The aim of the research reported in this paper was to examine policy deploy
ment in a business unit of the UK company operation of a major corporation,
considered a world leader in business improvement. In this study, thr appl
ication of policy deployment at an operational level was investigated to de
termine how managers deploy and manage direction, and assess the effectiven
ess of the catchball process. In the business unit studied, policy deployme
nt could have a greater impact. For example, in deploying direction, cascad
e and catchball is used, however, the leadership, checks, control and commu
nication elements could be more effective, and the respective shortcomings
are described. A generic catch-reflect-improve-scrutinize-pass (CRISP) appr
oach to policy deployment is proposed by which vision, mission: goals, obje
ctives, targets and means can be more effectively deployed.