IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ebg/iesewp/d-0461.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Strategic thinking: Strategy as a shared framework in the mind of managers

Author

Listed:
  • Masifern, Esteban

    (IESE Business School)

  • Vilà, Joaquim

    (IESE Business School)

Abstract

Even though most academics,business people and consultants recognize that the purpose of strategy formulation can no longer be to generate strategic plans,critics of formal strategic planning offer little guidance on how to overcome its limitations and rarely address CEOs 'concerns about turning strategic vision into an operational reality. This paper proposes a managerial approach to strategic thinking and strategy formulation which takes both process and content issues into account.Strategic thinking is understood as a deliberate and creative process as well as the resulting state of mind.Strategy is presented as shared framework which guides managers 'daily actions.The approach is developed in a way that attempts to respond to CEOs 'concerns regarding the need to manage by strategy in today 's rapidly changing environment.Key building blocks of the new approach to strategy formulation are presented.Some initial empirical tests provide support for this approach.The framework outlined here seeks to contribute to top management 's efforts to build a shared understanding of strategic issues and encourage actions at the front line which are consistent with the strategy pursued by the firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Masifern, Esteban & Vilà, Joaquim, 2002. "Strategic thinking: Strategy as a shared framework in the mind of managers," IESE Research Papers D/461, IESE Business School.
  • Handle: RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/DI-0461-E.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lenz, R. T., 1987. "Managing the evolution of the strategic planning process," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 34-39.
    2. Ari Ginsberg, 1994. "Minding the Competition: From Mapping to Mastery," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 153-174, December.
    3. James P. Walsh, 1995. "Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Notes from a Trip Down Memory Lane," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 280-321, June.
    4. Thakur, Manab & Calingo, Luis Ma. R., 1992. "Strategic thinking is hip, but does it make a difference?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 47-54.
    5. C. K. Prahalad & Richard A. Bettis, 1986. "The dominant logic: A new linkage between diversity and performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(6), pages 485-501, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Kleindienst, Ingo, 2013. "(How) Does discretion change over time? A contribution toward a dynamic view of managerial discretion," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 264-281.
    2. Felipe A. Csaszar & Daniel A. Levinthal, 2016. "Mental representation and the discovery of new strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(10), pages 2031-2049, October.
    3. Wojciech Czakon, 2016. "Network Strategies Logic (Logika strategii sieciowych)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 14(64), pages 17-30.
    4. Rai Niharika, 2004. "Environmental Scanning in High Velocity Environment," IIMA Working Papers WP2004-05-04, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    5. Neill, Stern & Rose, Gregory M., 2006. "The effect of strategic complexity on marketing strategy and organizational performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 1-10, January.
    6. Thomas Moellers & Lars von der Burg & Bastian Bansemir & Max Pretzl & Oliver Gassmann, 2019. "System dynamics for corporate business model innovation," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(3), pages 387-406, September.
    7. Ng, Desmond W., 2011. "Thinking Outside the Box: An Absorptive Capacity Approach to the Product Development Process," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 14(3), pages 1-28, September.
    8. Camblanne, Lionel, 2013. "Family vision and cognition: An illustration through forest owners’ harvesting decisions," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 245-259.
    9. Bongjin Kim & Mark M. Suazo & John E. Prescott, 2008. "Exploring the Cognitive Nature of Boards of Directors and Its Implication for Board Effectiveness," Working Papers 0032, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    10. B. Westbrock & K.S. Muehlfeld & Utz Weitzel, 2017. "Selecting Legal Advisor in M&A’s: Organizational Learning and the Role of Multiplicity of Mental Models," Working Papers 17-19, Utrecht School of Economics.
    11. Serge Lenga, 2013. "Un effet modérateur des processus cognitifs de l'entrepreneur sur les opportunités d'affaires situées dans l'espace géographique," Working Papers hal-00832027, HAL.
    12. Riccardo Vecchiato & Giampiero Favato & Francesco di Maddaloni & Hang Do, 2020. "Foresight, cognition, and long‐term performance: Insights from the automotive industry and opportunities for future research," Futures & Foresight Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 2(1), March.
    13. Caldart, Adrian & Ricart, Joan E., 2003. "Corporate strategy revisited: A view from complexity theory," IESE Research Papers D/528, IESE Business School.
    14. Caldart, Adrian A. & Ricart, Joan E., 2006. "Corporate strategy in turbulent environments: Key roles of the corporate level," IESE Research Papers D/623, IESE Business School.
    15. Pierre-Xavier Meschi & Emmanuel Metais, 2002. "Investissements français aux États-Unis, stratégies de croissance externe et réactions du marché boursier," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 5(1), pages 129-165, March.
    16. Filipe M. Santos & Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 2005. "Organizational Boundaries and Theories of Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(5), pages 491-508, October.
    17. Hyunju Rachel Kim, 2014. "Formulation of a Success Model in Pharmaceutical R&D," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(1), pages 21582440145, March.
    18. Hadida, Allègre L. & Paris, Thomas, 2014. "Managerial cognition and the value chain in the digital music industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 84-97.
    19. M H Kunc & J D W Morecroft, 2009. "Resource-based strategies and problem structuring: using resource maps to manage resource systems," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(2), pages 191-199, February.
    20. Ilgaz Arikan & Ipek Koparan & Asli M Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities and internationalization of authentic firms: Role of heritage assets, administrative heritage, and signature processes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 601-635, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    strategy;

    JEL classification:

    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0461. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Noelia Romero (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ienaves.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.