Strategic Management
CHAPTER 4
FACTORS MODERATING THE CHOICE OF STRATEGY-MAKING APPROACH
“Hence, strategic management constitutes a normative outline for rational strategy formulation but provides little explicit consideration of the potential management roles in the strategy formation process. Conversely, strategic emergence has often been ascribed to decision patterns evolving over time as relatively autonomous managers within the organization engage in resource committing activities”
Andersen, 2004:265
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Brews and Hunt (1999:889) suggest that certain circumstances warrant a specific approach to strategy-making to be followed. They report on a study investigating whether environmental conditions and organisational size moderate the type of planning firms employ in their strategy formation activities. In this chapter the focus is on so-called “moderating factors” as being those conditions that influence the type of strategy employed. Much of what has been said in the previous two chapters hinted at the tension present when a strategy-making approach comes into question.
Chapter 2 outlined the debate in its extremities and Chapter 3 progressed with the explanation of the opposing ends. The first part of this chapter contextualises the battle ground between proponents on both ends of the strategy-making spectrum. The purpose of sketching the conversational pinnacles and academic contentions at the onset of this chapter is to highlight the above-mentioned additional and very critical aspect of the
122
academic discourse on strategy-making approach, namely the consideration of factors that influence the strategic decision of selecting a strategy-making
approach. These factors are commonly referred to as moderating factors. In other words, the selection of a mode of strategy-making cannot be done without first considering certain aspects in the decision sphere of the organisation – such as industry environment, organisational size, etc.
FACTORS MODERATING THE CHOICE OF STRATEGY-MAKING APPROACH
“Hence, strategic management constitutes a normative outline for rational strategy formulation but provides little explicit consideration of the potential management roles in the strategy formation process. Conversely, strategic emergence has often been ascribed to decision patterns evolving over time as relatively autonomous managers within the organization engage in resource committing activities”
Andersen, 2004:265
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Brews and Hunt (1999:889) suggest that certain circumstances warrant a specific approach to strategy-making to be followed. They report on a study investigating whether environmental conditions and organisational size moderate the type of planning firms employ in their strategy formation activities. In this chapter the focus is on so-called “moderating factors” as being those conditions that influence the type of strategy employed. Much of what has been said in the previous two chapters hinted at the tension present when a strategy-making approach comes into question.
Chapter 2 outlined the debate in its extremities and Chapter 3 progressed with the explanation of the opposing ends. The first part of this chapter contextualises the battle ground between proponents on both ends of the strategy-making spectrum. The purpose of sketching the conversational pinnacles and academic contentions at the onset of this chapter is to highlight the above-mentioned additional and very critical aspect of the
122
academic discourse on strategy-making approach, namely the consideration of factors that influence the strategic decision of selecting a strategy-making
approach. These factors are commonly referred to as moderating factors. In other words, the selection of a mode of strategy-making cannot be done without first considering certain aspects in the decision sphere of the organisation – such as industry environment, organisational size, etc.