Formalizing deployment processes in the US Government

The linkage between strategic planning and daily activities within an organization is often obscure. Perhaps as a consequence, many well‐developed strategic plans fail to be implemented, and required goals and objectives are not attained. Strategy deployment processes link strategic plans with implementation activities. Instead of investing more time and energy in improving planning or implementation processes, an organization should first examine the deployment processes used to link strategic plans with action – “deployment processes” may be the missing link in the strategic management system. This paper studies the application of formal strategy deployment processes within three US federal agencies. The strategic management literature provides the basis for the deployment processes analyzed in this study. Following the analysis of each individual case, an overall assessment of existing supporting and restraining forces that should be considered when working to improve deployment processes is discussed.