Strategizing

New Thinking about Strategy, Planning, and Management

Eric J. Bolland

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781789736984
• eBook ISBN:
  9781789736991
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Strategy
• Index: Business

Strategy is an essential part of business, but strategizing often gets ignored or left behind. In this exciting new work, Eric J. Bolland introduces strategizing as a key component of strategy development and execution, showing strategizing as a way to aid organizations with their futures. To strategize successfully, businesses need a set of well-developed tools to help them perform specific actions continuously. Starting by tracing the origin and evolution of strategy and strategic planning, this exciting new guide puts forward advice on how to put strategy research into strategizing practice. In detailed chapters, Bolland addresses how strategizing works, with twenty real-world cases to show how theory can become reality, citing art, history, literature, science, psychology and philosophy to explore the human impulse to strategize. A valuable accompaniment for business students of strategy, as well as a practical handbook for staff and mid- and upper-level managers, this book is an essential read for anyone seeking guidance about planning the futures of their organizations.

Chapter 1

Introduction and Framework

Strategizing. It is a word, a verb meaning to conduct the work of creating and executing strategy. Simple enough as a concept but operationally difficult to put into action because of the complexity and diversity in the job of making and executing strategy. That complexity is well understood by practitioners of strategy in established firms and in new, emerging firms but not well understood throughout all types of businesses and organizations. It should be better understood and accepted by business planners and organization leaders in order to take its place as a component of the whole strategy process. Reasons for this are developed in this book.

Strategizing is a gerund, a verb like noun ending with “ing”. Strategizing belongs to the huge family of gerunds whose immediate family members in strategy are planning, leading, organizing, controlling, coordinating, researching, analyzing, and managing among the many related terms. Gerunds are what we do at work; as in “working”. All these and more connote a verb in action whose opposite state is inaction.

Strategy is a noun, a thing according to strategy historians (Cummings & Daellenbach, 2009). They also note that it is a verb as in strategizing (actions taken) and adjective (becoming strategized).

From Valeria Maltoni (2016), the difference between a noun like strategy and a verb like strategizing is realized, “Once we make something a noun, it turns into a thing and ceases to be dynamic and changing. When we look at the types of actions we take, they are all dynamic – for example we keep our eye on the emergence of patterns meaningful to the business, understand how to develop, enact and amplify influence and navigate the transformation of the environment through growth.” Maltoni states strategizing involves choice based on time dependent information and strategy involves choices based on assumptions.

What do we call one who strategizes? Both strategist and strategizer are in use now but strategist is an older term. I believe that strategizer is a better word than strategist because new words are needed when old words do not keep up with our imagining. Strategizer implies active strategizing. The word strategyst was used in the 1954 RAND Corporation book The Compleat Strategyst and that word is now associated with game theory than with an individual who strategizes. As a consequence, I will use strategizer rather than strategist.

Strategizing applies to individuals and to groups. One strategizes especially in newly formed businesses and groups and teams also strategize. Strategizing can be very brief or it can be continuous. This study will explore the benefits of it being more continuous than episodic. Sporadic strategizing risks losing a central driving vector in establishing overall strategy. As observed by Charles Hofer, “strategy is not about making future decisions, but about the futurity of present decisions.” (Hofer, 1990).

Definitions of Strategizing from the World of Practice

Strategizing has been defined as part of the practical world of practice as well as the world of academics. Starting with practice, we will review and critique definitions first from practice and then from academics.

To strategize is “to think of a detailed plan for achieving success in situations such as war, politics, business, industry or sport” (Cambridge English Dictionary, 2018). “Strategizing in business is the act of creating the long term plan that will allow you to achieve what you want in the opportunity you have envisioned,” as defined by Jeff Hunter (2015). The essence of this is that strategizing is a plan. That is a very limited definition. Strategizing is more than a strategic plan. In Basics of Strategizing (during strategic planning), author Carter McNamara states that this activity is usually conducted as part of overall strategic planning (McNamara, 2018). Again, the definition of strategizing is linked to the strategic planning process. But strategizing can and is done without ever being part of a strategic planning process. As will be shown in Chapter 6, some organizations strategize but never do strategic plans.

