The first time a worker refuses an assigned task, "even if I'm fired" he won't do it.The formerly popular factory manager had lost trust, and the workers bypassed him and complained directly to the boss of the head office.In the absence of fair practices, Chester workers refused to implement the adjustments required by the new strategy.
In contrast, the management of the Highland plant fully complied with the three principles of fair operation when making strategic adjustments.When consulting companies came to the factory, the factory manager introduced them to all factory employees.The management of the factory has held several factory-wide meetings to openly discuss the downturn in the industry. The company must reduce costs and improve production competitiveness through strategic adjustments.At the same time, the management also mentioned that when they inspected other factories, they found that the manufacturing mode of the production unit really helps to improve efficiency, and this is of decisive significance for the company's overall strategic adjustment.The factory also made three agreements with the workers in advance, which relieved the workers from worrying about layoffs.In terms of performance assessment, the original method is no longer applicable. Managers and workers worked together to formulate a new assessment method, and clarified the job responsibilities of each team.In the eyes of workers, goals and expectations are very clear.
Through the sequential application of the three principles of fair operation, management won the understanding of the Highland workers.Workers also feel that their factory manager is very great, and they have a sympathetic attitude towards the difficulties encountered by the head office in the strategic adjustment.The workers believe that this reform is necessary, worthwhile and successful.
The above-mentioned experience is still one of the most painful experiences in their careers for the management of Eco Company.They learned that front-line employees pay as much attention to process as upper-level managers.Violation of the principle of fair operation in the process of strategy formulation and implementation will turn the best employees into the worst employees, and become doubters and opponents of strategy implementation.And if the principle of fair operation is followed, the worst employees will become the best employees, and no matter how difficult the strategic adjustment is, they will get their voluntary support and trust.
Why do fair practices have such an important impact on people's attitudes and behavior?In particular, why do adherence to and violation of fair operating principles determine the success or failure of strategy execution?It may be attributed to both rational and emotional reasons.
From an emotional point of view, everyone wants to be seen as valuable, not as a "work force", "employee", or "human resource", but as an individual who is respected, dignified and wants to feel fulfilled .Everyone, regardless of status, has this need.From a rational point of view, employees hope that their opinions will be taken seriously, and others are willing to explain and communicate with them after hearing their rational thoughts.In surveys, we often hear phrases like "everyone I know thinks so" or "everyone thinks" and words like "you guys" and "people," which is enough for managers to see that fairness Operations have universally applicable meanings both perceptually and rationally.
The application of fair operation theory in strategy formulation is closely related to rational and perceptual cognition theory.Various behaviors prove that people have the desire to trust and embrace, and all have inner confidence in their own knowledge, talents and experience.
When people feel that their knowledge is valued, they are more willing to share it with others, in fact, they feel that it is an encouragement and affirmation of their own worth.Similarly, when people are emotionally validated, there is an emotional connection between their actions and the strategies they develop, making them more willing to give.In Frederick Herzberg's classical research on behavioral motivation, cognitive sense is considered to be the most important behavioral motivation, which enables people to go beyond their responsibilities and cooperate voluntarily.Therefore, the rational and perceptual cognition conveyed by fair operation can enable employees to better use their knowledge and talents, and consciously work hard, thus bringing about the success of strategy execution.
On the other hand, the violation of fair operation also means the opposite of rational and emotional cognition, and it is equally important to recognize this.The observations on thinking and behavior patterns can be summarized as follows: If people feel that their knowledge is not important, they will feel angry and will no longer share their knowledge and experience with others, and they will hide their good ideas and ideas .Moreover, they will also reject the opinions of others, as if to say: "You don't value my opinion, I don't value your opinion, I don't believe it, and I don't care about your decision."
Similarly, if people feel emotionally underappreciated, they can get angry and become disengaged at work, or even engage in hostile actions such as sabotage, as happened at the Chester plant.If employees feel that the company's strategy is unfair to them, they will take an opposing attitude regardless of whether the strategy itself is good or not, or even whether it is beneficial to themselves.Lack of trust in the strategy formulation process will inevitably lead to mistrust in the results of strategy execution.This is the emotional aspect of fair play.Figure 8-2 shows the general pattern we observed.
Figure 8-2: The Step-by-Step Impact of the Presence and Absence of Fair Operations on Execution
Responsibility, trust and conscious cooperation are not just attitudes and behaviors, they are real capital.When trust exists, people have more confidence in the intentions and actions of others; when a sense of responsibility exists, people are more able to consciously transcend self-interest.
