---
title: "A Practical Case Study on Efficient Execution"
description: "An enterprise seeking strong employee execution should not rely on slogans like 'no excuses' but on proper management, allocation, guidance, inspection, rewards and penalties, all based on a sound strategy. Good execution stems from good strategy and management, which clarify what to do, how to do it, to what standard, what to do if not done well, and who is responsible."
author: "朱志明"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2014-09-26"
language: "en"
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# A Practical Case Study on Efficient Execution

> An enterprise seeking strong employee execution should not rely on slogans like 'no excuses' but on proper management, allocation, guidance, inspection, rewards and penalties, all based on a sound strategy. Good execution stems from good strategy and management, which clarify what to do, how to do it, to what standard, what to do if not done well, and who is responsible.

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An enterprise wanting strong employee execution is not about the slogan 'no excuses' but about correct management, allocation, guidance, inspection, rewards and penalties, all based on a sound strategy. Good execution comes from good strategy and good management. A good strategy makes execution easier to achieve; good management clarifies what to do, how to do it, to what extent, what to do if not done well, and who does it.

Many enterprises feel helpless when facing execution problems! They hope to solve poor execution through a few training sessions, some learning, and systematic KPI indicators, but after all that, they still see little improvement!

Why is this? Simple! These enterprises have not grasped the root of execution.

Execution means doing one's duty, using one's abilities, employing appropriate methods, and leveraging all resources to accomplish tasks assigned by superiors.

To put it more clearly, for an enterprise to have strong employee execution, it must solve the problem of management capability, and must achieve the following seven points to completely resolve execution issues:

1. **Reasonable division of labor**: Let the right people do the right things, fully utilizing their talents.
2. **Clear responsibilities**: Employees must clearly know what they should and should not do.
3. **Clear goals**: Employees must clearly understand to what standard tasks should be completed, what is most important, what is most urgent, and by when to finish.
4. **Correct methods**: Work is not about doing things blindly; it requires strategy and methods to complete tasks quickly and effectively, improving efficiency.
5. **Tracking and guidance**: Timely tracking of work progress, identifying problems, and providing guidance to correct deviations to ensure work efficiency.
6. **Clear rewards and penalties**: What rewards come from doing well, and what responsibilities follow from not doing well.
7. **System supremacy**: Everything is done according to the system; violators, regardless of position, are treated equally, with responsibilities pursued level by level, and leaders bearing primary responsibility.

When we serve enterprises, we basically adopt the above management measures to improve organizational capability and execution. Let's look at a case.

Wangjiu Liquor (pseudonym) is a baijiu enterprise restructured from a state-owned enterprise. Although its organizational structure is complete, it is overstaffed, lazy, inefficient, with a sluggish market, complaining customers, and the enterprise is in a state of deficit, like a heap of loose sand, in a very dangerous situation.

Facing this situation, we spent three months on marketing organization management reengineering, tailoring systems to local conditions, clarifying and detailing goals, and intensively cultivating the market. The enterprise finally turned around and now shows a vibrant state.

**1. Start from leadership: the biggest destroyer of execution is the leader.**

As the saying goes: A train runs fast because of the locomotive. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beams will be crooked. Those old cadres from the restructured state-owned enterprise most like to drink tea, read newspapers, chat, and shirk responsibility, having a very bad influence. New marketing staff, after a few days, some imitate them and start to idle away, while others see no future and voluntarily resign.

To change this situation, we adopted a system where everything is governed by rules, everything is sales-oriented, and everything is quantified. We clearly divided work, defined responsibilities, set targets, and set timelines for the marketing director, deputy marketing director, group purchase manager, and related supervisors, and provided work methods. Monthly work plans, weekly work plans, and daily work plans were arranged, with today's work done today, and this week's work completed this week. Every morning, a morning meeting for all marketing staff was held, with the general manager attending as an observer, reporting on the progress of yesterday's work, why it was not completed, where the crux of the problem lies, how to complete it, and by when. In management, rigid management methods were adopted, never dragging things out. Whether leaders or grassroots business staff, there was no leniency. Survival of the fittest, and the laggards are eliminated. Since these old cadres from state-owned enterprises were used to a life of ease, they found it hard to adapt at first, with severe resistance, even plotting to get rid of the consulting company. However, because we communicated with the general manager beforehand, involved the general manager in the process, and reported and summarized afterwards, the general manager was clear about every node, so we were able to implement it, and the effect was very obvious.

However, for these old cadres, work arrangements must be reasonable and appropriate, and they must save face; otherwise, it could be a fight to the death. Our strategy was to first raise their salary and then strengthen the quantity and quality of their work.

For example, our marketing deputy director formulated a weekly work schedule:

| Work Arrangement | Visit Frequency | Quantity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Visit urban joint-venture customers | Once a week | 10 |
| Visit core urban hotel customers | Once a week | 10 |
| Visit major township customers | 2 township major customers per week | 14 townships |
| Arrange and participate in small tasting sessions | Once a week | Enterprises, institutions, townships, villages |

Note: The marketing deputy director must fill in a work log based on daily work, report work status to the marketing director and general manager. If the above requirements are not strictly followed, the company will consider restoring the original salary and canceling related subsidies.

Habit becomes nature. After more than 30 days of adaptation, the marketing deputy director not only corrected his attitude, formed habits, gained ideas, and understood the market, but also could put forward many valuable suggestions, and even lead the team in market operations.

**2. Suitable strategies ensure easier execution.**

When enterprises complain about poor employee execution, have they considered the capabilities of marketing personnel and whether they provide guidance and solutions in time? Otherwise, after countless setbacks, how much confidence and execution can marketing personnel have? Don't blame grassroots staff for poor execution; it's because leaders are too incompetent.