Another definition is offered as, “Strategizing is the process of thinking through on a continual basis what strategies an organization should pursue to attain its goals” (Principles of Management Tutorial, 2018). This definition is from an online tutorial on management entitled “The Functions of Management, Principles of Management” and emphasizes the continuous basis of strategizing yet restricts strategizing to thinking. The same source identifies the analysis of competitors, thinking about how changes in the environment (e.g., technology, government regulation) impact the organization, weighing the pros and cons of alternative strategies and choosing actions. Strategizing is more than just planning states this source. It is also constantly thinking and assessing alternative strategies.

Still another definition of strategizing is “Strategizing includes all practical actions performed by people to devise long-term goals (mission, vision) plans (strategies) course of action (processes, structures). Strategizing is very common in industry, business, politics and government. Strategizing is closely connected to strategic thinking. Managers should think of all important areas of company development to achieve long term objectives and success.” (ceopedia.2018). Also added to this source is the statement that strategizing is closely connected with the decision-making process and that “strategizing should be an integral part of the management and must take into account the limitations imposed by conflicting interests, financial barriers, resource constraints, lack of information, strategic potential, lack of competence, the expected change in an environment, competition etc.” This definition and following examples expand strategizing beyond the strategic plan itself by drawing in the larger field of strategy, but it does not go beyond strategy formulation in its definition.

Although strategic thinking is close to strategizing as has been stated, it is not strategic thinking. Some writing has made the mistake of making the terms synonymous by saying strategizing is strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is considered a cerebreal exercise while strategizing is not only a domain of the mind but action taking a result of thinking. Strategizing encompasses strategic thinking not vice versa.

A major shortcoming of the practical practice-based definitions is that they are very diverse. There is no commonly accepted definition. If there are no commonly accepted academic definitions, then it is appropriate to craft one. This is a task, but a welcome one for an author because it offers the opportunity to make starting point for a working definition of strategizing.

Academic Definitions of Strategizing

Strategizing derives from strategy, the verb from the noun, so it is worth exploring some academic definitions first before engaging in a presentation of strategizing as a definition. In this section, attention is on academic definitions. The definitions are academic because they are found in academic journals, texts, and course materials.

A definition of strategy is: “Strategy is a plan that aims to give an enterprise a competitive advantage over rivals. Strategy is about understanding what you do, clearly defining what you want to become and – most important – taking the right steps to get there.” (The Essentials of Strategy, 2006).

From the Journal of Management Studies, there is a definition of strategizing from the guest editors. It reads, “The detailed process and practices which constitute the day-to-day activities of organizational life and which relate to strategic outcomes.” (Johnson, Melin, & Whittngton, 2003). This definition incorporates the continuous nature of strategizing with its reference to day-to-day activities.

Arriving at Strategizing

From the past definitions of strategizing from practical and academic sources, we can arrive at a comprehensive definition that takes into account:

• the time orientation of strategizing
• the scope orientation of strategizing
• the continuing nature of strategizing

The definition is:

Strategizing is continuous thinking and acting based on the past, present, and future of the organization and its environment resulting in a clearly defined path toward a desired organizational state involving analysis of internal and external factors with opportunity for participation by all members of the organization.

Operationalizing this definition necessitates some correlaries, namely:

• strategizing involves all in the organization either directly or indirectly.
• strategizing does not require a perspective exclusively on the future but a recognition of the past as a launch point, the present as a means of shaping of the future, and a future with a clear desired state.

A Book for a Word

A whole book dedicated to a single word carries with it the responsibility on the part of the author to justify such a lengthy explication. The word must be clear enough and must also have an inherent power to describe and cause meaningful action, as the word “do” does. In our case, some 90,000 words will be used to explore a single word and its closely related words. This is a book for a word.

Strategizing originates from strategy, as stated earlier. The origin of strategy is from the Greek “strategos” or “army leader”. Dictionaries today define strategy in military terms. Strategy is a noun, meaning “the science and art of conducting a military campaign in its large scale and long term aspects” (The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary of the English Language, 1989). A definition of strategy and tactics can be found in the topic of Military Science in the Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (1983). In the free dictionary (2018a, 2018b) strategy is defined as “the science and art of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war.” The same source also defines strategy as “the science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of large scale combat operations.”