Ask any company that has successfully developed and implemented a blue ocean strategy and you will hear how important this tangible capital was to their success.And in companies where blue ocean strategy execution fails, you will also hear that lack of this capital is an important reason for execution failure.Because of the lack of trust and responsibility, the company's strategic adjustment lacks synergy.Responsibility, trust, and conscious cooperation mean speed, quality, and firm determination for strategy execution, and they enable strategy to be executed quickly and at low cost.
As for how to create responsibility, trust and conscious cooperation within the company, it is necessary to combine strategy execution and strategy formulation.Many companies think of them separately, which is why their strategy execution is procrastinating and problematic.Of course, the traditional carrot-and-stick approach to motivation works, but it's not enough when it comes to motivating people beyond their own self-interest.The latter approach is likely to be counterproductive when behavioral uncertainty increases.
Fair operations can resolve this dilemma.By introducing the principles of fair play into the strategy development process, execution becomes part of the strategy from the start.Due to the fairness of operation, even if the strategic adjustment requires employees to sacrifice temporary interests, or is not completely consistent with employees' expectations, employees still have a sense of responsibility to support the implementation of the strategy.Employees understand that temporary compromises and sacrifices are necessary for the long-term benefit of the company's development.Regardless of the specific content of the company's blue ocean strategy, whether it is introducing strategic partners, outsourcing production units, or adjusting sales forces, changing manufacturing processes, or moving call centers from the United States to India, our observations have found that fair Actions do work for this.
The definition of fair operations includes three interdependent elements: engagement, explanation, and clarity of expectation.These three elements are very important no matter for the top managers or the sales staff of the store. We call this the 3E principle of fair operation.
"Participation" means allowing individuals to have a voice in the strategic decision-making process, including dissent and debate.Such communication shows that the management respects individual opinions, and the encouragement of debate can stimulate everyone's thinking and form more comprehensive opinions of higher quality.The role of participation enables management to make more informed strategic decisions, and also makes all employees involved in the decision-making process responsible for the implementation of the final strategy.
"Explanation" is to make the final decision comprehensible to all those involved in and affected by the strategic decision.Explaining the philosophy behind strategic decisions reassures employees that their views and interests are considered in the overall strategy.Even if their opinions are not accepted, employees can still trust the company's strategic deployment.At the same time, the process of explanation is also an effective feedback process for listening to employees' opinions.
"Clear expectations" requires that after the strategy is formulated, the management must clarify the new rules of the game.Although expectations may be harsh, employees should be informed in advance of the criteria by which performance will be judged and what penalties will be imposed if opinions are not fulfilled. What exactly is the new strategy trying to achieve?What are the overall goals and phased goals?What are their responsibilities?In the process of fair operation, specific goals, expectations, and division of responsibilities are not the most important. The most important thing is that everyone can have a unified and clear understanding.When employees have a clear understanding of the strategic expectations, then all kinds of wrangling and prevarication will be less, and the rapid implementation of the strategy will be replaced.
All in all, the above three principles work together to bring about fair operation, and all three are indispensable.
How do the 3E principles have a profound impact on the execution of corporate strategy?Let’s take a look at the story of Elco, an elevator manufacturer.At the end of the 1980s, the elevator industry market shrank, and in some large cities in the United States, the vacancy rate of office buildings exceeded 20%.
Due to the shrinking market, Aike tried to reduce costs and get rid of the fierce competition by introducing the blue ocean strategy.As a key step of the overall strategy, the company plans to adjust the original management mode of mass production to the "unit production" mode of production in groups. The management has reached a consensus on this point and is ready to implement it as soon as possible.
The company is planning to introduce the new management model at its subsidiary Chester plant for trial first, and then promote it to another Highland (High Park) plant.The reason is simple. The labor relations in the Chester factory are simple, and there is even no trade union.The management believes that the staff at the Chester plant will be very cooperative during the process of model transformation.In the words of the company: This is an ideal workforce.The highland factory's labor union is powerful, and it is likely to oppose the new model.Management hopes that the success of the mode switch at the Chester plant will have a positive demonstration effect on the Highland plant.
The theory is beautiful, but the reality is unpredictable.The new management model quickly caused chaos in the Chester factory. Within a few months, costs were out of control, performance declined sharply, and employees even considered re-union.The desperate factory manager had to ask the head office for help.
Although the Highland Factory has always had a reputation for being uncooperative, the situation this time is quite the opposite.The manager of the Highland plant was worried about accidents every day, but nothing happened in the end.Although employees felt that the new decision was not good, they believed that the company treated them reasonably, and they were willing to cooperate, so they quickly completed the transplantation of the new model, which was precisely a key component of the company's new strategy.
