Strategy-making Process Research Articles

Strategizing Cultural Clusters: Long-Range Socio-Political Plans or Emergent Strategy Development?

ABSTRACTIn many cities, cultural and creative clusters are elements of an ongoing urban development. As networks of arts institutions of different genres, structures, hierarchies, temporal and spatial forms, and size, they are rich examples for strategic analysis. We use the MuseumsQuartier (MQ) Wien as an example of a cultural cluster within a historic city center and focus on (1) the organizational, institutional, and sociopolitical impact of more or less detailed strategic frames of the overarching organizational construction; and (2) understanding strategy-making processes in cultural clusters with reference to the overall political frame and the strategy-as-practice approach.

Integrating land use and transport practice through spatial metrics

Despite the growing development of tools that can integrate land use and transport, the desired integration is still illusive in daily practice. To address this gap, the current study uses spatial metrics, a set of methods traditionally used for studying changes in the spatial structure of landscapes, which are translated into the domain of transport planning. It examines how spatial metrics can be integrated into “Land Use Transport” strategy-making, and how useful they are according to the practitioners’ perceptions. A Light Rail Transit corridor in Granada (Spain) provides the empirical focus of this research. Land use characteristics such as: land use mixing, land use diversity and green areas connectivity were successfully studied using spatial metrics, and they were used to map three “Land Use Transport” strategies: (i) proximity dynamics and non-motorised modes; (ii) modal shift from cars to Light Rail Transit system; (iii) shared spaces between motorised and non-motorised modes. Practitioners perceived that spatial metrics could improve the “Land Use Transport” strategy-making process in comparison with traditional methods used in practice. However, certain shortcomings related to the usability of spatial metrics are also highlighted and discussed. This study concludes with a reflection on research challenges for adapting spatial metrics to transport practice.

Institutional dynamics in national strategy development: a case study of the capacity development strategy of Uganda's water and environment sector

Developing countries often face challenges when attempting to improve poor performances in the delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene services. Policymakers have focused their attention on national capacity development strategies as instruments to promote state-owned and -driven policy to improve capacity development (CD). The results of this empirically-based research on Uganda's Water and Environment Capacity Development Strategy illustrate that the formulation and implementation of the strategy was enhanced by the support of the sector's knowledgeable actors involved in the strategy-making process who helped to identify the core CD challenges of the sector. Secondly, the study highlights the importance of adopting a sector CD annual plan to guarantee a common approach to CD among sector actors, to strengthen the sector's readiness to change from existing CD practices, to learn new CD practices collectively, and, above all, to encourage common output and performance orientation toward the strategy. Finally, our study shows that, inevitably, inherent politico-economic power relations appear to be a substantial force within such strategy-making processes.

Entrepreneurial Orientation among Migrants and Small and Medium Enterprises

Entrepreneurship is a process of creating value by bringing together a unique package of resources to exploit entrepreneurship opportunities. The importance of entrepreneurial activities in society has been acknowledged in the entrepreneurship literature. It has been suggested that entrepreneurial strategies, in terms of entrepreneurial orientation (EO), contribute greatly to entrepreneurship performance (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996; Miller, 1987; Reynolds, 2000). EO is often mentioned as an antecedent of firm growth, competitive advantage, and superior performance. Prior research confirms that a positive relationship exists between EO and firm performance (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2005; Wang, 2008; Runyan, 2008). The success of enterprises are dependent on EO and a range of other factors including age, gender, culture, education, managerial know-how, length of time, size of enterprise, capital, and network connection. Three disciplines have provided primary contributions to the theoretical development of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). These are economics, social psychology, and strategic management ( Mitchell et al., 2002 ). EO refers to the strategy-making processes and styles of a firm that engage in entrepreneurial activities. There are two schools of thought on EO: the Unidimensional School with three dimensions (proactiveness, risk-taking, and innovativeness) and the multidimensional school with five dimensions (innovativeness, risk-taking, autonomy, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness). An overview of the entrepreneurial literature shows that there has been little focus on the influence of EO on migrant enterprises. Therefore, the objective of this study will be to examine the relationship between five dimensions of EO and entrepreneurial performance. The study will also assess the moderating influence of environment (environmental characteristics) on the EO-performance relationship.

