Week 4: Strategy Process

Question 1

Goold

Answer 1

1996

Emergent strategy unhelpful → waste on endless experimentation. Can’t just learn from experience → must implement strategic plan and adapt if required.

Question 1

Kay 1993 + Govindarajan & Trimble 2004 + Mintzberg 1994

Answer 1

Rational planning can be detrimental since you cannot predict the environment
Calculation and opportunism required. Long term forecasts will be inaccurate

Question 2

Ansoff

Answer 2

(1965): Planning school

Concrete expectations of future challenges → assign suitable responses

Question 3

Simon

Answer 3

1991

Bounded Rationality → Planned Strategy isn’t likely to be rational after all if acting under bounded rationality.

Question 3

Pascale

Answer 3

1996

“Honda Effect” – where formal strategic planning is retrospectively attributed to actions where no strategy existed

Question 4

Mintzberg

Answer 4

1994

Three fallacies Predetermination: complexities of markets → impossible to predict future. Detachment: aggregated data → detail lost/relies on quantitative measures. Formalization: Planning sucks compared to strategic learning where information is internalised and comprehended

Question 7

Boyd

Answer 7

1991

Study of studies, strategic planning/performance correlation is weak.

Question 8

Chandler

Answer 8

1962

Strategy: ‘determination of basic, long-term goals…and adoption of course of action.’ In big firms managers didn’t perform day-to-day → had time for planning

Question 9

Brews and Hunt

Answer 9

1999

Study claims planning/performance correlation is strong in very unstable environments. HOWEVER. Small sample size

Question 10

Quinn

Answer 10

1978

Most successful companies do not formally plan. Partially emergent and partially deliberate → must be incremental.