Control and implementation of strategies for a retail establishment

SUMMARY

The present work constitutes an approach to the study of a topic that is located in daily life and that has gained interest in recent years: the mechanisms that allow administrators to know the measurement of the implementation of strategies in the development of their organizations.

In the research, a methodology is designed and applied that combines the thought process of E. Goldratt with the logic of the Balanced Scorecard for the design of a control and measurement mechanism for the implementation of the designed strategies. The application of the methodology used for these purposes is presented in detail and the results derived from its application are presented.

Keywords: control, strategy, scorecard, thought process

Summary

This article constitutes a move towards the study of a common topic in the last years: the mechanisms that allow the administrators to know the degree of implementation of the strategies in the performance of its organizations.

The work presents the design and application of a methodology that combines the Thought Process of E. Goldratt with the logic of the Balanced Scorecard to design a mechanism for monitoring and measuring the implementation of designed strategies. The application of the methodology is presented in a detailed way and the results of this application are exposed.

Key words: control, strategy, balanced scorecard, thought process

INTRODUCTION

Today's organizations operate through complex environments, executives need to use a whole set of instruments to verify and control the future results of the company, there is a time of change in which technology influences our lives, the markets They fragment when customers learn how to meet their demands, which in turn presents a challenge to the business's adaptability. Traditional control is poorly adapted to such an environment, because the information it produces is often outdated and imprecise to use as the basis for customer and product decisions.

In the information age, organizations require various tools to capture and analyze the changes characteristic of the dynamics that characterize the current era, to efficiently develop a strategic direction (García Vidal, 2006; Alvarado, 1990; Ansoff, et al., 1993; Ansoff, 1998; Hernández Torres, 1997; Kaufmann, 1993; Menguzato and Renau, 1995; Mintzbeg, 1994; Mintzberg, et al. 1997; Morrisey, 1993; Morrisey, 1995; Morrisey, 2003; Morrisey, 1995; Ronda Pupo, 2002; Rowe, 1989; Steiner, 1996; Fry, 1986; Grant, 1998; Kaplan and Norton, 2000; Kaplan and Norton, 1996; Kaplan and Norton, 2001; Kaplan and Norton, 2000b; Knee and Walters, 1989).

That is the current environment that organizations have to face, on a scientific basis that reduces risk factors and fosters greater certainty of actions. This is possible with the use of the strategic management approach. Consequently, this direction foresees the need for a different type of strategic control and this need has led to the development of different management control models, which strongly highlight the way in which business strategies are translated into indicators and goals. for different managers and how they provide comprehensive and balanced statements of their obligations.

The current competitive environments in which business is carried out, together with the need to respond appropriately to the continuous changes and constant uncertainty that organizations have to face, entail a significant change in what business management is It refers, being essential in this sense, the role of management control, which as an element of the management process, is the one that contributes the most to improving the actions of any system. (Amat, 1992; Espinoza Saavedra, 2004; Hernández González, 2007; Pablos Solís, 2007; Pereda López, 2007; Pérez Campaña, 2005; Utria Flores, 2008).

The search for coherence between the strategy and the management system of the company, becomes one of the key themes of organizations; and it is necessary to apply comprehensive tools that respond to this current situation. (Ronda, 2000 and 2002; Sami, 2005).

Experience has shown that even within the most varied styles of command, the leadership of a complex organism can be exercised effectively only through a Management Control System that encourages the best use of resources to achieve or exceed results. expected and that makes it possible, in a timely manner, to take the necessary measures for the corrective actions required.

The retail establishment studied is no stranger to problems related to the process by which managers ensure that resources are obtained and that they are used effectively and efficiently in meeting the company's objectives, in which different uses and combinations are used. Both formal and informal mechanisms to influence people's behavior, and the link between global and individual objectives, as well as the domain, knowledge of management in each of the responsibility centers and areas of the organization. This entity has not reached full compliance with its Management Control, which is evidenced by the limitations of managers when designing their strategies and forms of action to achieve their intended objectives,they do not have a support that provides them with timely information about their situation, document management is not computerized, there are insufficiencies to evaluate the company's management in a balanced way, the information system does not develop along with the progress of organizations, this makes that the research points to the Management Control System for the Implementation of Strategies of the retail establishment, which exhibits the problem of not facilitating the knowledge of the causes that prevent the strategic actions undertaken in the retail establishment from achieving the expected implementation.Knowing this problem and after developing a group work with experts from the organization, it was learned that the cause of it is that the control mechanisms existing in the retail establishment do not comprehensively cover the measurement of the implementation of strategies in the organization so if the problem is addressed, the objective to be achieved is given to have a control mechanism that comprehensively encompasses, in the organization, the measurement of the implementation of the strategies.

