Comparative Schools Essay
Tenets of Schools of Thought:
Power:
This school is characterized by the formation of strategy as an open process of influence, which puts the emphasis on the use of power and politics in the negotiation. The formation of strategy depends on the power and policy, internal and external. As a result, they tend to be emerging. There are two elements of this SoT: “Micro” and “Macro”. The micro elements deal with internal political games and the macro elements relate to those who play the organization. The "micro" is power in action; it sees strategy as a game within the organization. The “macro” reflects the interdependence between the Organization and its environment. It discusses the ways in which the organization promotes their own well-being, through control or cooperation.
Learning:
“Of all the descriptive schools, the learning school grew into a veritable wave and challenged the always dominant prescriptive schools” (Mintzberg et al, 1998). According to this school, strategies emerge as people come to learn about a situation as well as their organization’s capability of dealing with it. This SoT began with the publication of “The Science of Muddling Through” (Lindblom, 1959). Lindblom suggested that the design of public policies was not a neat controlled process but a messy one, whereby officials try to manage a world they know is too complex for them. However, James B. Quinn, with “Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism” gave the actual kick-off to this SoT.
According to Lindblom only 10% of the conceived strategies are implemented. The problem is the split between formulation and implementation. For a strategy to be effective there has to be a sum of small actions and individual decisions. In other words, individuals contribute to the strategic process from all positions in the organization.
In disjointed Incrementalism by Lindblom, decisions are made to solve problems rather than to exploit opportunities, without the slightest attention
Power:
This school is characterized by the formation of strategy as an open process of influence, which puts the emphasis on the use of power and politics in the negotiation. The formation of strategy depends on the power and policy, internal and external. As a result, they tend to be emerging. There are two elements of this SoT: “Micro” and “Macro”. The micro elements deal with internal political games and the macro elements relate to those who play the organization. The "micro" is power in action; it sees strategy as a game within the organization. The “macro” reflects the interdependence between the Organization and its environment. It discusses the ways in which the organization promotes their own well-being, through control or cooperation.
Learning:
“Of all the descriptive schools, the learning school grew into a veritable wave and challenged the always dominant prescriptive schools” (Mintzberg et al, 1998). According to this school, strategies emerge as people come to learn about a situation as well as their organization’s capability of dealing with it. This SoT began with the publication of “The Science of Muddling Through” (Lindblom, 1959). Lindblom suggested that the design of public policies was not a neat controlled process but a messy one, whereby officials try to manage a world they know is too complex for them. However, James B. Quinn, with “Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism” gave the actual kick-off to this SoT.
According to Lindblom only 10% of the conceived strategies are implemented. The problem is the split between formulation and implementation. For a strategy to be effective there has to be a sum of small actions and individual decisions. In other words, individuals contribute to the strategic process from all positions in the organization.
In disjointed Incrementalism by Lindblom, decisions are made to solve problems rather than to exploit opportunities, without the slightest attention
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