1. What is Strategy?: Different Perspectives

2. Strategy

3. Authors, managers, employees, and general public feel, perceive, mean, understand and experience strategy differently through their own socio-cultural and political spectacles and life experiences. Hence, there is no single or universally accepted definition for ‘strategy’.

4. Defining strategy
Here we discuss one of the categorizations introduced by Mintzberg - Five Ps for Strategy;
as a plan
as a ploy
as a pattern
as a position
as a perspective

5. Strategy as a plan a consciously intended course of action
a guideline/s to deal with a situation
Characteristics
Made in advance
Developed consciously or purposely
[May be documented or stated explicitly]

6. Strategy as a ploy A plan can be a ploy too
The intention of the plan could make it a ploy
A specific maneuver to outwit an opponent

7. Strategy as a pattern A pattern in stream of actions
Consistency in behaviour whether or not intended
Independent from plan
Deliberate strategy and emergent
strategy

8. Deliberate and Emergent Strategy
Intended Strategy
Deliberate and Emergent Strategy
Realized Strategy
Unrealized Strategy
Emergent Strategy

9. Strategy as a position Locating organization in environment
Match between internal & external context
Choice of niche
Collective strategy

10. Strategy as a perspective
Ingrained way of perceiving the world
Strategy is a concept (all strategies are abstractions)
Similar to personality to an individual
Shared perspective
Collective mind

11. Interrelating the Ps Conventional hierarchy
Conventional prescriptive view of how strategies are supposed to get made
Giving rise to plans
Ex- as position and/or patterns in an implicit hierarchy
Strategy as a vision directed

12. Interrelating the Ps cont…
Formalizing on emergent strategy within a perspective
Pattern evoked
Develop intentions through actions

13. Interrelating the Ps cont…
Pattern (or position) producing perspective
Pattern/ position can give rise to perspective
Developing ‘character’ through innate skills and natural propensities
Plans and positions are dispensable, perspectives are immutable
Perspective to be seen in the consistency of behaviour than in the articulation of intentions

14. Interrelating the Ps cont…
Perspective constraining shift in position
If perspective is immutable, then change in plan & position is difficult unless compatible with the existing perspective

15. Need for eclecticism in definition
Definitions compete and complement and each adds important elements to our understanding of strategy
As plans- deals with how leaders establish direction for organization
What is the intention of the strategy
As ploy- deals with competition
How to reconcile the dynamic notion of strategy as a ploy with static ones of strategy as a pattern and other forms of plans

16. Need for eclecticism in definition cont…
As pattern- deals with action and consistency in behaviour
Direction of the organization pushed by realized strategy (plan)
Strategies can also emerge
As position- deals with competitive environment
Organization in ecological terms
How much choice do organizations have

17. Need for eclecticism in definition cont…
As perspective- deals with intention and behaviour in a collective context
How intentions defuse through a group of people to become shared as norms and values
How patterns of behaviour become deeply ingrained in group

18. The Purpose of Strategy
“(strategy is)…essential to superior performance, which, after all, is the primary goal of any enterprise.”
Michael E. Porter, What is Strategy?
Strategy is about achieving competitive advantage – winning!

19. Two Schools of Strategy
Position School
Process School
“Emergent” strategy
(Mintzberg / McGill)
Strategy is an intuitive process through which the organization evolves by adapting to its environment
“Deliberate” strategy
(Porter / Harvard)
Strategy is the conscious, analytical development of a distinct position in the environment
Intuition =immediate insight or understanding without conscious reasoning.

20. Organizational Goals Process School Position School
Continued Existence
“(strategy is)…all things necessary for the successful functioning of an organization as an adaptive mechanism.”
Competitive Advantage
“(strategy is)…essential to superior performance, which, after all, is the primary goal of any enterprise”

21. Relationship to Environment
Position School
Process School
Learn and evolve through ongoing experience within the environment
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Determine, develop and defend an advantageous position in the environment
Be disciplined about this choice

22. Organizational Capabilities
Position School
Process School
Encourage experimentation and variety in activities, from which potential new strategies may emerge
Build mutually-reinforcing “fit” among organizational activities in tightly focused support of chosen strategic position

23. Implications for Strategic Management
Position School
Process School
Leadership conceptualizes strategy based on analysis and mobilizes the organization in well-coordinated support of it.
Leadership nurtures a learning, flexible organization which is highly responsive and adaptable to the environment.