The strategy to follow to achieve the objective is to design a methodology that facilitates the integration between the formulation, execution and control of the strategies based on the logic of the Balanced Scorecard (CMI).

Addressing the problem of Management Control requires a rigorous study of the various approaches that are presented from their object of study and the ways of understanding them in their diversity, so that the contributions that support the research can be appreciated, mainly by Blanco Illescas. (1993), Joan Amat (1992), Machado Noa (2003), Niven (2002), Argyris (1989), Beckham (1997) and Rosanas (1999), which allow us to address the epistemological elements from which it is performed the implementation process.

FOUNDATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGY

For the preparation of the methodology to implement the mechanism that facilitates the integration between the formulation of the strategies, their execution and control in the retail establishment, different works according to the subject have been thoroughly reviewed, examples of which are various degree theses carried out by Pupo and Selva (2003), Díaz de Zayas (2007), Pereda López (2007), Hernández González (2007), Lozano Morera and Molina Ortiz, (2007), Pablos Solís thesis (2007), Espinoza Saavedra (2004), doctoral thesis by Pérez Campaña (2005), García Vidal (2006) and Ronda Pupo (2002) who made important evaluations of various strategic management methodologies that were also the object of study for the preparation of the methodological proposal made by the author. By last,it is of utmost importance to highlight the works of Goldratt (1995), creator of the different tools that make up the method known as Thought Processes and that will be widely used as part of the designed methodology. From the analysis of the different authors mentioned above with their respective methodologies, and from several documents most cited in the bibliography used, the procedures that are considered most consistent for the proposed methodology presented here are summarized, taking into account the nature and type of Cuban companies.and from several documents most cited in the bibliography used, the procedures considered most appropriate for the proposed methodology presented here are summarized, taking into account the nature and type of Cuban companies.and from several documents most cited in the bibliography used, the procedures considered most appropriate for the proposed methodology presented here are summarized, taking into account the nature and type of Cuban companies.

Once the proposed methodology has the general objective, once the strategies have been designed, to have a mechanism with a strategic and systemic approach, based on the logic of the CMI, which will facilitate the administration's process of controlling the implementation of the strategies in the vision and make decisions for the continuous improvement of the organization.

DEVELOPING

CONTENT OF THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY

For the application of the methodology and to obtain the desired benefit as a result of this, it is necessary to apply techniques such as group work, problem solving, meeting development, idea generation, decision making, etc. It is necessary to have teamwork skills that are not usually well developed to try to achieve a favorable climate that allows analyzing the problems without attachments to the areas that the members of the group belong to, since to a large extent the solutions are influenced by the parts that have something to gain or lose with them and that only see an edge of the global problem.

In the use of this methodology, the steps, methods and tasks that must be carried out in conducting the research are linked as follows: These are:

STEP 1: CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ORGANIZATION AND STRATEGIC DIAGNOSIS

Objective: To characterize the organization and identify its strategic position.

Description: In the course of applying the methodology, work must be done from the perspective of the dialectical paradigm in which it is maintained that knowledge is a product of the subject-object interrelation, where the "truth" of social processes cannot be discovered. on the basis of instrumentalist positions, but is the result of the use of quantitative and qualitative theoretical and empirical methods in which ideological and axiological aspects play an important role and intersubjective knowledge has space.

For the reason stated above, it is considered necessary to carry out a characterization of the entity where the methodology is applied in order to summarize synthetically the internal situation of the organization and its environment and thus be able to pay attention to the Principle of Objectivity of the Administration. (García Vidal, 2006); This characterization must basically contain the following elements (Noda Hernández, 2004):

