CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW Volume XXIX, Number 4, Summer 1987 © 1987, The Regents of the University of California Implementing "Growth" and "Harvest" Product Strategies Christopher K. Bart For the most part, strategy implementation is concerned with "organizing" the firm's members and obtaining from them behaviors which contribute to the accomplishment of the firm's strategy. To secure appropriate be- haviors, management consultants and scholars alike have prescribed that CEOs rely on the firm's "formal organization. "I As a managerial term, formal organization encompasses a number of tools, including: • the company'sformal design (i. e., the organization chart) and job descrip- tions; • the manager selection and assignment system; • the planning and control (or information) system; and • the reward system. 2 Each constitutes a fairly strong organizational signal which tells managers what the company expects from them and how they should allocate their time, energy, and attention. Through judicious use of these tools, a CEO is able to influence his managers' behavior such that it supports and rein- forces the firm's strategy. In this context, a firm's formal organizational arrangements can be viewed as an intervening or intermediary variable in the linkage between strategy and manager behavior (see Figure 1). Strategy/Formal Organization Linkages-Today, there is a fairly large body of research which generally supports the notion of linkages among strategy, formal organization, and manager behavior. 3 Researchers' efforts, in particular, have generated a number of useful guideposts for CEOs acting in their role of "organizational architect." For example, it is generally accepted that growth strategies require manager behaviors char- acterized by creativity, flexibility, and quick decision making. To encourage these behaviors, management experts usually recommend organizations 139 Copyright © 2001 All Rights Reserved