Strategy-making for innovation management and the development of corporate universities

Innovation is now seen as a question of corporate survival and international competitiveness. While most innovation fails, companies that don’t innovate in the long term die. The importance of crafting a sound and coherent innovation strategy appears crucial in many industries, even more in turbulent environments where clear guidelines help managers allocate RD it is the quest to overcome resource constraints through a creative and unending pursuit of better resource leverage with the corporation conceived as a portfolio of competencies as well as a portfolio of businesses, and innovation projects. Incumbents that focus their network strategy on exploiting complementary assets through alliances generally outperform incumbents that focus on exploring the new technology. The technological strategies of corporate firms have several similarities to the investment strategy of venture capitalists. They are looking for complementarities between investments to nurture specialized knowledge and extract greater value with synergies. Appendix 2 proposes a new integrative model by making the connections between the strategy-making process and the R&D strategic resource allocation management process. Top managers should try to control the initial cost structure of new growth business, because it influence greatly the critical resource allocation decisions in that business, and also recognize emergent strategies through process such as discovery-driven planning and select the right mix of emergent versus deliberate strategies for each businesses in the organization. The determinants of product innovation in firms are mainly explained by the strategy being pursued and managers should be careful to not drift toward excessive conservatism or excessive entrepreneurship over innovation management. Some experts argue that strategic management, when continuously practised may develop in a firm core capability may have more enduring effects on the firm’s long-term performance than one-time strategies. Flexible strategic planning for innovation management appears more efficient, particularly in turbulent environments. A bottom-up approach of technology strategy-making favorizes the crafting of emergent strategies. One tool, communities of practice has an important influence on strategy-making for innovation management due to empowerment. A corporate university can become another influent knowledge management strategic tool, only if enough resources are devoted to its development and managers adopt a long-term perspective.

Organizational or Social Benefits? The Progressiveness of Policy Advocacy in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations

Policy advocacy is an integral part of nonprofit work. This paper explores the influencing factors that affect nonprofit human service organizations’ participation in progressive advocacy that addresses broader social inequities rather than self-interested advocacy that focuses on organizational benefits. It considers the development of advocacy goals as a critical strategy-making process in human service organizations, shaped by environmental and organizational contexts. Using survey data from 122 human service nonprofits in Maryland, this study finds that interorganizational competition, collaborations on efforts other than advocacy, and organizational formalization help explain variation in the progressiveness of nonprofit advocacy activities.

Insights into the development of strategy from a complexity perspective

This paper provides an account of an ongoing project with an independent school in the UK. The project focuses on a strategy development intervention which, from the start, was systemic in orientation. The intention was to integrate simple systems concepts and approaches into the strategy development process to: address power relations in actively engaging a wide range of stakeholders with the school’s strategy-making process; generate a range of good ideas; and make the strategy-making process transparent in order to inspire stakeholder confidence in, and commitment to, it and its outcomes. This paper describes how seeking to meet these aims entailed a series of workshops during the course of which an awareness of the relevance, in our interpretation, of Complex Adaptive Systems concepts grew.

Business model innovation and strategy making nexus: evidence from a cross‐industry mixed‐methods study

Theory discussing how to define and frame the relationship between the strategy making process (SMP) and business model innovation (BMI) is still incipient in the academic literature. Thus, this study aims at investigating the relationship between SMP and BMI by addressing (1) when firms engage in BMI within the overall SMP, and (2) how firms design a new business model (BM) or improve their current BM within the overall SMP. The research questions are tackled by means of a mixed‐method research, combining (1) a quantitative survey on 138 firms involved in SMP and BMI (to understand when BM design and improvement occur) and (2) a qualitative multiple‐case study focused on four firms (to address how BM design and improvement evolve). The findings empirically validate the arguments that BM design and improvement are more likely to be positioned in the strategic alternatives implementation step of the SMP, and BM is related to strategy execution; on top of this, light is shed on the inherent dynamics of the BMI process for different types of BMI.