1. Degree of integration: It is important to know the integration of the organization, that is, if it is an individual facility or if, on the contrary, it belongs to a chain, a business group or has some type of association. If this is the case, they must be characterized, since a group of essential attributes come from the corporate image offered by the chain or group. Description of the general profile of the entity: In this step, we will proceed to identify those aspects that allow us to know the profile of the organization and the way in which people coordinate and the position that each one occupies.Characterize internal clients: The internal client constitutes the most important resource for the development of any service unit, based on their needs and expectations. any strategy that is drawn up must be sustained,hence the importance and even the need to “get to know him” in terms of age, sex, academic background, length of service, organization, chain and / or sector, command of foreign languages, social origin, people who depend on it, among other characteristics that are considered necessary. For this, the inventory of personnel can be very useful, if it exists and is duly updated, supported by interviews with workers.Characterization of external clients: As is known, external clients are all those people or institutions that do not They are part of the organization, but those who have an impact on the products and services it offers, so it is convenient to distinguish and characterize all types of external customers that it has.These clients can be characterized through various variables such as age, sex, taste, preferences, purchasing power, idiosyncrasy, culture, purchase reasons, repetition, among other elements. Kotler (2000). Characterization of competitors: Retailers are seldom in a monopoly, on the contrary, their growth depends on acquiring part of the share of the competition, so they generally compete with many competitors. Therefore, in order to achieve, conquer and maintain customer loyalty, retailers have to identify, control and adjust to the characteristics of the competition, through obtaining information about their strategies and constant comparison with their products and (o) services, prices, communication channels, promotions, etc.This allows identifying competitive advantages and disadvantages, anticipating future movements and reactions, launching more precise "attacks", as well as preparing stronger "defenses". (Ibarra Mirón, 2003). Characterization of suppliers: Relations with suppliers are part of the spiral of quality activities, so it is necessary to create a relationship with them that ensures the product purchased, the scope of aptitude of necessary use, with quality, formality, efficiency and with a minimum entrance inspection, since these products are part of the base to be able to form a quality service. The main suppliers must be defined, which are those companies and individuals that provide the necessary resources for the elaboration of products and (or) services, as well as know the products they offer, their quality,opportunity and price. It is of great importance to know its characteristics, needs, contracting capacity and payment facilities, among other aspects. Characterize the economic and financial situation of the entity: It is carried out with the purpose of knowing the economic and financial status of the organization, allows to create a concrete assessment of the current situation. This stage is very important when this type of study is going to be implemented for the first time; By continuing with the cyclical development of the methodology, it should only be updated, since variations in the reflected data may appear. the organization.This diagnosis will allow you to work with all the information you have about the organization, useful for examining its Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses and Threats. This type of analysis represents an effort to examine the interaction between the particular characteristics of your business and the environment in which it competes. The analysis should focus only on the key factors for the success of your business. It should highlight the internal differential strengths and weaknesses when comparing it objectively and realistically with the competition and with the key opportunities and threats in the environment. Analysis of the state of the premises established for the development of the methodology:An analysis of the attitudes and motivational state of the administration is carried out for the development of change processes within the organization and the preparation of the members of the organization involved in the process in: group work, problem solving methods, use of creative thinking generation techniques.

Possible methods and tools to use: Document review, SWOT Analysis, SISTRAT Methodology (García Falcón; Osorio Acosta, 1998, p.58), Growth - participation matrix, Chain Substitution and Successive Approach Method, BCG alternative matrix (Kotler, 2000).

STEP 2: IDENTIFICATION OF SYSTEM RETRICTION

Objective: Identify the problems to which the company must focus as it constitutes the cause that causes the greatest number of undesirable effects.

Description: The different tools that make up the tool known as Thought Processes begin to be used (See Annex 1). The Thought Processes constitute a scientific methodology that: (1) makes it easier for people to focus and verbalize the various situations in which they find themselves, (2) allows building and communicating common sense and (3) allows focusing solutions based on the critical problems of the organizations (regardless of their size or rotation), and a set of tools to put it into practice, as an element to facilitate administration so that they are closer to their goal through a Continuous Improvement Process.

Through the Thought Processes what is intended is to initiate in them a process of radical improvement. These processes can be defined as: A set of tools that facilitate the analysis and search for systemic solutions for problem situations. Its development is based on the Socratic method, which consists of inducing the interested party (s) to deduce for himself the answers and (or) solutions he wants, via questioning realities. The method gives you the opportunity to discover solutions in such a way that your natural resistance to change is modified and focuses on making your solution work. The mentioned techniques of the thought process represent, the change of the traditional method of correlation towards the thought of effect - cause - effect.

The development of thought processes requires group work, so it must be conformed with the formal invitation to participate in group work. This call will be predefined for the interest of managers. The facilitator of this process must be well prepared before starting the group activity, for this reason they must write a work plan or contract that includes:

1. Objectives: the participants must know what is the goal to be achieved with the group activity. Methodology: the logic of the thought processes must be explained describing the different instruments that comprise it. Auxiliary materials: those materials that the participants will use to participate as a member of the group. Available time: the frequency, number of work sessions and the hours they last are explained.

The above serves as a preparation phase, with which the process begins, being of vital interest to achieve the commitment and participation of those involved. The strategy is for managers to personally decide to lead the change and implement a system based on the strength of people, their attitudes, ways of proceeding and integration into a goal of "continuous improvement".

In this particular step, a Current Reality Tree (ARA) will be created to verify why the problem that prevents the organization's development has not been solved.

An ARA is the diagram of cause-effect relationships that connect all the undesirable effects (IE) that prevail in a problem situation. Once this is done, it is possible to realize that there are not many problems to deal with because at the root there are almost always one or two independent causes. In other words, underneath any problem situation there are one or two central spinal problems, which are the cause of all the other undesirable effects, inevitable derivatives of the spinal problem. In order to create a more effective improvement process, those elements must be sought, generally only a few, which cause most of the undesirable effects existing in the problem situation. The fewer root causes identified as being responsible for the undesirable effects, the more precise and powerful the improvement process will be.If it is agreed that an undesirable effect is generally only a symptom - effect resulting from a root problem - then it is obvious that the search for the root problem must be based on cause-effect relationships. Therefore, time should be spent building an ARA that constitutes the logical picture of a problem situation.

PROCEDURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ARA

1. List the undesirable effects related to the problem situation. It is not recommended to list more than 15 undesirable effects.

2. Find a cause-effect relationship between at least two of the undesirable effects. No matter what undesirable effects, the important thing is that there is a causal relationship between them. To achieve this connection, you should think as follows: If… then… In this process there is no hierarchy. It is recommended in this step:

1. Review the list of undesirable effects very well. Use intuition. Verify with the knowledge that has accumulated on the subject.

The connections are likely to be obvious to you, however, it may be that when examining the list of undesirable effects there are many connections, but when trying to verify them, none have substance, the undesirable effects seem to be connected for a very long date. This is called insufficiency. It is then necessary to try, if necessary, to clarify the cause - effect connection by inserting an intermediate step. This is an undesirable effect that does not appear in the list, but can now serve perfectly to strengthen the initial connection. The idea of ​​this step is to turn an intuitive connection into something solid that everyone describes as common sense.

3. Connect the initial solid core with the other undesirable effects. Wondering what other undesirable effects can be easily connected to the central core? It is important not to ignore the trivial. Putting aside the apparent trivialities can be dangerous, generally it is these that allow connecting all the undesirable effects to form a coherent representation of reality. More often it is trivialities that allow you to come up with advanced solutions. However, be careful not to want to tie up all apparent trivialities, this can lead to paralysis by analysis. The purpose is to find the root problem not to add more trivia.Keep in mind that in some undesirable effects parts of the ARA can be seen above and below forming a circuit that feeds itself. If this type of circuit appears, the effects must become bigger and bigger. This is not unusual, on the contrary, in any complicated subject there is always, at least, a devastating circuit. This step must be done with extreme care and without haste.

4. Find the root problem. Every entity in the ARA that does not appear as a result of another - every entry point to the ARA - is a root cause. It is always possible to build a clear and logical ARA in which at least one of the root causes leads to most of the undesirable effects. This entry is not just a root cause like the others, it is the root problem. It must be the primary objective of improvement efforts.

5. Read the ARA from bottom to top using the following form, as appropriate:

1. If… then… If… and… then… If… and… then… and then…

The ARA demonstrates how everything is closely related, its construction allows to be well aware of the underlying causalities in the current problem situation (See Annex 2).

Possible methods and tools to use: Group work, Brainstorm (Marenco, 1995, Calviño, 1998), ARA (Goldratt 1995)

STEP 3: DEFINITION OF VISION AND STRATEGY (S)

Objective: Define the vision of the future of the organization, the strategy (s) to achieve it and visualize the qualitative transit of the same (s) towards the scope of the vision.

Description: The vision understood is defined as the general statement that defines the future state in which the organization wishes to be in order to approach the change in its current situation. It is a consequence of the root problem that prevents your change and the achievement of your Goal. Vision is the opposite of the root problem to overcome. The Vision, once declared, becomes the fundamental objective until the root problem changes, at which time it must be reformulated in attention to the same generalities set forth before (García Vidal, 2006). To get an idea of ​​the tools and characteristics that a vision must have, see Bowman, 1995; Morrisey, 1993, 1995 and Fry, 1986.

PROCEDURE FOR ELABORATION OF VISION

1. Evaluation of the information: It consists of evaluating all the information obtained in the previous steps, that is, the strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities, as well as the mission. Definition and validation of the vision: After analyzing the information, it is recommended to carry out a brainstorm through which the expression of the vision will be defined, validated through techniques to achieve consensus.Feedback and fixation: Finally, it is recommended to carry out a mission-vision feedback where it is checked whether the result you want to obtain is compatible with the defined mission, if it really contributes to its realization and if it is in the hands of the organization, its achievement.

To achieve the vision of the future and solve the root problem, the underlying conflict that prevents the achievement of the vision must first be clearly defined, and the instrument that allows this is the Cloud (See Annex 3). The Cloud is not the beginning, it is supposed to be used only after having the current situation well organized in mind. A Cloud is built only if you intend to use it. If after stating the root problem and defining the future vision with precision and writing the Cloud, no attempt is made to solve the problem then it is an impractical tool. Sometimes there is no difficulty in translating the problem into a natural solution. The cloud is, then, redundant. The value of the Cloud is that it offers a direct way to solve the root problem, to evaporate the conflict. Any Cloud can evaporate, break.

