SPP Strategy Implementation & Execution 2 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which framework is most useful for diagnosing gaps between intended strategy and actual execution outcomes?
- McKinsey 7-S Framework (Correct answer)
- Porter's Five Forces
- BCG Growth-Share Matrix
- Ansoff Matrix
Correct answer: McKinsey 7-S Framework
The McKinsey 7-S Framework evaluates seven interdependent organizational elementsâstrategy, structure, systems, staff, skills, style, and shared valuesâto diagnose execution gaps.
Question 2: A company's new market-entry strategy is failing because regional managers are reverting to old habits. This is best described as which execution barrier?
- Resource barrier
- People barrier (Correct answer)
- Vision barrier
- Management barrier
Correct answer: People barrier
The people barrier occurs when key personnel lack the skills, motivation, or accountability required to execute a new strategy effectively.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a strategy execution office (SEO) or project management office (PMO) in large organizations?
- To replace the CEO in strategic decisions
- To centralize budget control across all departments
- To coordinate, monitor, and support cross-functional strategy execution (Correct answer)
- To conduct external benchmarking studies
Correct answer: To coordinate, monitor, and support cross-functional strategy execution
A strategy execution office or PMO provides a centralized function to oversee portfolio alignment, track initiative progress, and resolve cross-functional dependencies.
Question 4: When translating corporate strategy into business-unit plans, which principle ensures vertical alignment?
- Competitive benchmarking
- Cascading goals and objectives (Correct answer)
- Market segmentation
- Activity-based costing
Correct answer: Cascading goals and objectives
Cascading goals breaks corporate-level objectives into progressively specific targets at business-unit, team, and individual levels to ensure vertical alignment.
Question 5: A balanced scorecard initiative stalls because managers treat it as a reporting tool rather than a management system. What is the root cause?
- Insufficient financial metrics
- Lack of executive sponsorship and cultural change (Correct answer)
- Too many strategic themes
- Incorrect choice of KPIs
Correct answer: Lack of executive sponsorship and cultural change
When leaders fail to champion the BSC as a strategic management system and drive cultural adoption, it degrades into a mere compliance report.
Question 6: Which action best addresses the 'resource barrier' to strategy execution identified by Kaplan and Norton?
- Rewriting the mission statement
- Linking budget and resource allocation directly to strategic priorities (Correct answer)
- Conducting employee engagement surveys
- Redesigning the organizational chart
Correct answer: Linking budget and resource allocation directly to strategic priorities
Overcoming the resource barrier requires aligning annual budgets and capital allocation with strategic initiatives rather than historical spending patterns.
Question 7: An organization uses 'strategy reviews' monthly and 'operational reviews' weekly. What is the key distinction in focus between these two meeting types?
- Strategy reviews cover financial data; operational reviews cover HR data
- Strategy reviews assess initiative progress and learning; operational reviews address short-term performance variances (Correct answer)
- Strategy reviews are for executives only; operational reviews include all staff
- Strategy reviews occur quarterly; operational reviews occur daily
Correct answer: Strategy reviews assess initiative progress and learning; operational reviews address short-term performance variances
Strategy reviews focus on learning whether strategic hypotheses are valid and initiatives are on track, while operational reviews address near-term performance gaps.
SPP Strategy Implementation & Execution 2
Which framework is most useful for diagnosing gaps between intended strategy and actual execution outcomes?