Introduction
This chapter reports on a major research project being undertaken at Cranfield School of Management which explores the nature of strategy formulation. The aim of this research project is both to discover the general patterns of strategy development within organisations and also to explore the managerial implications of strategy formulation. The chapter presents a number of explanations of strategy development.
The early works of writers such as Ansoffl and Andrewsz and the books of the
1970s, in particular on corporate planning, have both emphasised the importance of
strategy and have guided thinking in the area; thinking which has been dominated by
the view that strategies are formulated through a particularly analytical and intentional process. The basic framework which this ‘rational’ planned view offers indicates that through the application of appropriate analytical and systematic techniques and checklists organisations are able to secure their own success. Moreover such an approach allows assumptions to be made about the future, assists in the reduction of uncertainty and facilitates the systematic development of strategy. This view and its associated frameworks have become deeply entrenched within strategic thinking,while the prescriptive and normative modes so generated have substantially influenced the approach to strategy formulation in practice, in education, and in research.
To view strategy development in this logical and rational manner is appealing and
as such it is not surprising that this view has enjoyed such prominence. In management education strategic texts have traditionally emphasised the rationality of analysis, planning and implementation as a step by step process. Within organisations this
school of thought suggests that formal strategic planning processes and mechanisms
can operate in a rational and objective manner to allow the comprehensive analysis
of the internal and external environments, the development of alternative strategies,
the selection of the best strategy, and the production of objectives, goals, budgets,
and targets to guide implementation. In short this rational planning approach is
often what is regarded as ‘good practice’.
However this view is not without its problems. In particular it fails to account for
the social, cultural, political and cognitive aspects of the process of strategy development. Indeed, its dominance has detracted from the equally valid consideration of less‘objective’ aspects of the organisation and their critical influence on strategy development.