STEPS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND EVAPORATION OF A CLOUD

1. Clearly define the vision of the future. Identify two necessary conditions - those requirements that are essential to achieve the objective - Verbalize the resulting conflict - the direct clash between two prerequisites. Clear verbalization of the conflict should be quite apparent in the ARA. Once this has been done, the Cloud has been drawn, which constitutes a clean instrument that allows us to see the complete panorama, it is a powerful way of presenting things. The Cloud must evaporate. The tendency to seek a negotiation must be overcome. If there was an acceptable negotiation, the organization would have found it a long time ago. Keeping in mind that the best solution is to eliminate the root problem, you should systematically investigate what changes in reality eliminate at least one of the reasons for the conflict.The Cloud is not only a presentation technique, she says that a compromise should not be reached, it requires examining the assumptions behind the arrows in order to evaporate the conflict. You have to wonder which branch of the Cloud bothers you the most, which arrow is intended to break first. It is important to question all the arrows, to examine the assumptions behind them. If the conflict arrow is broken, this generally offers the most powerful solution, these solutions are called injections. An injection is not a generic solution developed in the past, but a powerful solution for the current situation, which immediately makes it the strategy to be followed by the organization. Once the strategy has been found, and as a complement to the objective identified in the Cloud,strategic objectives can be stated, these can be found as contrary to the undesirable effects exposed in the ARA.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF THE STRATEGY

Finding a strategy - a discovery that can free you from the destructive control that the conflict exerts over the current situation - is only one step that indicates the starting point, but it, by itself, is far from solving the problems. It is necessary to discuss how, starting from the suggested course (strategy), the desired objective can be achieved contrary to the root problem.

For the design of the strategy it is necessary to take into account that it may be inappropriate, understood, unable to obtain the desired objective, due to:

1. Failure to understand the true nature of the problem and the objective to be achieved. That the strategy does not fit the resources of the organization, with the environment or is not feasible.

So in the strategy design process it is necessary:

1. Do not overestimate the resources and skills of the organization. Take into account the parties involved in its subsequent implementation to achieve the necessary coordination. Do not underestimate the necessary time, personal or financial resources.

The original intention was and continues to be to eliminate many specific undesirable effects so improvement efforts should lead to an environment where, instead of undesirable effects, its opposite, desirable effects emerge. For this reason it is necessary to review whether the original strategy leads to the specified desirable effects. From the design phase of the strategy, those value criteria must be distinguished for the scope of the vision that must be assumed by the control mechanism of its implementation and that allow focusing attention on those issues that are crucial for the organization, therefore, the establishment of control mechanisms must accompany the design of the strategy from the beginning. (Naranjo Pérez, R.; et. Al. (S / a)).

Sometimes it is difficult to make an ARF because the starting point may seem like a meaningless quixotic, but even if you do not have the slightest idea of ​​how to achieve the strategy, and before taking time to find out, you must first find out if you want practical or not, if it will serve what you want or not. In short, the Future Reality Tree (ARF) helps to better understand the strategy, it must give such a detailed understanding of it that you will know how to apply it. (See Annex 4).

PROCEDURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN ARF

1. Assuming that the strategy exists, and resorting to cause and effect relationships, the logical results of its application must be predicted, it must be assumed that the strategy is being applied and logically predict what the impact on the objective should be. the strategy and using arrows and the language of "if… then…" to reach the objective. Additional statements can be used as they are considered and, if necessary, other strategies are added until the objective is reached. The initial strategy is generally insufficient, but the process of building the ARF leads to finding the missing elements, to discovering what Other strategies are necessary to achieve the desired goal. These new strategies are extensions of the original, making it more explicit.

Possible methods and tools to use: Group work, Brainstorm (Marenco, 1995, Calviño, 1998), Cloud evaporation, Tree of Future Reality (Goldratt 1995).

STEP 4: REDEFINING THE MISSION

Objective: Analysis and reformulation of the organization's mission.

Description: The mission of the organization is analyzed and clarified, understood as the effective way to present the combination of means, in a qualitative way, that identifies the way in which an organization intends to obtain its vision and its final results, differentiating itself from the rest of its type.. Without the Mission statement, it is easy for the use of the media to become diffuse and for the subsystems to operate with crossed purposes (García Vidal, 2006). In general, the mission serves as a guide in cohesive and coherent decision-making regarding the means available to the organization, outlining, in most cases, the differentiating element that shows the competitive advantage of the Organization that it characterizes. (García Vidal, 2006; Campbell; Yeung, 1991; Guerreo; Díaz, 2000; Martínez, 1997; Morrisey, 1993, 1995; Prahalad; Doz,1987).

PROCEDURE FOR ELABORATION OF THE MISSION

1. Initiation and attention by senior management. Participation and commitment of other levels of management and representatives of workers. Preparation of the team in its conceptualization. Elaboration of the expression of the mission. Review and feedback. Approval and commitment.