Opening Up the Strategy-Making Process: Comparing Open Strategy to Open Innovation

In this paper we compare the emerging field of open strategy to the established field of open innovation in order to facilitate their cross-fertilisation both in research and practice. Taking a communication-centred perspective, we argue that in both fields ‘openness’ concerns opening-up the communication process towards previously excluded individuals. On the basis of our review of the literature, we introduce a general framework that distinguishes between two dimensions of openness in terms of the direction that communication takes: sharing communication content with external participants and audiences and receiving communication content from external participants and audiences. Using the two dimensions of sharing and receiving, we map documented cases of empirical research in both fields and identify different forms of openness in processes of open innovation and open strategy. As we will show, in the material that we examined, in most of the cases of open strategy sharing and receiving are combined, while in many cases of open innovation we identified only one dimension. We suggest that this difference arises because, unlike innovation, open strategy typically involves joint sensemaking and thus a bidirectional communication process. Drawing on our findings, we put forward three propositions to provide a foundation for future empirical research on phenomena of open innovation and open strategy.

Investigating the role of middle managers in strategy-making process: An Australian mixed method study

AbstractSeveral influential writers including Henry Mintzberg and Gary Hamel have highlighted the need for organizations to value the contribution to strategy work of middle managers in an uncertain world. In this study quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews are used to mix methods and investigate the role of middle managers in strategy-making process in Australia. The results indicate that middle managers are the ‘doers’ of strategy, with important ‘analyst’, ‘coordinator’, ‘information source’ and ‘communicator’ roles. Middle managers reported some frustration in interviews that at times they feel their input to strategic conversations is not translated effectively into organization strategy.

Opening up the Strategy-making Process: Comparing Open Strategy and Open Innovation

While open innovation is an established field, open strategy is on the verge of recognition as a newly emerging empirical research phenomenon. Taking a communication perspective, we introduce a framework that distinguishes between two different dimensions of openness: sharing information with external participants and audiences, and receiving a broader range of topics and perspectives. Based on these two dimensions we map existing research in both fields, which allows us to identify different forms of openness in open innovation and open strategy processes. As sharing and receiving serve different purposes and are thus independent of each other in the context of open innovation, the dimensions of sharing and receiving are directly linked in the case of open strategy. Based on our study, we put forward three propositions to provide a foundation for future empirical research on both open innovation and open strategy phenomena.

Stakeholder involvement in CSR strategy-making? Clues from sixteen Danish companies

A given characteristic of successful corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs is that they reflect stakeholder expectations and preferences for corporate behavior. This study examines the process by which this alignment is sought by CSR managers in the CSR strategy-making process. Through reliance on stakeholder management theories, and with a particular focus on how and why managers communicate with stakeholders, the extent to which the company-stakeholder alignment process in CSR strategy-making reflects modern, enlightened approaches to stakeholder relations is assessed. This assessment is based on an analysis of structured, in-depth interviews with CSR managers from sixteen industry-leading, Danish companies. The managers’ descriptions of their interactions with stakeholders reveal that their practices fall short of the normative, theoretical ideals since their focus is primarily on just listening to others in the strategy-making process rather than directly involving others in decision-making. Also, because non-stakeholders, such as paid-for consultants, are found to be note-worthy influencers in the CSR strategy-making process, it is concluded that the process is not only a stakeholder management exercise, but an expert, institutionalized, strategic issues management exercise as well.

Prospects of forest road infrastructure development in northwest Russia with proven Nordic solutions

