As discussed in the previous posts strategic discourses support organizations in ambiguous situations. Creativity and imagination might have an impact on strategy formation as well. HURST, RUSH and WHITE (1989) criticize the emphasis of analytical thinking, rationality and objectivity and present a contrast model with the four attributes intuition, emotion, thinking and feeling. STRONG (2005) [...]

Strategy formation can be understood as a communicative process or at least as a process that is attended by communication. In particular in ambiguous situations with justification of decisions and demands for legitimacy, communication can play a major role. Various sources in the academic literature have the assumption in common that human reality is a [...]

A couple of days ago I had an interesting conversation with colleagues in terms of sustainability. The issue was, whether organizations in Europe focus on true sustainability these days or just focus on a PR effect. I think the truth can be found in both sectors: There is a (also) an unpopular side of the [...]

During the research for my thesis I found this very interesting article concerning “behavioral strategy”. It addresses the impact of the subconscious mind on strategic management. Left unchecked, subconscious biases have the ability to undermine strategic decision making. This does not mean that top managers assume their strategic decisions are perfect. In a 2009 study [...]

…and how to manage them. When company managers discuss their personal experiences in terms of external consultants you can find a broad range of opinions and beliefs. Point of views may vary between very positive experiences when hiring external knowledge and very bad experiences; the later ones are sometimes expressed in jokes about “flippy” PowerPoint [...]

Last week I was asked about my opinion about Porters Generic Strategies during the current financial crisis. My first spontaneous thought was: Why ask that question? Is it less important to have a distinctive strategy during a crisis than it is during a boom? I think the contrary is true. However, my discussion partner expected [...]

“Some companies make things happen. Some companies see things happen. Some companies wonder that things happen.” This is one of my favourite management quotes because this is all strategy is about. I heard it in a lecture during my MBA course back in 2000. This was the time when the Internet was said to change [...]

In this post we will have a brief look at a specific phenomenon of strategic management. Turn back time is in interesting concept in terms of movies or sci-fi literature, but in terms of chosen strategic directions an easy way out often does not exist. So let’s look at this issue – given the example [...]

A couple of days ago I participated in a discussion concerning risk management systems. A specific emphasis was given on strategic risks and their management. Identification and delimitation were described as two major problems when starting to manage this risk type. Well, that is basically not an unusual situation within an organization. Before managing a [...]

Last week I received a newsletter from McKinsey concerning some selected articles. The major purpose was to present some thoughts around the 7 S Framework. Furthermore the newsletter suggested some other publications from The McKinsey Quarterly; some of them have the premium status (which means you have to pay in order to have access). Since [...]