WORKSHEET TO CLARIFY THE MISSION OF YOUR COMPANY

Here are some generic questions (Morrisey, 1995) that will help you identify factors to include in your mission statement or to analyze and review an existing mission statement. Although the answers to all of these questions will not necessarily be included in the final statement, answering them requires strategic thinking, and your answers will be useful elsewhere in your strategic planning process.

1. Why do we exist (what is our basic purpose)? What is original or distinctive about our company? Who are or should be our main customers and consumers? What are or should be our main products / services, present and futures? What are or should be our main markets and distribution channels? How much has our business changed from what it was three or five years ago? How is our business likely to change in three or five years? What are or should be our main economic concerns and how are they measured? What points, priorities and philosophical values ​​are or should be important for the future of our company? What special considerations do we have regarding the following participants (as applicable) ?

1. Key People Board of Directors Parent Organization Legislative / Regulatory Bodies Workers Customers / Consumers Suppliers Community General Public

The main application of the mission statement is its guiding role from which strategies, models, definitions and practical consequences of action are derived, which constitute the functionality of the organization so that everything it decides to decide can be put to use. Proof of its compatibility with the mission of the organization. Your mission statement should be a visible document that can allow all members to focus their efforts in a way that supports the organization's goal. The Mission refers to the state in which the Organization itself must operate as a system in order to achieve the Vision that it has set out to achieve. Externally, the mission statement will provide communication to groups of majority customers, suppliers and the financial community,as well as its board of directors, its owners, its headquarters and society in general. Although its primary purpose is not that of a commercial communication document, the mission statement can serve that purpose if it has been properly prepared. It is necessary to clarify that the Mission statement must be revised once the Organization's Vision has been achieved.

Possible methods and tools to use: Group work, Brainstorm (Marenco, 1995, Calviño, 1998), See also Bowman (1995), Morrisey (1993 and 1995), Fry (1986) and SDV Consultores (2003).

STEP 5: SETTING GOALS AND ACTION PLANS

Objective: Identify the obstacles to the implementation of the strategy and define the behavior to follow.

Description: Based on the vision, mission and the strategy (s) defined to achieve it, now each of them needs to be implemented, the ARF has shown that once the strategy (s) have been implemented the desired result will be achieved: the objective opposite to the root problem (vision).

Implementing the strategy (s) is not an easy task. It should not be forgotten that one of these strategy (s) is an important discovery that departs from the traditional ways of solving problems, for this reason, it is generally necessary to break the implementation down into smaller steps. For this, the Prerequisite Tree (AP) is built. (See Annex 5).

PROCEDURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AP

1. Starting with the strategy and pointing to the Obstacles that you expect to find already followed, the Markers or Intermediate Objectives are spoken. Each obstacle helps to set an intermediate objective, which will be enough to overcome the corresponding obstacle. The fact that the obstacle corresponding to each objective is spoken is very useful since it makes placing the objectives in sequential order relatively easy. To complete this step, you need to sequence the intermediate objectives; which is first, which can be done in parallel, etc. Connections arise from the chronological dependency necessary to overcome all obstacles. You have to ask yourself what (or could be) the reason why intermediate objective X should be achieved first,and only then achieve intermediate goal Y? It must be then that there is an obstacle that prevents the achievement of Y, and this obstacle is overcome by achieving X. It is for this reason that X has to be achieved before Y. Once the intermediate objective has been defined, it is necessary to ask ourselves again if there is any obstacle that blocks the achievement of this intermediate objective and so on.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE FORECASTING AND PLANNING OF THE OBJECTIVES

1. They must be understood by all subordinates and involved and be verifiable. When they cannot be quantified, criteria must be defined to evaluate their achievement. It is one of the most important elements of planning effectiveness because the more subordinates participate, the greater commitment there will be in meeting the objectives. number of related aspects, so that in a formulation the tasks for its assurance are considered. It is necessary that they be decisive, challenging and feasible, that all efforts are directed towards them, but that they are possible to achieve.

The power of the AP comes from the fact that it does not ignore obstacles, on the contrary, it takes advantage of them as the main tool of this step.

At this point we already know exactly where in the process it is, the root problem that causes most of the undesirable effects has been identified. You know where you want to be, the strategies that will bring about the desired results have been determined. Intermediate goals were also set for the change. Everything has been planned very well, but if actions are not taken, reality will not change.

In determining the necessary actions, attention should be focused not on what you plan to do, but on what you want to achieve. The spine of the Transition Tree (AT) is the detailed description of the changes that are visualized in reality. The ribs are the actions necessary to bring about that gradual change until the objectives are achieved. (See Annex 6)

This instrument requires a careful examination of what actions are really necessary and whether or not they are sufficient to guarantee the achievement of the objectives. This is the how tree, the detailed logic must be transferred from the present moment to the desired future. It is necessary to review that the actions are essential for the particular situation that is faced.

