Lecture 1 – What is strategy?
What is the foundation of strategy?
The terms we use today for strategy were developed by the military. There is more focus on
competition.
What is strategy? – definition made by scholars
- Alfred Chandler; the determination of the long-run goals and objectiveness of an enterprise and the
adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.
- Peter Drucker; a firm’s theory about how to gain competitive advantages.
- Michael Porter; competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a
different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. This makes you more competitive.
- Henry Mintzberg; a pattern in a stream of decisions.
What is strategy? – definition teachers/book
Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term which achieves advantage
for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment to meet
the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations.
Mintzberg’s ten schools of strategy
1. Design: a process of conception = DESIGN
2. Planning: a formal process = PLAN
3. Positioning: an analytical process = POSITION
De eerste drie zijn prescriptive schools.
4. Entrepreneurial: a visionary process = VISION
5. Cognitive: a judgmental process = PERCEPTION
6. Learning: an emergent process = PATTERN
7. Political: a process of negotiation = AGENDA
8. Cultural: a collective process = BELIEF
9. Environmental: a reactive process = RESPONSE
10. Configuration: a process of transformation = STAGE
De overige zijn descriptive schools.
,STRATEGIES DELIBERATE AND EMERGENT à EXAM!!!!
Very few strategies are purely deliberate or
emergent, but usually it is a mix between both.
Deliberate strategizing: refers to the quality of
acting intentionally. All organizations need to
plan when it comes to strategic behavior. There
are also a number of prominent advantages that
strongly pressure organizations to engage in
deliberating strategy:
- Direction: plans give direction
- Commitment: plans enable early commitment
to a course of action
- Programming
- Optimization
- Coordination: plans have the benefit of coordinating all strategic initiatives
Strategy emergence: a strategy emerges when it comes into being along the way and is an iterative
process of thinking and doing. Is really apparent. Ad hoc behavior in a coherent pattern evolves
(incrementalism). Advantages of this method are:
- Opportunism: the future is unknown and unpredictable
- Flexibility: keep options to invest.
- Learning: just give an option a try.
- Entrepreneurship: building on previous steps.
- Support: working together in order to get better.
Paradox deliberateness and emergence
- Deliberate strategizing is that you think in advance;
- In the emergence approach you act and think at the same time.
,What are the advantages of the deliberate strategizing approach?
What are the advantages of the strategy emergence approach?
The development of strategic management
- Long range planning, focus on long term and the intellectual, from industrial-economics.
- Strategic planning, is about strategy and structure. Through this you gain performance and
profitability.
- Strategic management, planning and design, about thinking and actioning. Is the most recent
direction!
, BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT à EXAM!!!!
• Ties the organization together with a common sense of purpose and shared values
• Can often help improve organization’s financial performance
• Provides the organization with a clear self-concept, specific goals, and guidance as well as
consistency in decision making
• Helps managers understand the present, think about the future, and recognize the signals that
suggest change
• Requires managers to communicate both vertically and horizontally
• Improves overall coordination within the organization
• Encourages innovation and change to meet the needs of dynamic situations
Strategy helps the company to set direction Strategy helps the company to focus
Strategy defines the organization Strategy provides consistency
What is strategic management not?
• Not a quick fix
• Not a technique or gimmick
• Not just a yearly planning retreat
• Not paper intensive
• Not a regulatory document
• Not just an extension of last year’s plan
• Not just based on forecasts of current operations
What is the foundation of strategy?
The terms we use today for strategy were developed by the military. There is more focus on
competition.
What is strategy? – definition made by scholars
- Alfred Chandler; the determination of the long-run goals and objectiveness of an enterprise and the
adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.
- Peter Drucker; a firm’s theory about how to gain competitive advantages.
- Michael Porter; competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a
different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. This makes you more competitive.
- Henry Mintzberg; a pattern in a stream of decisions.
What is strategy? – definition teachers/book
Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term which achieves advantage
for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment to meet
the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations.
Mintzberg’s ten schools of strategy
1. Design: a process of conception = DESIGN
2. Planning: a formal process = PLAN
3. Positioning: an analytical process = POSITION
De eerste drie zijn prescriptive schools.
4. Entrepreneurial: a visionary process = VISION
5. Cognitive: a judgmental process = PERCEPTION
6. Learning: an emergent process = PATTERN
7. Political: a process of negotiation = AGENDA
8. Cultural: a collective process = BELIEF
9. Environmental: a reactive process = RESPONSE
10. Configuration: a process of transformation = STAGE
De overige zijn descriptive schools.
,STRATEGIES DELIBERATE AND EMERGENT à EXAM!!!!
Very few strategies are purely deliberate or
emergent, but usually it is a mix between both.
Deliberate strategizing: refers to the quality of
acting intentionally. All organizations need to
plan when it comes to strategic behavior. There
are also a number of prominent advantages that
strongly pressure organizations to engage in
deliberating strategy:
- Direction: plans give direction
- Commitment: plans enable early commitment
to a course of action
- Programming
- Optimization
- Coordination: plans have the benefit of coordinating all strategic initiatives
Strategy emergence: a strategy emerges when it comes into being along the way and is an iterative
process of thinking and doing. Is really apparent. Ad hoc behavior in a coherent pattern evolves
(incrementalism). Advantages of this method are:
- Opportunism: the future is unknown and unpredictable
- Flexibility: keep options to invest.
- Learning: just give an option a try.
- Entrepreneurship: building on previous steps.
- Support: working together in order to get better.
Paradox deliberateness and emergence
- Deliberate strategizing is that you think in advance;
- In the emergence approach you act and think at the same time.
,What are the advantages of the deliberate strategizing approach?
What are the advantages of the strategy emergence approach?
The development of strategic management
- Long range planning, focus on long term and the intellectual, from industrial-economics.
- Strategic planning, is about strategy and structure. Through this you gain performance and
profitability.
- Strategic management, planning and design, about thinking and actioning. Is the most recent
direction!
, BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT à EXAM!!!!
• Ties the organization together with a common sense of purpose and shared values
• Can often help improve organization’s financial performance
• Provides the organization with a clear self-concept, specific goals, and guidance as well as
consistency in decision making
• Helps managers understand the present, think about the future, and recognize the signals that
suggest change
• Requires managers to communicate both vertically and horizontally
• Improves overall coordination within the organization
• Encourages innovation and change to meet the needs of dynamic situations
Strategy helps the company to set direction Strategy helps the company to focus
Strategy defines the organization Strategy provides consistency
What is strategic management not?
• Not a quick fix
• Not a technique or gimmick
• Not just a yearly planning retreat
• Not paper intensive
• Not a regulatory document
• Not just an extension of last year’s plan
• Not just based on forecasts of current operations
