Document Detail


What's wrong with strategy?
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  10174797     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Why is it that successful strategies are rarely developed as a result of formal planning processes? What is wrong with the way most companies go about developing strategy? Andrew Campbell and Marcus Alexander take a common sense look at why the planning frameworks managers use so often yield disappointing results. Companies often fail to distinguish between purpose (what an organization exists to do) and constraints (what an organization must do in order to survive), the authors say. Many executives mistakenly believe, for example, that satisfying stakeholders is an objective that drives thinking about strategy. In fact, it's a constraint, not an objective. Companies that don't win the loyalty of stakeholders will go out of business. Strategy is not about plans but about insights, the authors add. Strategy development is the process of discovering and understanding insights and should not be confused with planning, which is about turning insights into action. Furthermore, because executives develop most of their insights while actually doing the real work of running a business, it is important for companies not to separate strategy development from implementation. Is there a better way? The answer is not new planning processes or more effort. Instead, managers must understand two fundamental points: the benefit of having a well-articulated, stable purpose and the importance of discovering, understanding, documenting, and exploiting insights about how to create value.
Authors:
A Campbell; M Alexander
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Harvard business review     Volume:  75     ISSN:  0017-8012     ISO Abbreviation:  Harv Bus Rev     Publication Date:    1997 Nov-Dec
Date Detail:
Created Date:  1998-01-26     Completed Date:  1998-01-26     Revised Date:  2004-11-17    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9875796     Medline TA:  Harv Bus Rev     Country:  UNITED STATES    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  42-51     Citation Subset:  H    
Affiliation:
Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, London.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Commerce / economics
Creativeness
Economic Competition / organization & administration*
Humans
Investments / economics*
Organizational Innovation
Organizational Objectives
Planning Techniques*
Process Assessment (Health Care)
Systems Analysis
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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