Aligning Strategy Across Multiple Business Units III

There are three takeaways in trying to achieve alignment across multiple business units.

A final key learning I would offer in terms of ensuring alignment is dong all we can to keep strategy and finance aligned. My experience is that when the finance organization and the strategy organization aren’t working closely together, the likelihood of getting a strategy implemented diminishes dramatically. Strategy and finance must work together closely. As part of our strategy dialogue process, the finance organization is very deeply involved they see, in the course of the strategy dialogue, what the likely investment requirements are going to be.

There are three takeaways in trying to achieve alignment across multiple business units. The first is not trying to assert too many metrics that are common across the businesses, because even in businesses that appear similar on the surface, there are typically some pretty fundamental differences. The second is to help the businesses by providing them some of the key external planning assumptions. And the final one is to ensure that the finance organization and strategy organization are working closely together

ACTION POINT: Multiple business organizations must integrate the strategy and business functions to prevent roadblocks after strategy decisions are made