Reinventing strategic management: New theory and practice for competence-based competition

Abstract

Many industries are now evolving new kinds of competitive environments which are not adequately explained by traditional strategy theory. This article introduces a movement to make strategy theory more relevant to contemporary forms of competition by rethinking both the content and process of strategic management theory and practice. A brief review of major developments in traditional strategy theory suggests that increasing polarization and fragmentation of strategy theory has progressively limited its applicability to the actual practice of strategic management. As a remedy, the movement to build a theory of competence-based strategic management is developing new concepts of competition and cooperation that are adding new dynamic, systemic, cognitive, and holistic dimensions to the theory of strategic management. The goal of the competence movement is building new strategy theory that will ‘work’ in practice. To this end, the movement advocates reconnecting strategy researchers and strategic managers in an interactive ‘double-loop learning’ research process. This new approach to developing useful theory for strategic management is now undertaking a reintegration of previously fragmented strategy theory, and in the process is suggesting new approaches to understanding contemporary forms of competence-based competition and management.