Good strategy execution requires that O top management deliberately squeeze the size of the operating budgets of each department over time in order to force organizational units to focus on performing value chain activities at the lowest feasible cost. o managers be especially creative in finding ways to accomplish all value chain activities with less resources and achieve significantly better levels of operating efficiency. o company managers devote more resources to such activities as quality control, new product development, improvements in existing products, building a competitively potent brand name, employee retraining, strengthening particular competencies and capabilities, and making needed capital improvements in plant facilities and/or distribution centers and/or information technology. o a company's expenditures for operations and capital improvements be both strategy-driven (to amply fund competent performance of strategy-critical value chain activities) and lean (to operate cost-efficiently). managers develop lean and strictly-enforced operating budgets for performing each value chain activity in order to protect the company's financial condition, eliminate wasteful use of cash, and maximize the cash available for investing in capital improvements and growing the business