This paper analyses the situation with forest roads in Russia in the context of harvesting, transportation, forest management and forest fire prevention. Russia harvests less than 30% of its allowable harvest potential. Forest fires burn volumes which are equal to half of the annual harvest. One reason is the insufficient density and quality of forest roads. The average density of roads is less than 1.5 m/ha, which is one-tenth of that in Nordic countries. We argue that better access to the forests, utilizing the technology transfer of the proven Nordic forest road solutions (NFRS) under local conditions, might have important effects on the strategy-making processes in forest infrastructure development in northwest Russia. For this purpose, A'WOT analysis is proposed to identify the related strategies and assign priorities to those strategies. According to this study undertaken in Karelia, where NFRS were introduced over 10 years ago, the top priorities regarding the relevant threats are the lack of legal framework under forest land leasing and the low profitability of forestry. The results indicate that the NFRS are viewed positively for the Russian conditions. The forest road market has virtually unlimited opportunities for growth. Together with a favourable policy in terms of national and regional development programmes it can support forest infrastructure development. Forest fire prevention, multiple uses of woodlands, and different environmental service markets are seen as potential opportunities for NFRS. However, the results also indicate that there is substantial uncertainty and scepticism concerning how such markets would be of benefit to leaseholders who would like to adopt intensive forestry.

Nordic Forest Energy Solutions in the Republic of Karelia

The situation in Karelia, a region in Northwest Russia, is analyzed in the context of forest energy. The annual potential energy available from wood harvesting is about 7 tera watt hours (TWh) (3.6 million m3), which is equal to the total need of Karelia in energy for municipal heating. We point out that the contribution to the municipal economy, the moderate heating cost, the enhanced energy security in the cold Russian climate, the environmental friendliness, the better access to the forests and the utilization of the proven Nordic forest energy solutions (NFES) might have important consequences for strategy-making processes in forest energy development. For this purpose, connecting Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with SWOT (internal strengths (S) or weaknesses (W) and external opportunities (O) or threats (T)) analysis is proposed to identify local operational strategies and assign priorities. Major threats include lack of government support, an insufficient road network, the dominance of extensive forest management, gasification and financial indiscipline. Analysis indicates that NFES are viewed positively for the Russian conditions. The forest biomass market has virtually unlimited opportunities for growth. Together, with the transition to intensive forest management, favorable policy in terms of forestry development programs can support bioenergy development. The advantageous location of existing power plants next to forests, increasing fossil fuel prices, the improvement of the road network and the availability of new technology are seen as potential opportunities for NFES. However, the results also indicate that there is substantial uncertainty and skepticism concerning how such markets benefit forest leaseholders who would like to adopt forest energy. The lack of bioenergy technology development, high transportation cost, low awareness of NFES, high demands for roads, the requirement for skilled specialists and wood fuel quality are the main weaknesses regarding the transfer of NFES to Karelia.

The strategic role of Engineering Asset Management

The current concept of an asset management (AM) system focuses on the lifecycle of engineered assets and little has been done in the literature on its link to organizational strategy. In this paper, the AM system′s position within an organizational structure and its role in competitive strategy has been explored. Two case studies involving AM have been analyzed using a proposed framework which is comprised of a set of planning and control activities maintaining a control mechanism and a relationship with the strategy-making process. It is argued that the AM system structure and the mechanism play a key role in the organizational strategy. The existence of the AM system is hypothesized by this framework which stipulates the asset performance required for strategic success. The use of this framework allows for conclusions to be drawn on the requirements for building an effective connection between AM activities and strategy development. This connection is achieved through planning and control mechanisms acting on the asset-related activities. On one hand, the effect of inadequate or missing elements of the framework has been shown to result in negative impacts on cost, productivity, quality, business outcomes and ultimately strategy achievement. On the other hand, the existence of elements of this framework has been shown to have positive impacts on strategy achievement.

Employee involvement in strategy-making process and company performance: the mediating role of employee strategic alignment

This article aims to study the mediating role of employee strategic alignment in the relationship between employee involvement in the strategy making process and company performance. We used structural equation modelling techniques with a sample of 372 European organisations of different sizes and from different countries. We found that employee strategic alignment plays a total mediating role in the relationship between employee involvement in the strategy making process and company performance. Our research shows the importance of employee involvement in the strategy making process, as well as the importance of employee alignment with the organisation’s strategy. Our quantitative study can be complemented with a qualitative study in order to better understand how and why this relationship occurs. Our paper is the first to study and validate the mediating role of employee strategic alignment in the relationship between employee involvement in the strategy-making process and company performance.

