BENCHMARK STUDY

Läget för strategigenomförandet: Balans mellan snabbhet, anpassning och kontroll

Global benchmarkstudie visar hur ledande företag hittar rätt mellan snabbhet i genomförandet, lyhördhet och effektiv styrning

Få rapporten

Commissioned by Planview
Conducted by Lawless Research

Can your organization balance speed, quality, and governance in today’s complex environment?

Do leading companies use structured approaches to navigate competing priorities, or simply react in the moment?

While organizations have improved at balancing execution speed with quality outcomes since the 2021 benchmark study, they now face the added complexity of rapid adaptation to constant change, creating a three-way tension between speed, quality, and governance.

Planview commissioned a global benchmark study in 2025 to assess how organizations navigate this modern strategy execution challenge and what separates companies that master this delicate balance from those that struggle.

De fullständiga resultaten beskrivs i rapporten: Läget för strategigenomförande: Balans mellan hastighet, anpassning och kontroll

800 business professionals from across the globe rated their organization’s speed of response to disruption and quality of outcomes across the five core strategy-to-execution competencies:

  1. Pivoting strategies and plans
  2. Reallocating funding and budgets
  3. Reprioritizing work execution
  4. Realigning people and teams
  5. Accessing and analyzing data for decision-making

By mastering the balance between speed, quality, and governance, companies can execute with confidence during disruption and capitalize on new opportunities.

Below are five key findings that were revealed.

1

The execution divide revealed: Leaders pull ahead in speed and quality

Based on speed of response and quality of outcomes across the five strategy-to-execution competencies, respondents were assigned a Strategy Execution Index score and categorized as:

  • Strategy Execution Laggards: Struggle with speed and quality while lacking systematic adaptation capabilities
  • Strategy Execution Challengers: Achieving improved speed and quality, but are inconsistent in adaptation responses
  • Strategy Execution Leaders: Excel at speed and quality while mastering systematic adaptation to constant change

Leaders have mastered the delicate balance between speed, quality, and governance, outperforming the rest. The performance gap reveals that organizations must find their sweet spot between execution speed and effective governance or risk falling behind competitors who have.

Strategy Execution Laggards 204 Respondents SCORE: 0-39 Strategy Execution Challengers 387 Respondents SCORE: 40-79 Strategy Execution Leaders 209 Respondents SCORE: 80 or more
Strategy Execution Laggards 204 Respondents SCORE: 0-39 Strategy Execution Challengers 387 Respondents SCORE: 40-79 Strategy Execution Leaders 209 Respondents SCORE: 80 or more

Research categorized Strategy Execution Laggards, Challengers, and Leaders based on scores calculated from the Strategy Execution Index.

2

67% of Leaders have immediate access to data for crucial decision-making

Leaders outperform in technology enablement and data accessibility, creating significant competitive advantages in strategic execution.

Leaders have universally equipped themselves with effective technology and immediate data access, while Laggards struggle with data quality and lack timely access to decision-making information.

Strategy Execution Leader insights:

4X

more likely than Laggards to
have immediate access to accurate data

100%

have effective strategy execution technology in place
vs 65% of Laggards

Immediate data access and technology integration
provides Leaders with better decision-making capabilities

3

Leaders are 8x more likely than Laggards to use AI across the organization for multiple use cases

Leaders are significantly ahead in AI adoption and implementation, creating competitive advantages through organization-wide AI integration for strategy execution.

Results show that Leaders are 8x more likely than Laggards to use AI across the organization for multiple use cases. Most Laggards are still in early phases of using AI.

50% 19% 6% 1% 4% 8% Use AI across the organization for multiple use cases Haven’t started their AI journey Leaders Challengers Laggards Leaders Challengers Laggards
50% 19% 6% 1% 4% 8% Use AI across the organization for multiple use cases Haven’t started their AI journey Leaders Challengers Laggards Leaders Challengers Laggards
4

Governance is a top barrier to strategy execution

Organizations face the strategy execution paradox: balancing the ability to execute fast, adapt to change quickly, and apply the right amount of governance and oversight.

Top barriers to strategy execution are:

39%

Complex governance/approval processes

33%

Lack of alignment between strategy and execution

32%

Slow/ineffective decision-making

Complex approval processes and misalignment continue to create bottlenecks that hinder strategic success, with governance challenges compounding as organizations struggle to find their sweet spot between speed and control.

However, strategy Leaders have cracked the code by designing governance that accelerates rather than constrains their execution capabilities by implementing centralized coordination that supports speed, developing quality-focused processes that enhance outcomes, and adopting streamlined approaches that move beyond traditional structures that slow execution.

5

Strategy Execution Leaders deliver better business outcomes across key metrics

Leaders achieve dramatically better business results, with 91% seeing increased revenue compared to only 61% of Laggards. Superior strategy execution capabilities act as a performance multiplier across various aspects of organizational success.

Strategy Execution Leaders achieve higher:

91% 86% 61% Revenue increases Leaders Challengers Laggards
89% 83% 59% Profitability increases Leaders Challengers Laggards
90% 81% 65% Innovation increases Leaders Challengers Laggards