Is it worth setting strategic goals?
Limits and possibilities of strategy formation and implementation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2023.07-08.07Keywords:
strategy formation, strategy implementation, strategic management, strategy researchAbstract
To identify whether it is worth setting strategic goals, the authors conducted a literature review primarily focusing on the problems of prescriptive strategy formation, but also on the non-prescriptive possibilities. They conclude that strategy formation and implementation are not outdated concepts since: 1) implementing the pre-defined strategy can be interpreted as rational organisational behaviour, 2) the failure rate of strategy implementation does not disprove the validity of prescriptive thinking, 3) there is a moderate positive relationship between strategy (planning and implementation) and organisational performance, and, finally, 4) the strategy implementation variable was not treated as per its proper significance. When considering the present and future of strategy formation, the literature review concludes by highlighting several contemporary approaches such as foresight, or principles known from physical science (chaos, entropy), as well as the strategy-related applications of data-driven solutions and “big data”, and the appearance of “shaping” organisations.
Downloads
References
Akhter, S. H. (2003). Strategic planning, hypercompetition, and knowledge management. Business Horizons, 46(1), 19-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0007-6813(02)00275-6
Amoo, N., Lodorfos, G., & Mahtab, N. (2022). Over half a century of strategic planning performance research – what have we been missing? International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijoa-08-2021-2919
Ansoff, H.I. (1991). Critique of Henry Mitzberg’s ’The Design School: Reconsidering the Basic Premises of Strategic Management’. Strategic Management Journal, 12(6), 449-461. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250120605
Arvand, N., & Baroto, M.B. (2016). How to implement strategy more effectively. International Journal of Business Performance Management, 17(3), 301-320. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijbpm.2016.077246
Balaton, K. (2019). A stratégiai menedzsment fejlődési irányai az ezredfordulót követően. Vezetéstudomány, 50(12), 90-98. https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2019.12.08
Bell, G. G., & Rochford, L. (2016). Rediscovering SWOT’s integrative nature: A new understanding of an old framework. The International Journal of Management Education, 14(3), 310-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2016.06.003
Bolisani, E., & Bratianu, C. (2018). Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning. Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60657-6
Boyd, B. K., Gove, S., & Hitt, M. A. (2005). Consequences of measurement problems in strategic management research: the case of Amihud and Lev. Strategic Management Journal, 26(4), 367-375. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.445
Brews, P. J., & Hunt, M. R. (1999). Learning to plan and planning to learn: Resolving the planning school/ learning school debate. Strategic Management Journal, 20(10), 889-913.
Cándido, C. J. F., & Santos, S. P. (2015). Strategy implemetation: What is the failure rate? Journal of Management & Organization, 21(2), 237-262. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.77
Chaffee, E.E. (1985). Three Models of Strategy. The Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 89-98. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1985.4277354
Chandler, A.D. (1962). Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of Industrial Enterprise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/68.1.158
Ciampi, F., Marzi, G., Demi, S., & Faraoni, M. (2020). The big data-business strategy interconnection: a grand challenge for knowledge management. A review and future perspectives. Journal of Knowledge Management, 24(5), 1157–1176. https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm-02-2020-0156
Constantiou, I. D., & Kallinikos, J. (2015). New games, new rules: big data and the changing context of strategy. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), 44-57. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2014.17
Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities– what they are? Strategic Management Journal, 21(10/11 Special issue), 1105-1121.
Evans, P., & Wurster, T. (2000). Blown to bits – how the new economics of information transform strategy. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. https://doi.org/10.15581/015.3.34681
Friis, O., Holmgren, J., & Eskilden, J. K. (2016). A strategy model – better performance through improved strategy work. Journal of Modelling in Management, 11(3), 742-762. https://doi.org/10.1108/jm2-10-2014-0083
Gáspár, J. (2015). Idő- és jövőértelmezés a stratégiakutatásban és a tudatos jövőalkotás (előretekintés – Foresight) vállalati gyakorlata. Vezetéstudomány, 46(7), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2015.07.06
George, B., Monster, J., & Walker, R. M. (2019). Does strategic planning improve organizational performance? a meta-analysis. Public Administration Review, 79(6), 810-819. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13104
Gnizy, I. (2019). Big data and its strategic path to value in international firms. International Marketing Review, 36(3), 318-341. https://doi.org/10.1108/imr-09-2018-0249
Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33(3), 114-135. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166664
Grant, R. M. (1996). Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science, 7(4), 375-387. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.7.4.375
Guerras-Martin, L.A., Madhok, A., & Montoro-Sanchez, A. (2014). The evolution of strategic management research: Recent trends and current directions. Business Research Quarterly, 17(2), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brq.2014.03.001
Hansen, F., & Smith, N. (2003). Crisis in corporate America: the role of strategy. Business Horizons, 13(7), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0007-6813(02)00274-4
