Week 3

Reason why strategy making is like a science:

Strategies are built with the help of broad analysis and with uncontaminated and fair opinion and judgment hence strategy making is like a science. Strategy makers make strategies only after studying and with the help of logical facts which gives the organization reasonable decisions to follow. Strategy makers study and try to understand every detail available to them before making a strategy and they also follow step-by-step procedures which similar as the scientific research used by the scientists.     

Reasons why strategy making is like an art or craft:

A good and long-term strategy can only be made when strategy makers work in a group, share their creative ideas and have the knowledge to tackle the problems hence, strategy making is like an art or craft where other’s views and opinions are taken and each one put up their creative ideas. Artists become perfect after years of practice and like artists strategy makers should also have years of experience to create good and long-term strategies.

Difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy:

Intended strategy is planned course of action which is undertaken to achieve set goals of the organization. Intended strategy is a strategy that an organization intends to perform. When a strategic plan is made for a new venture it is known as business plan and somehow we can also say that intended strategy is a deliberate strategy and is prearranged and formal sort of strategy. Strategy contains organization’s current position exposition and the desired results the strategy makers would want to achieve in the end of planned period. It briefly describes the current position of the organization and the steps required to be taken to achieve what they have planned. Strategy is made by closely observing the external and internal environment of the organization and by undertaking SWOT analysis to identify the organizations strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses. Whereas in the process of the strategy there is timing for various actions and it is mentioned clearly that who will participate in the actions directly as well as indirectly so that there is unity of action and reorganization of efforts to stop efforts from being wasted when same action is undertaken by more than one person. But, this analysis of strategy into various components only goes on to further emphasis the basic nature of intended strategy – it is pre-planned and depends entirely on the quality of forecasts available with the management.

An emergent strategy includes unplanned strategy which is prepared to tackle the unexpected opportunities and challenges. Emergent strategy is only about exploring and not analyzing. It does not have any form and unofficial kind of strategy in organization. It is used because it is helpful in dealing with the situation that happens in the market which cannot be covered by the intended strategy. Henry Mintzberg was the first specialist who named the word ‘emergent’ while describing the constant development of corporate strategy of an organization as it not only strived to keep pace with but also attempted to overtake the external environment to reach the pre-determined targets. The emergent strategy is not the idea of a single person or a group of persons who runs the organization. Simply, it is a process of learning where the whole company absorbs facts and figures from external environment and analyzes the changes in occurred in the whole business environment and proceeds to formulate a proper and relevant answer in the form of a revised strategy. (Mintzberg, The Strategy Concept 1: Five Ps for Strategy, 1987) 

The Entrepreneurial School

Entrepreneurial school considers strategy making as visionary process which begins in the mind of the company’s CEO or the leader. Strategy becomes commendable because of the company’s CEO’s or leader’s experience, intuition, wisdom and judgment. CEO and leaders will carry out task in good manner in every situation if the company has a good vision.

The Learning School

The Learning School considers strategy making as an emergent process. In learning school the management always checks to know the things which might work and which might not work and learning is applied to plan their course of action. Learning everything at once is difficult hence this school considers step-by-step learning as a good idea. In strategy making process, learning school helps to tackle with complexity and unpredictability.