Too much has been made of the Greek definition of strategy as a general's art. That persistence of lexicographic bondage is far too limited to define strategy in the modern organization. First, the root word with its linkage as being the art of the general implies that strategy happens when generals happened. But generals were created long after armies were created, and armies were created long after tribes warred with one another. Strategies happened much earlier than formalized ranks because strategies were needed in all kinds of human conflict and the better strategy won. How to disguise troop strength, where to apply the most force, picking fields of conflict are all strategic matters and were done before extensive chains of command rising up to generals. There were de facto generals before there were designated generals. Greek and Roman military leaders were generals in practice even if they were not called generals.

So, it must be said that strategy truly developed much before the generals. In prehistoric times, humans had to think ahead, that is do long-term planning as early as agricultural cultivation of crops occurred. In ancient Egypt of 3,000 years bce and in China of 10,000 bc the cultivation of crops was in evidence. Cultivation required knowing when to seed and when to irrigate in order to yield usable and edible crops. Navigation too preceded standing armies. A trip by river, sea, and ocean meant planning the voyage with all its attendant duties of packing provisions, using maps, guides and having the proper boat or ship.

The more contemporary definitions of strategy remove the military context. Notably, business strategy is very different from military strategy. The world of commerce is one of the creations of goods and services while the world of war is that of destruction of goods and services. In times of war, forces confront one another, usually one army against another, but in commerce, there are many competitors trying to win the hearts and minds of customers. To draw out the distinction, one company vice president known by the author responded to a comment by his CEO that “we are at war with our competitors” replying with “No, we aren't. We don't kill them. We even cooperate with them at times.”

The militarized versions of strategy do not work well in peace. Commerce and trade are seen as forces that encourage cooperation. Commerce and trade are business activities that engender mutual benefits among parties.

Further separation of the definitional “strategy” from more modern aspects of it comes from the two very different aspects of military strategy. One of the aspects is strategy in war and another is strategy in peace. Armies are different and hence strategy is different in both aspects. The art of the general in the definition happens in a state of war. In peace, the army is in preparation for war.

Definitions of strategy today do depart from the drum and pipe of the military and align better with the hum and din of the modern organization. The contemporary definitions do not assign strategy to a particular organizational position. In that, they are much more generalized – to pardon the additional military reference but to make the point of definition variance that accompanies newer business strategy definitions. What can be preserved from the military definition and adapted to business is the notion of directing major resources to a major goal. Take the peninsula, not just the hill is strategic and correlates with win the whole market, not just part of it in business strategy.

Business Strategy Definitions

This book deals with business strategy though it is applicable selectively to organizations which share common aspects of a business such as structure, mission, planning, and goal orientation. Seeking a profit is not a necessity but hav a sustained purpose with people adding value is.

Examples of business strategy abound. An example is from the Business Dictionary.com (2018) which defines business strategy as “a method or plan chosen to bring about a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem.” This definition includes decision making and future orientation. Another definition of business strategy is “The principles guiding how a business uses its resources to achieve it goals, states a businesses' focus and indicates the basic steps the business will use to achieve it” (Free dictionary.com, 2018a, 2018b). Classic strategy theorists such as Ansoff (1965) call strategy the common thread among the organization's activities and product markets and Hofer and Schendel's (1978) description of strategy as being “the characteristics of the match an organization achieves with its environment is called its strategy” (Hofer, & Schendel, 1978).

These definitions of business strategy guide this book. They are a step beyond the military definitions which h...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsement
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Chapter 1 Introduction and Framework
• Chapter 2 Evolution of Strategy: Origin, Planning, Strategic Planning and Strategic Management
• Chapter 3 Arriving at Strategizing
• Chapter 4 Strategizing at the Functional Level
• Chapter 5 Strategizing in Different Businesses
• Chapter 6 Strategizing in Practice
• Chapter 7 Tools for Strategizing
• Chapter 8 Limits, Opportunities and Power in Strategizing
• Chapter 9 Managing Strategizing
• Index