The role of Local Economic Assessments in the new political and economic climate and their relationship with Local Enterprise Partnerships

As part of a move to strengthen the economic development and regeneration role of local authorities, Local Economic Assessments (LEAs) were formally introduced in England in April 2010. In the time since a statutory duty to produce economic ‘evidence bases’ came into force, there has been radical urban policy unrest. A shift in national government set about a rescaling of sub-national development activity. Consequently, there is substantial merit in exploring the role of LEAs in this new political and economic climate, including their relationship with cross-boundary Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). The fourth paper in a series, the dual objective is to conceptualise the LEA process and identify policy development opportunities. The empirical findings support the theorisation that LEAs (analytical processes) and LEPs (governance networks) offer significant scope for a fruitful dialogic interaction. The paper argues, however, that a (more or less formal) strategy-making process to help transmit shared priorities would significantly bolster the LEA–LEP relationship.

Strategy as Storytelling

This article presents a phenomenological inquiry into storytelling practices in corporate strategy-making processes, as experienced by nonsenior stakeholders. The authors utilize the potential of phenomenological methods to provide an enriched understanding of strategy as lived, embodied experience. Based on a strategy workshop in a company called ICARUS Inc., a large, international information technology corporation facing the challenge of reinventing itself after a period of considerable success, the authors identify three embodied narrative practices enacted during that workshop event: (a) discursive struggles over “hot” words, (b) the de-sacralization of strategy, and (c) recurring rituals of self-sacrifice. The article critically analyzes these practices in reference to recent research on strategy as a lived and narrated experience and discusses their implications as well as the implications of the workshop itself. Overall, the article aims at providing theoretical as well as methodological contribution for narrative practices of strategy in organizational lifeworlds.

British civil-military relations and the problem of risk

Drawing primarily on the experience of the UK since 2001, this article examines the increasing prevalence of risk as an organizing concept for western defence and security planning and its implications for civil—military relations and strategy-making. It argues that there may be tensions between such approaches and the principles of good strategy-making, which aim to link means and resources to ends in a coherent manner. Not only does risk potentially blur the relationship between means and ends in the strategy-making process, it also exposes it to contestation, with multiple interpretations of what the risks actually are and the strategic priority (and commitment) which should be attached to them. The article examines these tensions at three levels of risk contestation for British defence: institutions, operations and military—society relations. In the case of the UK, it contends that the logic of risk has not been able to provide the same national motivation and sense of strategic purpose as the logic of threat. In this context, calls for a reinvigoration of traditional strategy-making or a renewed conception of national interest may be missing a more fundamental dissonance between defence policy, civil—military relations and the wider security context. More widely, the strategic ennui that some western states have been accused of may not simply be a product of somehow falling out of the habit of strategy-making or an absence of ‘political will’. Instead, it may reflect deeper social and geostrategic trends which constrain and complicate the use of military force and obscure its utility in the public imagination.

Transparency, flexibility, simplicity: From buzzwords to strategies for real PSS improvement

There is a growing body of academic literature that deals with the gap between Planning Support Systems (PSS) and daily urban planning practices. Although there are many theoretical ideas about how to improve this situation, there is only limited academic attention for testing these in real world applications. This article discusses the importance of such testing and how this can be done. Four central PSS hypothesized improvement mechanisms are translated into a grounded intervention and tested in three settings of land use and transport strategy-making in the Netherlands. I utilised workshop specific questionnaires, a general ex-post survey and participatory observation. Although small-N, the results seem to indicate a tentative pattern that the hypothesized improvement mechanisms did improve several of the bottlenecks of PSS implementation defined in other studies: it provided a better fit between the PSS characteristics and the strategy-making processes, it increased understanding of the possibilities (and limitations) of PSS and it fostered acceptance (awareness and transparency were only marginally influenced). Important mechanisms for promoting these outcomes include an open constructive critical attitude of both PSS developers and planners, a prototyping process, and placing emphasis on externalisation and internalisation of knowledge. This research example illustrates both the added value of the findings and the methodological problems of a practice oriented research approach. The paper closes with a discussion on the implications for PSS research methods, PSS development and planning and will provide directions for further research.