Town of Cochrane Strategic Plan – Final Report October 2014
8.0 Implementation
Implementation is always the most challenging part of a strategic planning process. According to
some researchers,135 fewer than half of the organizations that develop a strategic plan actually
implement it. One Ernst and Young study (2008) found that the number failing to execute their
strategies was as high as 66%.
A McKinsey survey (2006)136 identified a number of reasons for this failure, including:
• Inadequately communicating the plans objectives to stakeholders.
•
Failing to align organizational goals with the strategic plan.
•
Failing to monitor progress against the strategic plan.
•
Not involving senior management and project leaders.
•
Not engaging partners and stakeholders.
In this section, we provide some recommendations and best practices to facilitate the plan’s
implementation in the Town of Cochrane. See Table 8.1 for an overview of the plan’s timeline.
135
Johnson, L.K. (2004), “Execute your strategy without killing it,” Harvard Management Update, Boston: Harvard
Business School Publishing.
136
Improving Strategic Planning: A McKinsey Survey (2006) McKinsey Quarterly, July/August.
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