Lessons from the evolution of the strategy paradigm

home > archives > 7/1 > Lessons from the evolution of the strate

Tim O'Shannassy
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, VIC

PP: 25

Abstract

A review of the strategy literature suggests there have been five phases in the evolution of the field since the Second World War. The present paper discusses each of these phases, drawing on developments in each decade to determine the key lessons for managers and researchers.

In particular, it is suggested that ongoing concerns with the effectiveness of strategy implementation in the 1980s and 1990s have led the field to pay greater attention to managers' thought processes, the use of technology, organisational learning, organisational politics, organisational culture and group dynamics. It also appears that a debate has evolved as to whether strategy should be practiced as art, a science or a combination of both.

| More

Keywords

strategy paradigm, forecast-based planning, management process, knowledge technologies

View references

References

Aggarwal R (1987) The strategic challenge of the evolving global economy, Business Horizons 30(4): 38-44.

Andrews KR (1965) The Concept of Corporate Strategy, Homewood IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.

Ansoff HI (1965) Corporate Strategy, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ansoff HI (1991) Critique of Henry Mintzberg's 'The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management', Strategic Management Journal 12(6): 449-461.

Barney JB (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management 17(1): 99-120.

Bartlett C and Ghoshal S (1991) Global strategic management: Impact on the New Frontiers of strategy research, Strategic Management Journal 12(1): 5-16.

Boisot M (1995) Preparing for turbulence: the changing relationship between strategy and management development in the learning organization, in Garratt B (ed) Developing Strategic Thought, London: Harper Collins.

Bonn I (1996) ‘Strategic Management in Australian Organisations', unpublished Doctor of Philosophy Thesis Melbourne: Swinburne University.

Bonn I and Christodolou C (1996) From strategic planning to strategic management, Long Range Planning 29(4): 543-551.

Chandler AD (1962) Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise, London: MIT Press.

Christensen C (1997) Making strategy: learning by doing, Harvard Business Review 75(6): 141-156.

Christodolou C (1984) ‘Strategic Planning by Selected Australian Organisations', unpublished Doctor of Philosophy Thesis Melbourne: Monash University.

Clutterbuck D and Crainer S (1990) Makers of Management: Men and Women Who Changed the Business World, London: MacMillan.

Collis D and Montgomery C (1995) Competing on resources: Strategy in the 1990s, Harvard Business Review 73(4): 118-128.

de Wit B and Mayer R (1998) Strategy: Process, Content, Context, Melbourne: Thompson.

Drucker PF (1955) The Practice of Management, New York: Harper.

Fahey L and Christensen H (1986) Evaluating the research on strategy content, Journal of Management 12(2): 167-184.

Ferguson GT (1996) Strategy in the digital age, Journal of Business Strategy 17(6): 28-31.

Floyd SW and Lane PJ (2000) Strategizing throughout the organization: Managing role conflict in strategic renewal, Academy of Management Review 25(1): 154-177.

Gluck FW, Kaufman SP and Walleck AS (1980) Strategic management for competitive advantage, Harvard Business Review 58(4): 154-161.

Hamel G (1996) Strategy as revolution, Harvard Business Review 74(4): 69-82.

Hamel G and Prahalad CK (1989) Strategic intent, Harvard Business Review 67(3): 63-78.

Harvard Business Review (1995) A brief history of corporate strategy, Harvard Business Review 73(4): 121.

Hax A and Majluf N (1983) The use of the growth-share matrix in strategic planning, Interfaces 13(1): 54-71.

Heracleous L (1998) Strategic thinking or strategic planning? Long Range Planning 31(3): 481-487.

Huff A and Reger R (1987) Review of strategic process research, Journal of Management 13(2): 211-236.

Isenberg DJ (1984) How senior managers think, Harvard Business Review 62(6): 81-90.

Keiser CA (1971) The Psychology of Commitment: Experiments Linking Behaviour to Belief, New York: Academic Press.

Kessler EH and Chakrabati AK (1996) Innovation speed: A conceptual model of context, antecedents, and outcomes, Academy of Management Review 21(4): 1143-1191.

Liedtka JM (1998a) Strategic thinking: Can it be taught? Long Range Planning 31(1): 120-129.

Liedtka JM (1998b) Linking strategic thinking with strategic planning, Strategy and Leadership 26(4): 30-35.

Liedtka J and Rosenblum J (1996) Shaping conversations: Making strategy, managing change, California Management Review 39(1): 141-157.

