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The Concept of

Strategy

Session 2

Department of BusinessAdministration

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In this discussion, you will beable to understand strategyprocess with a broadened

perspective and an open mind

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+ith rich military literature publishedsince the ,-thcentury! the science of

strategy attempted to replace the art

of strategy. his trend reached its

pea# after ++ ll with introduction of

operations analysis with computer

technology that attempted to model

reality using a large but nite number

of variables.

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he /tymologicalDenition

/tymologically! the word strategy can betraced bac# to the "ree# wordstrategos, dened as the commander in

chief of the ancient "ree# city)states. Bye%pression! the concept of strategy cameto imply 0the art of the general in theconduct of war1.

he etymological meaning of strategy'relates this concept to that of leadership.ne of their roles is to formulate andimplement strategy.

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...

his function of leadership

implies a continuous 2ow of

decisions under conditions of

high stress and with incomplete

and ambiguous information.

Such a decision)ma#ing process

is an art that integratese%perience with analytical and

intuitive capabilities.

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...

he ne%t step is to implement these

decisions which needs an anotherset of leadership s#ills that includes

the ability to communicate clearly

and to mobilize the necessarypeople and resources to translate

decisions into actions. his early

conception of strategy has stronglyin2uenced the strategy literature

throughout the ages.

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3ormative versusDescriptive 4erspectives

Detailed analytical)logical models

that tell us what strategists ought to

do. he planning school and Anso5(,678* o5er e%amples of the

normative perspective. At the other

end are thic# descriptions of themessy process of strategy formation

and implementation! usually in the

form of case studies.

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9intzberg (,66:* has criticized

the normative literature and

argued that its detailedprescriptions of what strategists

should do have little

resemblance to observable

reality.

f l l f

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Strategy formulation as a left-brain, right-brain, or group

process;s (or should* the process of

strategy formation (be* essentially

analytical and rational or intuitiveand synthetic< Strategy formulation

seldom involves a single actor! to

what e%tent do group dynamics andpolitics play a role in real)life

strategy formulationective decisions relating to nance or

products are conditioned by the social

character of an organization. Business

strategy is by no mean rational. ;t is critical

to e%amine intricaciesIdetails of the

interior life of the rm to deconstructstrategic management which is reIshaped

by structure! culture! and politics in wider

social and political conte%t.