How process philosophy can contribute to strategic management

Abstract

AbstractProcess philosophy can contribute with alternative perspectives and views to traditional strategic management theory. The Western tradition of thinking, the metaphysics of Being as presence, based upon the binary separation between transcendental ideas and appearances in the real world, has been challenged by process philosophy, from Hellenic and classical philosophy through contemporary philosophy and modern physics. Process philosophy is increasingly relevant for strategic management as everyday strategic management practice has to deal with fluid, changing and complex realities. The aim of this paper is to discuss the notion of process philosophy as being a unifying label for theoretical models that emphasize change over stability, novelty over uniformity, and becoming over being. The contribution of process philosophy to strategic management theory is not primarily ‘theoretical’ but conceptual, and aims at providing alternative perspectives on the concept of strategy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.