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Effective strategy implementation through rail infrastructure projects

Whilst strategy is imperative to an organisation’s success, evidence suggests that strategies within the South African rail industry often fall short during the implementation phase, despite having sound strategic plans in place. This research provides insights into the challenges encountered within the strategy implementation phase of rail infrastructure expansion projects. Measures to avoid and/or mitigate these challenges are also uncovered. Application of these measures should allow organisations in the rail industry to increase their probability of achieving strategic success. Four cases (with each case being a strategy implementation project within a railway organisation) were studied. The findings suggest that scope creep, poor integration and coordination, lack of resources, ineffective organisational structures, problematic organisational processes, poor leadership, and a lack of alignment between strategic plans and operations are the major challenges faced. Effective measures to overcome these challenges are provided. It was also uncovered that a number of challenges are interlinked, and can therefore be avoided through the application of key best practices such as the appointment of skilled portfolio managers and adherence to effective procurement processes. The findings of this research add to the existing literature on effective strategy implementation. This research provides organisations in the rail industry with insights on effective strategy implementation which allows for an increased probability of successful realisation of strategic goals which, ultimately, is of significant benefit to the South African economy.