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WHAT is oPERATions sTRATEgy imPlEmEnTATion? 335
change. Also, involving users in the design of the processes affected by implementation
allows designers to access their detailed knowledge and experience. This is especially
important because external contractors and consultants may develop some elements
of strategy, at least partially. Although they may understand the details of the strategy,
they often lack sufficient practical understanding of the organisational context of its
implementation.
Professor Dorothy Leonard of Harvard Business School argues that the often-used
term ‘user involvement’ is insufficiently precise because it covers a multitude of different
approaches to interaction, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. She proposes
a model of four different modes of user involvement, each of which offers a progressively
greater degree of descriptive and prescriptive value. (She was referring to implementa-
tion involving new process technology, but her ideas have wider applicability.)
● Delivery mode – When users (and managers, for that matter) have very little knowl-
edge of any new resources needed for the strategy, it is relatively easy for external ven-
dors or internal developers to treat the implementation project like a product to be
finished and then delivered to the client. This ‘over-the-wall’ mode of development
requires almost no interaction with users and, where interaction exists, the feedback
may have little impact beyond possibly improving the next generation of technol-
ogy. The critical strategic question is whether such a one-way flow of information is
sufficient to help develop underlying operational resources and capabilities.
● Consultancy mode – The next mode, requiring slightly more user interaction, is closer
to a classic consultancy implementation project. Designers/vendors recognise that
there are established patterns of work (routines, etc.) in the processes that they are
helping to change, and invest time asking questions of experienced users. Again,
although this accesses more of the firm’s operational resources, it does not necessar-
ily contribute to their development because the flow of information remains largely
one way.
● Co-development mode – This mode is much closer to a form of partnership. This
approach can be very effective when levels of uncertainty are high (either the devel-
opers’ uncertainty about the existing system or users’ uncertainty about any new
resources). This is because there is relatively little pre-existing knowledge to be cap-
tured and exploited.
● Apprenticeship mode – Users wanting a greater degree of independence from develop-
ers often seek a mode of implementation whereby lead users are almost ‘apprenticed’
to the developer. This radically changes the nature of the implementation process,
moving it much closer to what we described in an earlier section as ‘learning’. Such
an approach is normally more time- and money-intensive, but from a capability-
building perspective it is very attractive.

Dorothy Leonard suggests three useful dimensions for thinking about different types
of users:

1 Form of expertise – Certain users might be the best operatives in the organisation
but this does not guarantee that they are capable of articulating what it is they do.
Equally, they may well lack the critical skills to question a system development
process.
2 Representativeness – Earlier we discussed the value of adopting a pilot approach
to implementation. Doing so poses a problem common in all scientific

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