The Booz & Company is the one of the oldest management consulting firms which completed a survey of more than 1,800 executives. According to the survey:

• A great majority of executives (64% of the survey respondents) say that their biggest frustration factor is “having too many conflicting priorities.”
• Executives report that their biggest challenges are (a) ensuring that day-to-day decisions are in line with the strategy (56%) and (b) allocating resources in a way that really supports the strategy (56%).
• Half of the executives (50%) consider setting a clear and differentiating strategy a significant challenge.
• In fact, most executives (52%) do not feel their company’s strategy will lead to success. Only 21% say their company has a right to win in all the markets in which it competes.
• Most executives (81%) say growth initiatives lead to waste, at least some of the time.
• The vast majority of executives (82%) say functional departments in their companies get competing demands from different business units.

The Bottom Line

The research seems to highlight short coming in how companies go about creating and setting strategy.

“The root of the problem is that too many companies grab too hastily for what seems like the next answer to growth. They don’t have a solid framework to decide which set of opportunities will lead to sustainable success.”

Effective strategy is developed using a well proven approach that results in a clear focus on a limited set of opportunities. Trying to be all thing to all people, avoiding making important  trade offs usually results in a weak strategy and very poor execution.

Related posts:

1. The higher executives climb, the less likely they are to know what is and isn’t working at their companies…
2. Peter Drucker on Effective Executives
3. 2008 Best Companies for Leaders