When is Strategy?

Abstract

In competitive strategy, timing advantages are often discussed in relation to first mover and fast follower advantages, innovation cycles, imitation speed, time-based competition and hyper- competition. There is also research on the value of signalling strategic commitment in gaining strategic advantage. However, there has been little discussion about the timing, and relevance, of strategic communications in different institutional contexts. When should strategy be communicated to the wider market, and do different institutional contexts affect the impact of these communications? This discussion paper examines the timing of voluntary communications during Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity in the US and the UK in order to determine whether there are any differences in competitive advantage to communications timing in these contexts and whether modifiers, including actors in organisational fields, can make a difference. In addressing this question, a debate in the strategy-as-practice arena about the importance of strategy practices in macro contexts may shed light on how, in an accelerating world strategy, strategy practices might need to change to reflect shifts in the external environment.