Most importantly, placing gradual change as the backbone of the plan provides essential security when planning for the future. The vision of causing a specific change in reality is adopted, rather than following a particular action simply because it has been planned.

To see the total evolution of the instruments used from steps 2 to 6 see Annex 7.

Possible methods and tools to use: The Transition Tree, Prerequisite Tree (Goldratt 1995), Group work, Brainstorm (Marenco, 1995, Calviño, 1998).

STEP 6: DESIGN OF THE MECHANISM TO CONTROL THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGIES

Objective: Design a system of indicators to control the implementation of the strategy.

Description: An indicator system is designed based on the logic of the Balanced Scorecard (CMI) tool that allows connecting the strategic direction of the company with the administration of its processes (Kaplan RS; Norton DP, 2000). The implementation of the strategies is integrated into the analysis through the perspectives: the financial, the training and growth, the internal processes and the customer, defining, in each case, the indicators in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring that are aligned with the objectives of the organization and with the key success factors resulting from the internal and external diagnosis carried out.

This administrative information system must provide at all times the information that is really needed to make effective and timely decisions that allow changes to be assimilated quickly and at low costs. The effectiveness of the control process depends fundamentally on the quality of its information system.

1. Break down the vision according to each of the perspectives.

The balanced scorecard model should be seen as an instrument to transform an abstract vision and strategy into concrete indicators and goals. In other words, a well-formulated balanced scorecard is the presentation of the company's strategy. The purpose of this step is, then, to transform the vision in tangible terms from the established perspectives, and therefore, to achieve the general balance that is the exclusive characteristic of the model and the method. This process is a very important part of true business development work, and another is to formulate the overall strategy in more general terms.

The process itself is quite complex and requires a substantial contribution of resources. The model makes it easier to break down the vision into concrete, reality-based perspectives with which people feel most identified and with whom they can work.

One way to get this phase of the process going is to ask participants to describe the general rules of procedure that would most easily and effectively bring the company to the desired vision. The description should be based on the different perspectives and, in a certain way, on each one of them. A suitable starting point could be the above description of what the company will be like in the future. Once this phase is completed, the group will have a statement for each perspective that will indicate the main lines, in order of priority, to achieve the desired vision. The automatic consequence is that the strategies will be based on vision.

2. Develop indicators, identify causes and effects and establish balance

At this point, key indicators are developed that will be used later in the work. Different techniques can be used, such as brainstorming, of which no idea is rejected and all thoughts are used in the process and in a final phase the most relevant indicators are specified and given an order of priority.

Finding clear cause-effect relationships and creating a balance between the different indicators of the selected perspectives is a great challenge. So there is a need to discuss whether there is a way to strike a balance in which short-term improvements do not affect long-term goals. Indicators from different perspectives should not lead to sub-optimization, but should be in line with the global vision and support the overall strategy.

This phase is treated as if it were a single step, although in practice it has often been seen that it should be divided into two parts. First, the indicators are proposed, and then the possibility of taking them is studied, while the structure is reviewed for logical consistency. Here we use what is known about measurable cause-effect relationships.

Characteristics of the indicators to design

Considering the criteria issued in the consulted bibliography, the following are proposed as elements to characterize the indicators (Harrington, 1997; Pérez Campaña, 2002; García Vidal, 2006):

Definition: It means giving a name to the indicator and specifying how its calculation will be carried out, that is, it includes: name, utility, form of calculation and units. To have a general idea of ​​which indicators to design, see Annex 8.

Objective: It is necessary to clearly define the objective of the indicator, its reason for being, which will allow it to be known and will express the guideline, the policy that will include its measurement and what will be obtained from it.

Reference Levels: The reference level is associated with the desired state of the indicator (ED), which will serve to compare it with the current state (EA); The following may be considered as the desired state or reference standard:

1. The established goals The historical behavior of the indicator (to establish trends) The best value achieved for said indicator, either in the organization or outside it (benchmarking) The value of the indicator with respect to the competition

Responsibility: Will answer the questions: who measures it? And who will act on the results when there are deviations?

Frequency: It will answer the question, when to measure it?

Requirement of the indicators: they cannot be many, they must cover the entire organization, be closely related to the strategy and the areas that it impacted.

Evaluation of the Indicators

The measurement of the indicators, as a fundamental tool to evaluate the implementation of the designed strategies, will be carried out according to the frequency established in the design phase; however, in all cases it is recommended to make partial evaluations to observe the trend and to adopt, whenever proactively, the measures to achieve the proposed objectives.

