Forging a proper path forward for a company is often only half the battle. “Leaders can come up with the right strategy, but they will admit — and there’s a lot of data on this — that implementing strategies is where they fall down,” says Wharton associate management professor Claudine Gartenberg. Her Strategy Implementation course aims to help students bridge the gap between setting big-picture objectives and carrying them out. Central to the course, Gartenberg invites executives, including the CEO of a large pharmaceutical company, a private-equity firm founder, and a former utility company chairwoman, to discuss their experiences. “The point is to talk about some of the hard stuff — the challenges they’ve faced, the tough decisions and mistakes they’ve made, how they’ve learned over time, and what they would do differently,” says Gartenberg. The following course materials introduce some of the high-level takeaways from the semester.

“How Kalanick-Gurley Tensions Shaped Uber of Today”

Kicking off the class, students analyze a monumental clash in Uber’s early days between former CEO Travis Kalanick and investor Bill Gurley. At the center of the dispute were differing views on how to grow the company: Kalanick wanted to continue pursuing startup-like growth, including launching a food delivery service and expanding geographically, while Gurley wanted to focus on professionalizing the company ahead of an IPO. Their disagreement, which is detailed in this article from The Information, culminated in Kalanick’s ouster and Gurley’s resignation from the board. “The punch line,” says Gartenberg, “is that what seem like philosophical differences around how companies should operate are often rooted in strategy.”

“The Execution Trap”

This Harvard Business Review article highlights another type of workplace relationship that’s critical to a company’s ability to act on strategy, namely dynamics between leaders and the rest of the organization. The takeaway: Strategy implementation won’t work without setting employees up for success. To do that, leaders need to clearly communicate the strategy, incorporate feedback from workers, and — most importantly — give them autonomy to make choices that align with the strategy, rather than following step-by-step instructions from management.

“Ten Years Ago With Dow at 8991, ‘Nervous’ Delta Tried a Risky Merger. Now Shares Are Up 640%”

Students discuss the turnaround described in this 2018 Forbes piece with the leader who oversaw it, former Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson. His appearance in class “is the culmination of a three-day series on Delta,” says Gartenberg. “Students get to see leadership in action. They hear from the person who led the airline’s turnaround and about the important choices he made in an industry that’s dominated by vicious competition.”

“How a ‘Deviant’ Philosopher Built Palantir, a CIA-Funded Data-Mining Juggernaut”

Documenting the rise of a software company founded to help intelligence agencies leverage data, this Forbes article also explores Palantir’s expansion to more traditional corporate customers, such as banks. The firm’s move into new areas speaks to a main theme of the course, says Gartenberg: “Companies have to be able to absorb technologies faster than in the past, and this is a company that’s doing that from the other side by selling nascent technologies.” In addition to the examination of this facet of the company, a former Palantir executive who visits the class touches on murky surveillance aspects of its operations. “We also use the visit as an opportunity to talk about principles and ethics in the context of strategy,” says Gartenberg.

“Drawing a Route to Market for Multinationals in Africa”

Exploring the complexities of executing strategy in international markets, students read this piece from Boston Consulting Group ahead of a conversation with an executive at an investment bank in Africa. The consulting firm’s road map for navigating business on the continent includes tips on understanding the market, identifying partners, establishing proper distribution structures, and more.

“Strategic Inflection Points”

“Experiment first and then pull in the reins and commit yourself,” concludes the late Intel CEO Andrew Grove in this 1996 lecture — available on YouTube — about confronting and adapting to industry-upending developments. Grove’s evergreen talk imparts key insights for recognizing these types of changes and responding to them with an all-paths-considered approach before choosing the right way.

 

Published as “Turn Your Strategy Into Reality” in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of Wharton Magazine.