Monday, February 16, 2015

Common Barriers In Strategies For Managers

One common barrier to implementing strategies is a lack of resources.


Managers can face many limitations or barriers to implementing various strategies. This can hold true in large, median and small corporations as well as government agencies or hospitals. Management strategies should be clearly highlighted in business plans and communicated throughout the organization. Otherwise, strategies get lost in the shuffle and become secondary to individual, departmental or financial goals.


Limited Resources


Most companies are budget driven. That is, all projects and the required resources are planned before the year begins. Consequently, companies may have limited financial resources for implementing strategies if they do not plan for them in advance. The problem is that companies do not often know what strategies they will be implementing. Consumer tastes can change; and competitors can introduce aggressive marketing strategies at any time, for example. Either situation can call for new strategic decisions that require financial backing. Resource barriers are not just limited to money or capital. Human resources and time management can also limit a company's ability to implement management strategies. For example, a company may not enough managers on hand to execute certain strategies; or current management may too busy with other projects.


Personal Barriers


Another common barrier to implementing management strategies are personal barriers. Only 25 percent of all managers' incentives or personal objectives are linked to strategies, according to Moranconsulting.com, a management consulting firm. Hence, managers are going to strive for financial objectives or meeting project deadlines before working on strategic planning and implementation. An ideal scenario for companies would be to incorporate some incentives for strategic planning and implementation into every manager's agenda. That way, certain management strategies would be more prioritized than is currently the case.


Vision Barrier


Very few people in companies truly understand strategies. Actually, according to Moranconsulting.com, only five percent of the workforce understands their companies' strategy. That means ninety-five percent of employees go through each workweek no knowing where the company is headed strategically. This type of thinking largely stems from the industrial days, when workers just perform their tasks and little else. However, with the advent of the Internet and other real-time media, competitors can quickly find out what strategies companies are implementing. Therefore, employees need to knowledgeable about strategies to be effective.


Management Barrier


Managers often do not discuss strategies in companies. Strategic planning is usually left to high-level executives, such as senior vice presidents. Therefore, unless upper management fully enlightens their employees on various strategies, they are going to be oblivious to it. One way to better communicate company strategies is to have corporate-wide quarterly meetings, where executives speak about key strategic initiatives. Strategic goals can also be listed in corporate bulletins or discussed by department directors or managers.

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