Careful analysis reveals that there are reasons behind the seemingly anomalous results.At the Chester plant, Eco's management violated all three basic principles of fair operation.First, employees are not involved in decision-making.Due to the lack of experience in transplanting the new model, Eco hired a consulting company and asked the consulting company to design a management model transplantation plan as soon as possible without disturbing the original work order.So, when the workers of the Chester factory went to work the next day, they found a group of strangers in suits and ties among them.There were even rumors that these people were still wandering around the workshop after get off work in the factory, which made the workers talk even more.
During this time, the factory manager was not in the factory, but was negotiating with consulting experts at the company headquarters. The original intention was to avoid interfering with production, but it turned out to be counterproductive.The rumors escalated further as the crew became restless, speculating on why their captain had abandoned ship.Everyone started to believe that the factories were going to lay off workers, they were going to be laid off.The fact that the factory manager often goes out without explaining the reason is obviously avoiding the workers, which means that the management is "going to end this place."A sense of trust and responsibility quickly evaporated among the workers at Chester.
Soon, the workers saw in the newspaper that other factories closed down with the help of consulting companies. They believed that their own factory also planned to lay off workers, and the danger of losing their jobs was imminent.In fact, Eco Company did not mean to close the factory, they just wanted to break through the competition dilemma by reducing costs and improving production efficiency.Unfortunately, workers have no way of knowing this.
Chester's management also did a poor job of explaining the strategy.They failed to explain to workers what the new strategic decision was and how it would affect the way workers worked.Managers only informed employees of the decision in a short, hour-and-a-half meeting.Employees hear that their long-established ways of working will be abolished and replaced by something new called a "production cell."No one explained why the strategic adjustment was needed, how the company intends to stand out from the competition, and what important position the manufacturing link plays in the overall strategic adjustment.The workers were silent and on pins and needles, ignorant of the philosophy behind the strategic adjustment.The managers took the silence of the workers as acquiescence and acceptance, forgetting that it took months for them to accept the adjustment of the "production unit" in the new strategy.
Once the plan is established, the factory begins to deploy the production process.When workers asked about the reasons for job adjustments, they were simply told that it was to “improve efficiency” without explaining how to improve efficiency.Workers were bewildered about what was happening to them, and some were disgusted with their new positions.
Managers also neglected to explain to workers what was expected of them under the new production model.They just told employees that in the future, the performance evaluation will be based on the group as a unit instead of individual evaluation, and that efficient workers should work closely with less efficient workers in the same group.But managers did not go further to explain how the new team-based work style was supposed to work.
Due to the violation of the 3E principles of fair operation, employees lost trust in management and strategic adjustments.Although in fact the new unit production model has great benefits for workers, such as easier leave and shift scheduling, and the opportunity to receive various skills training, etc., but workers only see the bad side.Fear and insecurity erupted among the workers, who refused to help "lazy people who couldn't even do their own work" as meddling, saying "I do my job and you do yours internal affairs".
The exemplary workforce at the Chester plant began to fall apart.The first time a worker refuses an assigned task, "even if I'm fired" he won't do it.The formerly popular factory manager had lost trust, and the workers bypassed him and complained directly to the boss of the head office.In the absence of fair practices, Chester workers refused to implement the adjustments required by the new strategy.
In contrast, the management of the Highland plant fully complied with the three principles of fair operation when making strategic adjustments.When consulting companies came to the factory, the factory manager introduced them to all factory employees.The management of the factory has held several factory-wide meetings to openly discuss the downturn in the industry. The company must reduce costs and improve production competitiveness through strategic adjustments.At the same time, the management also mentioned that when they inspected other factories, they found that the manufacturing mode of the production unit really helps to improve efficiency, and this is of decisive significance for the company's overall strategic adjustment.The factory also made three agreements with the workers in advance, which relieved the workers from worrying about layoffs.In terms of performance assessment, the original method is no longer applicable. Managers and workers worked together to formulate a new assessment method, and clarified the job responsibilities of each team.In the eyes of workers, goals and expectations are very clear.
Through the sequential application of the three principles of fair operation, management won the understanding of the Highland workers.Workers also feel that their factory manager is very great, and they have a sympathetic attitude towards the difficulties encountered by the head office in the strategic adjustment.The workers believe that this reform is necessary, worthwhile and successful.
