Exploring Critical Success Factors for Integrating Strategy Formulation and Implementation in the Furniture Industry in Zimbabwe

Several studies show that there is vast literature on strategy formulation and generally corporate leaders find the process of developing strategic ambitions easier as compared to strategy implementation. This study was undertaken in the Furniture Industry in Zimbabwe where a number of firms are struggling to survive and more than ten large firms ceased operations over the last ten years. The main objective of the investigation was to establish the challenges that entrepreneurs and managers face in implementing formulated strategies in the Furniture Industry in Zimbabwe. The study explored the critical success factors for integrating strategy formulation and implementation and the Mixed methodology was adopted. The investigation identified internal and external success factors that influence the performance of firms in the Furniture industry in Zimbabwe. The identification and in – depth exploration of the success factors provided detailed insights on the reasons why firms in the Furniture Industry in Zimbabwe are struggling to attain their strategic intents. The critical success factors which were explored in this study include organisational structure, culture, resource availability, communication, people, reward system, industry, training, coordination, monitoring and product differentiation.
Furthermore, the study revealed that if critical success factors are effectively managed, they become driving forces for effective strategy implementation. Conversely, failure by corporate leaders to identify the relevant success factors that affect the furniture industry will result in adverse effects on strategy implementation as they widen the gap between the formulation and the implementation phases. Most of the success factors which were identified and investigated in this study were revealed in existing literature as key factors in strategy implementation. The impact of the external business environment on the furniture industry in Zimbabwe was explored and the findings indicated the adverse impact that the external business environment has on the furniture industry, such as the economic turbulence which is characterised by exchange rate volatility, high inflation, high cost of borrowing and political instability. The study indicated that employees play a critical role in ensuring effective strategy implementation. It was revealed that the majority of employees are left out at the strategy formulation phase and are only involved at the implementation stage, therefore they won’t be having any sense of ownership of the strategy yet it is critical for corporate leaders to involve the employees from the formulation stage to the implementation stage. Furthermore, given the economic and political instability that is prevailing in Zimbabwe it was indicated that it is critical for business leaders to adapt to the environment accordingly, failure of which will result in strategies not being achieved.