The Use of Strategic Management Tools and Techniques

Business strategy thinking has been responsible for producing more than its fair share of business gurus and management fads (Moore, 1992; Micklethwait & Wooldridge, 1996). When assessing the scope and value of strategic tools and techniques three things stand out. First, the breadth of the advice being offered and, second, the diversity of approaches and ideas being recommended. Third, and perhaps most significantly, is the contradictory nature of much of the advice proffered. This state-of-affairs is curious when one bears in mind that the discipline has a reputation for having a strong ‘scientific’ orientation. Although there are writers of business strategy who treat the development and implementation of corporate plans as a fundamentally sociological activity, the majority of writers err towards treating it as a technocratic exercise. For such technocrats, the secret to developing an effective strategy lies in identifying goals, developing a programme of action (plan) capable of meeting the objectives, and executing it. Indeed, when writing about business strategy, many authors have a predilection for talking in military metaphors.