Investigating sense reception in strategy translation

Abstract

Strategic competence has been found to be declining in certain geographical areas and industries with poor implementation often predominantly attributed to ineffective communication. However, based on addressing communication only, and even with the apparent attribution of implementation failure, the gap still remains. Various frameworks have been developed and studies conducted in line with sense making and strategy but with limited focus on the receivers of the translated strategy. This study aimed to offer a novel alternative framework to understanding strategy implementation failure, by creating insight on the role of sense reception on strategy translation and, ultimately, how it may affect strategy implementation. The study was qualitative in nature with a phenomenological design. It was deemed appropriate as it allowed for an in-depth understanding of emotions, motivations, perceptions and self-described behaviour of the participants. Each organisation has its own language and symbols and these all have an impact on sense making. Therefore, this study firstly interrogated strategy translation from an organisational perspective to investigate the collective sense and then from an individual perspective to understand sense reception better. Data from 23 individuals from two organisations were collected in the form of semi-structured, open-ended interviews held during October and November 2018. In conclusion, the concept of a hierarchical sensing loop was brought forward and the findings highlight that understanding the loop is critical to strategy implementation as any breakdowns in the loop or mismatches between the various processes may impact strategy implementation negatively. The five key elements of sense reception were explored thoroughly and their presence confirmed as a prerequisite for effective strategy translation. Finally, the study further revealed that due to the variation in cognition, levels of experience and organisational structure, sense reception might not always take place and thus hinder translation of a strategy.