Cso , Role Of Chief Strategy Officer

Chief Strategy Officer: Process Owner, Advisor, Consultant, Monitor, Evaluator, First Mate etc. By Sarvajeet Chandra (http://www.mastersungroup.com)

Who owns strategy in the organization? It is the job of CEO to have a vision, to set a direction. In that sense, the CEO owns the strategy (on behalf of the Board of Directors, the ultimate owners). But the buck stops at the CEO anyways. The CEO owns everything and yet can never own anything completely. He is accountable for everything and yet cannot be completely responsible for it. So an appropriate question to ask is perhaps who is responsible for strategy amongst the executive team? In an increasing tribe of CXOs then, who is mandated by the CEO to develop and implement strategy? An interesting emerging tribe is the CSO or the Chief Strategy Officer. Where does the CSO fit in, since the CEO cannot delegate the strategy formulation entirely? Besides the execution of strategy is really the job of business units and other CXOs. Therefore, what space does the CSO occupy?

CSO as the Chief Process Owner of Strategy Development Strategy creation in businesses can take many different forms, both formal and informal. The presence of a CSO implies that the business has decided to adopt a formal process of strategy development. The CSO name implies that he is supposedly the executive focus/lead for the strategy in the organisation. The job of the CSO typically should be to drive the strategy process along the broad direction/vision of the CEO, with inputs/involvement of other CXOs and unit heads.

CSO could then be called the owner of the strategy process and he needs to ensure that the process is robust, engages the organization and is objective by bringing in and defending alternative points of view to challenge group think. In doing so, the CSO (and his team) could also provide critical inputs to strategy development by doing useful analysis and utilize various tools like scenario planning, value chain analysis etc. The CSO needs to seek inputs and engage the various functional and business units in the organization at all levels. The CSO has to ensure consistency of strategy development across the organization and the role-up to a corporate strategy that integrates the businesses and the functional groups. The CSO will have the responsibility to pass down to the functional and business groups their boundaries for operational planning and investment planning. The CSO has to encourage cycles of refinements with iterations on the analyses as the organization at all levels. This will include inputs and comments from the board as they consider findings from various business and functional analyses. Being the process owner the CSO and his team also needs to run the logistics of the strategy process - bringing in the correct people, organizing meetings, facilitating the process so that it remains on-track etc.

CSO as Chief Implementation Monitor/Evaluator The objectivity of CSO also helps in evaluating how successfully the strategy is being implemented or that it is actually being implemented, and that executives don't throw it out the window the first time they face a serious competitive challenge. It is useful to state at this point, that the CSO cannot adequately monitor strategy implementation unless the outcomes have been clearly defined and there is an objective way to

measure whether the strategy is delivering the desired outcomes. A good tool to monitor implementation is the balanced scorecard.

CSO as Chief Consultant on Strategy Implementation As a process owner, the CSO facilitates not just the development of strategy but also its dissemination and implementation across the organization. He is the torch bearer for the strategy and also someone who communicates it across the organization. The CSO can also serve a useful consultant to business units and aid them in strategy implementation. As a consultant the CSO can propose solutions. He can also help steer the execution and course-correct whenever necessary, by keeping the CEO fully in the loop. He doing so he would have to engage frequently with the CEO and the rest of the management team to test the assumptions, check the performance against the plan and the environment and competitive environment, and acts as the devil's advocate when necessary to point out the changes in the environment or flaws in implantation. The CSO tries to ensure overall alignment of firm’s goals. He could also create links and bridges between different business units and functions (with active support from the CEO)and ensure optimum utilization of resources . The CSO requires a mandate from the CEO to act as a consultant. This mandate must give him significant but not total control over the execution process.

CSO Overlap of Roles during Implementation CSO’s role (esp. during implementation) does have a significant degree of overlap with the other CXOs. CSO cannot micro-manage the implementation. He needs to focus more on outcomes.

To avoid overlap/duplication with other roles, he should not get involved in the detail and day-to-day execution of strategy. By focusing on performance indicators and managing by numbers, the CSO needs to continuously remain objective during strategy execution. As a first mate/navigator to a CEO driving a car in a rally on unfamiliar terrain, the CSO must always recognize that his job during the race is tactical management of strategy. The CSO has to remain alert, track progress, recognize situations and determine appropriate responses.