Strategic Planning as a Conflict-Mediating Routine: A Multilevel Study

Abstract

This paper aims to contribute to strategy as practice studies by showing how strategic planning may function as a conflict-mediating routine. We conducted a five-year case study in a large financial services firm jointly owned by a Brazilian state bank and a European multinational financial company. These companies have different business objectives: the former prioritizes short-term financial results, while the latter prioritizes long-term consolidation of the business. We present the case in the form of a narrative of findings, which shows how we pursue and uncover different levels of organizational reality and, more specifically, the different roles played by strategic planning. The paper makes three contributions: first, to multilevel empirical studies of strategy as practice, dealing with macrostructures, intermediate structures and micropractices; second, to studies of routines as praxis capable of supporting the solution of conflicts that arise from the presence of different business logics; and third, to business practice, as it provides guidance on considering additional roles taken by strategic planning.