Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change, Second Edition

Chapter 12. Executing Strategy in Service Organizations

Introduction

The United States has become a service economy. Approximately 77 percent of U.S. GDP in 2011 was accounted for by service businesses, compared to 22 percent for manufacturing and 1 percent for agriculture. The projected percentages look to remain the same for 2012. There’s no denying the obvious: Service businesses are predominant and important in the United States and, indeed, the world economy.

The impact of services is even greater than the previous numbers suggest. There is a large and growing segment of services in product-based companies. Functions or corporate center groups in companies—for example, IT, HR, finance, executive development, and company “universities”—are ...