IMPLEMENTING ACCOUNT-MODEL IN SALES-ORGANISATION

Abstract

Why do organizations have challenges in strategy implementation and why do they fail in strategy imple- mentation when the strategy is their key success factor? Research shows that strategic knowledge in com- panies, in general, is on a weak level and it concerns employees as well as the management. The strategy is a focal point of business, and strategy is widely discussed in business. Corporate strategies that stand out get headlines. The vast majority of managers are focused on strategy and creating strategies. Most managers even say that their most important task is working according to the strategy. However, many companies struggle with implementing their strategy.

The objectives of this research were to increase awareness of a renewed strategy within this case organi- zation and find out why they have been struggling with strategy implementation. The organization is im- plementing the account sales model to their sales organization. The goal of this case study is to find out what are the key challenges in strategy implementation. Research questions were: What are the strategy work challenges on implementing the account-model and how is the strategy perceived by the employ- ees? The study focuses on concepts like strategic management, strategy implementation and kea account management.

This is qualitative research, and the empirical data was produced using face-to-face theme interview and semi-structured survey. The face-to-face interview was carried out with management responsible for the strategy implementation. The survey was addressed to the employees whose tasks the strategy concerned.

The results of this research support earlier researches and the findings show that the strategy implementa- tion has not been successful. Challengers that stand out the most were lack of resources, poor time man- agement, defects in communication and lack of control of the process. Management differences in three Nordic countries form an extra challenge. The implementation process is still ongoing.

Strategy implementation seems to be the hardest part of strategy work. Studies show that the implementa- tion process is underrated. Future studies could focus on how to bring the same significance in strategy implementation than on strategy creation.