Effective execution lies at the heart of achieving superior business performance, and purposeful action-taking by managers lies at the heart of effective execution. This article shows that only a relatively small proportion of managers actually engage in such purposeful action taking. A set of answers have been developed to the research questions, namely: What are the causes of this lack of action-taking by managers? What is different about those who take purposeful action? What can managers do to enhance their personal action-taking ability? And what can corporate leaders do to create an organizational context in which others can take purposeful action? A broad overview is given on some of the key findings of an investigation of the phenomenon of managerial action-taking.