The above-mentioned experience is still one of the most painful experiences in their careers for the management of Eco Company.They learned that front-line employees pay as much attention to process as upper-level managers.Violation of the principle of fair operation in the process of strategy formulation and implementation will turn the best employees into the worst employees, and become doubters and opponents of strategy implementation.And if the principle of fair operation is followed, the worst employees will become the best employees, and no matter how difficult the strategic adjustment is, they will get their voluntary support and trust.
Why do fair practices have such an important impact on people's attitudes and behavior?In particular, why do adherence to and violation of fair operating principles determine the success or failure of strategy execution?It may be attributed to both rational and emotional reasons.
From an emotional point of view, everyone wants to be seen as valuable, not as a "work force", "employee", or "human resource", but as an individual who is respected, dignified and wants to feel fulfilled .Everyone, regardless of status, has this need.From a rational point of view, employees hope that their opinions will be taken seriously, and others are willing to explain and communicate with them after hearing their rational thoughts.In surveys, we often hear phrases like "everyone I know thinks so" or "everyone thinks" and words like "you guys" and "people," which is enough for managers to see that fairness Operations have universally applicable meanings both perceptually and rationally.
The application of fair operation theory in strategy formulation is closely related to rational and perceptual cognition theory.Various behaviors prove that people have the desire to trust and embrace, and all have inner confidence in their own knowledge, talents and experience.
When people feel that their knowledge is valued, they are more willing to share it with others, in fact, they feel that it is an encouragement and affirmation of their own worth.Similarly, when people are emotionally validated, there is an emotional connection between their actions and the strategies they develop, making them more willing to give.In Frederick Herzberg's classical research on behavioral motivation, cognitive sense is considered to be the most important behavioral motivation, which enables people to go beyond their responsibilities and cooperate voluntarily.Therefore, the rational and perceptual cognition conveyed by fair operation can enable employees to better use their knowledge and talents, and consciously work hard, thus bringing about the success of strategy execution.
On the other hand, the violation of fair operation also means the opposite of rational and emotional cognition, and it is equally important to recognize this.The observations on thinking and behavior patterns can be summarized as follows: If people feel that their knowledge is not important, they will feel angry and will no longer share their knowledge and experience with others, and they will hide their good ideas and ideas .Moreover, they will also reject the opinions of others, as if to say: "You don't value my opinion, I don't value your opinion, I don't believe it, and I don't care about your decision."
Similarly, if people feel emotionally underappreciated, they can get angry and become disengaged at work, or even engage in hostile actions such as sabotage, as happened at the Chester plant.If employees feel that the company's strategy is unfair to them, they will take an opposing attitude regardless of whether the strategy itself is good or not, or even whether it is beneficial to themselves.Lack of trust in the strategy formulation process will inevitably lead to mistrust in the results of strategy execution.This is the emotional aspect of fair play.Figure 8-2 shows the general pattern we observed.
Figure 8-2: The Step-by-Step Impact of the Presence and Absence of Fair Operations on Execution
Responsibility, trust and conscious cooperation are not just attitudes and behaviors, they are real capital.When trust exists, people have more confidence in the intentions and actions of others; when a sense of responsibility exists, people are more able to consciously transcend self-interest.
Ask any company that has successfully developed and implemented a blue ocean strategy and you will hear how important this tangible capital was to their success.And in companies where blue ocean strategy execution fails, you will also hear that lack of this capital is an important reason for execution failure.Because of the lack of trust and responsibility, the company's strategic adjustment lacks synergy.Responsibility, trust, and conscious cooperation mean speed, quality, and firm determination for strategy execution, and they enable strategy to be executed quickly and at low cost.
As for how to create responsibility, trust and conscious cooperation within the company, it is necessary to combine strategy execution and strategy formulation.Many companies think of them separately, which is why their strategy execution is procrastinating and problematic.Of course, the traditional carrot-and-stick approach to motivation works, but it's not enough when it comes to motivating people beyond their own self-interest.The latter approach is likely to be counterproductive when behavioral uncertainty increases.
Fair operations can resolve this dilemma.By introducing the principles of fair play into the strategy development process, execution becomes part of the strategy from the start.Due to the fairness of operation, even if the strategic adjustment requires employees to sacrifice temporary interests, or is not completely consistent with employees' expectations, employees still have a sense of responsibility to support the implementation of the strategy.Employees understand that temporary compromises and sacrifices are necessary for the long-term benefit of the company's development.Regardless of the specific content of the company's blue ocean strategy, whether it is introducing strategic partners, outsourcing production units, or adjusting sales forces, changing manufacturing processes, or moving call centers from the United States to India, our observations have found that fair Actions do work for this.