Lorange P (1998) Strategy implementation: the new realities, Long Range Planning 31(1): 18-29.

Luehrman TA (1998) Strategy as a portfolio of real options, Harvard Business Review Sep-Oct: 89-99.

McKiernan P (1997) Strategy past: strategy futures, Long Range Planning 30(5): 790-798.

Miller CC and Cardinal LB (1994) Strategic planning and firm performance: a synthesis of more than two decades of research, Academy of Management Journal 36(7): 1649-1665.

Mintzberg H (1978) Patterns in strategy formation, Management Science 24(9): 934-938.

Mintzberg H (1990a) Strategy formation: Schools of thought, in Fredrickson JW (ed) Perspectives on Strategic Management, New York: Harper Business.

Mintzberg H (1990b) The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management, Strategic Management Journal 11(3): 171-195.

Mintzberg H (1994) The fall and rise of strategic planning, Harvard Business Review 72(1): 107-114.

Mintzberg H, Ahlstrand B and Lampel J (1998) Strategy Safari, New York: Free Press.

Mintzberg H and Lampel J (1999) Reflecting on the strategy process, Sloan Management Review 40(3): 2-30.

Montgomery CA (1988) Introduction to the special issue on research in the content of strategy, Strategic Management Journal 9(1): 3-8.

Naylor TH (1982) Corporate Strategy-the Integration of Corporate Planning Models and Economics, Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing.

Ohmae K (1982) The Mind of the Strategist, New York: McGraw-Hill.

Penrose E (1959) The Theory of the Growth of the Firm, New York: Wiley.

Peteraf M (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view, Strategic Management Journal 14(3): 179-191.

Peters T and Waterman R (1982) In Search of Excellence, New York: Harper & Row.

Porter ME (1980) Competitive Strategy, New York: Free Press.

Porter ME (1982) Industrial organisation and the evolution of concepts for strategic planning, in Naylor TH (ed) Corporate Strategy - the Integration of Corporate Planning Models and Economics, Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing.

Porter ME (1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, New York: Free Press.

Porter ME (1987) Corporate strategy: the state of strategic thinking, The Economist May 23: 21-28.

Porter ME (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations, London: Macmillan.

Porter ME (1996) What is strategy? Harvard Business Review 74(6): 61-78.

Porter ME and Miller VE (1991) How information gives you competitive advantage, in Michael E Porter on Competition and Strategy, Boston: Harvard Business Review.

Prahalad CK and Hamel G (1994) Strategy as a field of study: Why search for a new paradigm? Strategic Management Journal 15(special issue): 5-16.

Raimond P (1996) Two styles of foresight: Are we predicting the future or inventing it? Long Range Planning 29(2): 208-214.

Rhodes J (1995) The process of thinking strategically, in Garratt B (ed) Developing Strategic Thought, London: Harper Collins.

Sauter VL (1999) Intuitive decision-making, Communications of the ACM 42(6): 109-115.

Schendel D and Hofer C (1979) Strategic- Management: A New View of Business Policy and Planning, Boston: Little Brown.

Schon D (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, London: Temple Smith.

Schwenk CR and Shrader CB (1993) Effects of formal strategic planning on financial performance in small firms: A metaanalysis, Entrepreneur ship Theory and Practice 7(3): 53-64.

Scott W, Mitchell T and Birnbaum P (1981) Organization Theory: a Structural Behavioural Analysis, Homewood IL: Irwin.

Shrader C, Taylor L and Dalton D (1984) Strategic planning and organizational performance: A critical appraisal, Journal of Management 10(2): 149-171.

Selznick P (1957) Leadership in Administration, New York: Harper & Row.

Stacey R (1993) Strategic Thinking and the Management of Change, London: Kogan Page.

Steiner GA (1979) Strategic Planning: What Every Manager Must Know, New York: Free Press.

Tushman M and O'Reilly C (1997) Winning Through Innovation, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Wall SJ and Wall SR (1995) Organizational Dynamics 24(2): 7-19.

Wernerfelt B (1984) A resource-based view of the firm, Strategic Management Journal 5(2): 171-180.

Wilson I (1994) Strategic planning isn't dead-it changed, Long Range Planning 27(4): 12-24.

Wilson I (1998) Strategic planning for the millennium: Resolving the dilemma, Long Range Planning 31(4): 507-513.

Navigate: Archives | Contents | Top of page