3. Establish the global dashboard

Once the previous steps are completed, the dashboard is prepared at the highest level for approval and presentation, it is important that all members of the organization receive information about the work and the process of ideas that have been necessary to create the dashboard. command. It is also advantageous for participants to receive supplementary documentation with explanatory texts, possible approaches and suggestions for group work that facilitate the ongoing process of breaking down the scorecard.

4. Implementation of the scorecard

To maintain interest in the scorecard, it is necessary to continuously follow it so that it fulfills the entrusted function of a dynamic management tool.

It is also important that the scorecard is used throughout the organization in the daily aspects of management. If you provide the basis for each unit's daily agenda in this way, you will have a natural role in reporting and control through its impact on day-to-day operations. The implementation plan, therefore, should include rules and suggest ways to ensure that monitoring a balanced scorecard is part of the company's daily work.

Finally, the selected indicators must be continuously questionable, especially the short-term control ones, and in appropriate cases, they must be replaced by more current ones.

This is essential and cannot be considered as a simple step in the introductory phase. It stands out here because only when the scorecard has become a dynamic and functional part of the daily activity of the company can it be said that its introduction is already complete.

Analysis of inhibitory factors.

When the organization has not reached the desired level of performance, the inhibiting factors that are limiting it must be analyzed, since the convergence of certain specific conditions is necessary. This again leads to step 2 of this methodology.

The strategy evaluation checks the results of the execution and the formulation.

It is necessary to carry out three fundamental activities in order to effectively evaluate the strategies of an organization. These are:

1. Analyze internal and external factors: since they represent the basis of the firm's current strategies. Key questions in this analysis should include: Are internal strengths still strengths? Are internal weaknesses still weaknesses? Are external opportunities still opportunities?; Do threats continue to be threats? Measure the performance of the organization: compare the real progress with the previously planned progress of the company, with respect to the achievement of the vision and previously established objectives. Take corrective measures: required to improve the strategic position of the organization, both externally and internally. Link Rewards to Performance Measurements:Linking compensation with performance allows a powerful motivational lever for those from whom behavior is expected based on expected results. This aspect is one on which more emphasis should be placed in order to achieve a good link between results and compensation. The business improvement process provides an opportunity to design an appropriate system tailored to the needs of each organization.

Feedback and Learning

The potential that the Dashboard gives should be used, favoring the ability to know, at any time during its implementation, whether the strategy that has been formulated is really working, and if not, why.

This will imply that managers must seriously analyze the evidence and reconsider their shared conclusions about market conditions, propositions about added value by consumers, the behavior of competitors, and internal capabilities. The result of such a review may be to reaffirm their concepts of the current strategy but to adjust the quantitative relationships between the strategic measurement criteria of the Dashboard. However, they may also conclude that the unit needs a different strategy, in light of new knowledge about market conditions and internal capabilities. In any event, the Dashboard will have stimulated key managers to learn about the viability of their strategy.The ability to enable organizational learning at the leadership level is what sets the Board apart, making it invaluable for those who want to create a planning and control system.

Possible methods and tools to use: Document Review, Affinity Diagram, Correlation Diagram, Indicator Design, Group Work, Brainstorm (Marenco, 1995, Calviño, 1998).

This step ends the exposition of the designed methodology. For a graphic analysis of the same see Annex 9.

The essence and functioning of this methodology is characterized by its comprehensiveness and depth, since it is not based on reductionist criteria in the analysis of the variables it investigates but on a much broader and more comprehensive criterion, which contains concepts such as coherence, organicity, the system vision and the adaptability to the real conditions of the organization, which must guarantee a dynamic operation of the same not tied to a certain scheme or development model, which can work today for a certain environment, however it may be dysfunctional when the conditions of the latter change.

The proposed Methodology can be used as a method of consulting by external consultants, if this is the case, it is necessary that once their professional work is completed, the clients have appropriated the method of application of the process as such. In the event that the consultant is internal, she will leave control of the process to the direct actors and will only intervene again if she is appointed to do so or if her presence is necessary at later times, thus contributing to Organizational Learning.

CONCLUSIONS

1. The designed methodology that combines the thought processes and the logic of the balanced scorecard made it possible to design a control mechanism to control the implementation of the strategy in the retail establishment, thus fulfilling the hypothesis proposed and achieving the proposed objective. between the identification of the restriction, vision, strategy, identification of obstacles and derivation of the objectives until the definition of the indicator system has allowed us to have a control tool, with a proactive approach and with a greater degree of participation of all those involved in the process of its design.The designed indicator system responds to the needs of the retail establishment,since it allows management to have operational tools to integrate it into decision-making. Despite the degree of subjectivity that may be present in the methods and techniques used in the management control process, they showed that applied according to the Characteristics of Cuban companies, intelligently and creatively, constitute valuable instruments in strategic decision-making.

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