What to execute? How to execute? These are problems managers must solve. Managers should not use 'no excuses' as an excuse; that is a sign of leader incompetence. Without a good execution strategy, how can there be a good execution process and result? Unless your sales team is full of sales elites, unless your brand is a bestseller.

When serving Wangjiu enterprise, we wanted to enter famous cigarette and liquor stores with strong group purchase and retail capabilities to form a manufacturer-dealer joint venture. Since the enterprise was disconnected from the market, it was impossible to know which stores had strong sales capabilities, and surveying became the biggest problem.

When business personnel went to stores to ask for this information, they were either kicked out or given false information, with almost no effect. Facing this situation, we used one business personnel's social connections to find the owner of the most prestigious cigarette and liquor store, and communicated over a meal, obtaining all the needed information in one meal.

With the information in hand, how to get these owners to accept our products became the key issue. Business personnel tried to distribute to these stores, but because the product was not famous, the owners simply refused, and business personnel were repeatedly turned away. Facing this situation, we discussed at a meeting and decided to use social connections to bring the marketing deputy director and business personnel to visit each store one by one, giving two bottles of tasting liquor as a public relations gesture, letting customers taste first. Then, on the third day, the marketing deputy director and business personnel carried out distribution, which went much more smoothly. Business personnel's confidence increased, and they voluntarily worked overtime every evening to visit customers, helping the next day's work go more smoothly.

Good execution comes from good strategy; a good strategy makes execution easier to achieve.

When we served a liquor enterprise, the first regular meeting lasted more than 5 days. When the company issued sales targets, I required each manager to produce corresponding work plans.

Following convention, the sales staff only provided sales breakdowns and promotion plans, without any work plans. We required: 'A monthly work plan is only qualified when it is detailed enough that people can see at a glance that if they follow the plan without fail, the month's task is guaranteed. Only then can it be implemented.' As a result, the best-performing manager revised the plan 3 times and passed after 3 'trials', while the most revisions were 10 times.

**3. Clear division of labor maximizes the value created by execution.**

Without clear division of labor and clear responsibilities, people will only shirk responsibility and blame each other, making it difficult to accomplish things well and easily dampening and hitting employees' work enthusiasm. This is the most common phenomenon in many enterprises.

Wangjiu Liquor attacked the township market by having business personnel, the marketing department, and public relations group purchase participate simultaneously.

First, the marketing department sent people to core townships to find and negotiate wall advertising spaces, store signs, and banner hanging matters, with a deadline of one week; if not completed, the marketing department manager would be directly demoted.

Second, the public relations department used social connections or networks to lobby township mayors, party secretaries, police station chiefs, instructors, and other government officials, as well as business owners and social celebrities, to organize distillery canteen tasting sessions, factory visits, and guidance, with a deadline of 10 days; if not completed, the public relations manager would be directly demoted. Tasting sessions were organized in villages and towns, selecting people who love drinking and have influence, including hooligan types.

Third, business personnel selectively entered stores: for mid-to-high-end products, they chose core local cigarette and liquor stores and hotels; for low-end products, they distributed to all terminals, both circulation and hotel terminals. Distribution had to be completed within 5 days after advertising and tasting sessions were finished.

Finally, mobile promotion teams conducted buy-one-get-one-free promotions, limited-time giveaways, limited-time flash sales, and limited-time lotteries at core hotels and cigarette and liquor stores in townships where distribution had been done. Since business was poor, many owners and managers cooperated with the activities, cooperating with banners, posters, and display management, and even sending activity information to friends and business owners via SMS, phone, QQ, etc. The effect was very good.

This approach not only made business personnel very motivated but also easily generated sales, preventing the market from appearing dead and slow-moving.

Good execution comes from reasonable division of labor and clear responsibilities.

**4. System is king: absolutely no exceptions or 'let it pass this time'.**

Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. If the law does not apply to the high and mighty, everyone will be dissatisfied, and there will be many excuses at work, affecting progress.

People only do what you require, not what you hope. Let execution be completed within a system of supervision, guidance, and assessment. A reasonable and simple performance system is key to determining the quality of execution.

Good execution comes from being meticulous, and absolutely no 'let it pass this time' is allowed. It must be 'take this as a lesson' to avoid similar problems next time.

At Wangjiu Liquor's morning meetings, whether leaders, grassroots business staff, or even the general manager observing, if they were late, they were fined without any reason, with absolutely no special treatment or 'let it pass this time'. At meetings, for problems, only causes were analyzed, solutions discussed, and everyone contributed ideas and social resources to help solve them. Blaming and making excuses to cover up problems were forbidden. Although this approach met with severe resistance at first, through our persistence, now meetings are short and efficient, and everyone is excited and proactive, willing to raise problems and share experiences. Now the entire marketing team has developed the habit that problems are not one person's but everyone's; the market is not one person's but everyone's. The work atmosphere is quite harmonious, and work enthusiasm is very high.

The phenomenon that enterprise systems are difficult to implement and have no dignity has been completely changed under my management philosophy of 'no let it pass this time, only take this as a lesson'. From then on, there was no system that the company could not implement.

Managers have a traditional habit: 'let it pass this time'. 'Let it pass this time' makes the system lose dignity and plans lose seriousness. 'Let it pass this time' is a kind of indulgence, and it is also managers destroying the system themselves.

Everyone talks about execution, even saying that without execution, everything is empty talk! But where does execution come from? I hope enterprise leaders can calm down and think carefully.

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