1. STRATEGY Process, Content, Context
Chapter 3
Strategy Formation

2. Agenda The Issue of Realized Strategy
Strategy Formation Activities
Strategy Activity Roles
The Paradox of Deliberateness and Emergence
The Demand for Deliberate Strategizing
The Demand for Strategy Emergence
Perspectives on Strategy Formation
The Strategic Planning Perspective
The Strategic Incrementalism Perspective
The Debate and Readings

3. Realized Strategy Strategy Formation Activities and Roles
The issue of realized strategy
How can a successful course of action be realized in practice?
Strategy formation activities
What are the elements of the strategic reasoning process?
Strategy formation roles
How will the strategy formation activities be carried out?
Top vs. middle vs. bottom roles
Line vs. staff roles
Internal vs. external roles

4. Realized Strategy Strategy Formation Activities

5. Realized Strategy Strategy Formation Roles
Top vs. middle vs. bottom roles
How much empowerment of middle and lower levels is beneficial for the organization?
Line vs. staff roles
Which of this two groups should be responsible for the strategy formation process?
Internal vs. external roles
Should the strategy formation activities be carried out by members of the organization or should they be outsourced?

6. II. Deliberateness vs. Emergence Deliberate and Emergent Strategy

7. Deliberate Strategizing Pressures
Direction
Without plans and objectives organizations would be adrift
Commitment
Plans enable early commitment to a course of action
Coordination
Plans have the benefit of coordinating all strategic initiatives within a firm to cohesive pattern
Optimization
Plans facilitate optimal resource allocation
Programming
Plans are a means for programming all organizational activities in advance

8. Strategy Emergence Advantages
Opportunism
Organizations must keep an open mind to grab unforeseen opportunities
Flexibility
Organizations must keep their options open and not commit themselves to early
Learning
The best way to find out what works is to give it a try
Entrepreneurship
Different people in the firm will have different ideas
Support
Getting things done in firms includes understanding political and cultural dynamics

9. Deliberateness and Emergence Dealing with the Paradox
Deliberate Strategizing
The ability of acting intentionally; so thinking before acting
Strategy Emergence
The ability of thinking and acting at the same time and letting strategy emerge

10. III. Overview of the Perspectives Strategic Planning vs
III. Overview of the Perspectives Strategic Planning vs. Strategic Incrementalism
STRATEGIC PLANNING PERSPECTIVE
Deliberateness over emergence
Intentionally designed
Figuring out
Forecast and anticipate
Make commitments, prepare
Formally structured and comprehensive
First think, then act
Hierarchical
Optimal resource allocation and coordination
Programming
Implemented top-down
STRATEGIC INCREMENTALISM PERSPECTIVE
Emergence over deliberateness
Gradually shaped
Finding out
Partially unknown and unpredictable
Postpone commitments, stay flexible
Unstructured and fragmented
Thing and acting intertwined
Dispersed
Experimentation and parallel initiatives
Learning
Requires broad cultural and cognitive shifts