Heide, M., Grønhaug, K., & Johannessen, S. (2002). Exploring barriers to the successful implementation of a formulated strategy. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 18(2), 217-231. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0956-5221(01)00007-0
Hill, T., & Westbrook, R. (1997). SWOT analysis: it’s time for a product recall. Long Range Planning, 30(1), 46- 52. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0024-6301(96)00095-7
Hrebeniak, L. (2006). Obstacles to effective strategy implementation. Organizational Dynamics, 35(1), 2-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2005.12.001
Inkpen, A., & Choudhury, N. (1995). The seeking of strategy where it is not: towards a theory of strategy absence. Strategic Management Journal, 16(4), 313-323. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250160405
Kristóf, T. (2002a). A szcenárió módszer a stratégiaalkotásban, I. rész. Vezetéstudomány, 33(9), 17-27. http://unipub.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/4772/1/VT_2002n9p17.pdf
Kristóf, T. (2002b). A szcenárió módszer a stratégiaalkotásban, II. rész. Vezetéstudomány, 33(10), 33-44. http://unipub.lib.uni-corvinus.hu/4779/1/VT_2002n10p33.pdf
Lee, E. & Puranam, P. (2015). The implementation imperative: why one should implement even imperfect strategies perfectly. Strategic Management Journal, 37(8), 1529-1546. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2414
Levy, D. (1994). Chaos theory and strategy: Theory, application and managerial implications. Strategic Management Journal, 15(S2), 167–178. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250151011
Livingston, J. S. (1971). Myth of the Well-Educated Manager. Harvard Business Review, January, 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2005.12.001
Mazzei, M. J., & Noble, D. (2017). Big data dreams: a framework for corporate strategy. Business Horizons, 60(3), 405-414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.01.010
Mészáros, T. (2020). A stratégiaalkotás változásának mozgatórugói, fejlődési trendjei a XXI. században. Közgazdaság, 15(1), 30-42. https://doi.org/10.14267/retp2020.01.04
Mintzberg, H. & Waters, J. A. (1985). Of strategies, deliberate and emergent. Strategic Management Journal, 6(3), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250060306
Mintzberg, H. (1990). The design school: reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 11(3), 171-195. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250110302
Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. & Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour through the Wilds of Strategic Management. New York: Free Press.
Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B. & Lampel, J. (2005). Stratégiai szafari. Útbaigazítás a stratégiai menedzsmentben. Budapest: HVG Könyvek.
Neluheni, G. N., Pretorius, W., & Ukpere, W. (2014). The role of quality strategic planning on organisational success. Meditarranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 697-708. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p697
O’Connor, C. & Kelly, S. (2017). Facilitating knowledge management through filtered big data: SME competitiveness in an Agri-food sector. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(1), 156-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm-08-2016-0357
Patvardhan, S. & Ramachandran, J. (2020). Shaping the future: strategy making as artificial evolution. Organization Science, 31(3), 671-697. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2019.1321
Pettigrew, A. M. (1992). The character and significance of strategy process research. Strategic Management Journal, Winter, 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250130903
Pettigrew, A. M. (1997). What is a processual analysis? Scandinavian Journal of Management, 13(4), 337-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0956-5221(97)00020-1
Polowczyk, J. (2012). Strategic management at the beginning of the XXI. century: the impact of crisis turbulences. Poznan University of Ecomnomics Review, 12(3), 81-98. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320044755_Strategic_management_at_the_beginning_of_the_XXI_century_the_impact_of_crisis_turbulences
Prahalad, C.K. & Hamel, G. (1990). The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, May- June, 79-90. https://hbr.org/1990/05/the-core-competence-of-the-corporation
Quinn, J.B. (1978). Strategic change: „logical incrementalism”. Sloan Mangement Review, 20(1), 7-21.
Quinn, J.B. (1980). Managing Strategic Change. In Asch, D. & Bowman, C. (Eds.) Readings in Srategic Management (pp. 20-36). London: Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20317-8_2
Sinha, J., Haanaes, K., & Reeves, M. (2015). Your Strategy Needs a Strategy: How to Choose and Execute the Right Approach. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
Slaughter, R. A. (1999). Futures for the third millennium: Enabling the forward view. Sydney: Prospect Media. Soós, B. (2015). A stratégiai előrelátás elméleteinek érvényesülése a vállalati gyakorlatban. E-conom, 4(2), 23-32 https://doi.org/10.17836/ec.2015.2.023
Szilágyi, A., & Mészáros, T. (2019). A Magyar Telekom esete a hálózatkiépítéstől a digitális világig – Stratégiaalkotás: elmélet és gyakorlat. Vezetéstudomány, 50(4), 24-32. https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2019.04.03
Tari, E. (2019). A stratégiai menedzsment nemzetközi fejlődése az utóbbi negyedszázadban – Elméleti áramlatok és tudományági perspektívák. Vezetéstudomány, 50(12), 74-89 https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2019.12.07
Voros, J. (2003). A generic foresight process framework. Foresight, 5(3), 10-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/14636680310698379
Whittington, R. (1996). Strategy as practice. Long Range Planning, 29(5), 731-735. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(96)00068-4
Wilson, I. (1994). Strategic planning isn’t dead – it changed. Long Range Planning, 27(4), 12-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-6301(94)90052-3
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors assign copyright to Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review. Authors are responsible for permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources.
