Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 0 views

    Five Ps For Strategy Mintzberg

    Uploaded by

    Aravind Venkatesan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content

    You might also like

    Five Ps For Strategy Mintzberg

    Uploaded by

    Aravind Venkatesan
    0 views8 pages

    Original Title

    Five Ps for Strategy Mintzberg

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    0 views8 pages

    Five Ps For Strategy Mintzberg

    Uploaded by

    Aravind Venkatesan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf
    of 8
    2 STRATEGY © FIVE Ps FOR STRATEGY® Yacttocer. oe ond YP Cun, an) to use more reoures to old predetermined positions, while simultaneousy requiring minimum fed commitment of ones own reotres for lense + Coordinated and commited leadership: Does the satay provide responsi- ‘ble, commited Jeadeship foreach of ts major goals? Leaders) met be So chon and motivated thatthe Own interests an vats match the needs oftheir roles Succes strategies require commitment, nla acceptance + Supe: Has the staeey made use of sped, secre, and intlgence to at luck exposed or unprepared opposens at unexpected tims? With surprise land coret timing, succes cam be achieved out ofall proportion tothe en ry eerted and can decisively change tec postions + Security: Does the stey secre resoure bases and al vt operating points Tor the enterprise? Dost develop an efletiveintience stem sficent {to prevent surprises by opponents? Does it develop tefl gists 10 sop. oft each of is major truss? Does it we coalitions efletvely To extend the ‘escuee base and zones of renly acceptance forthe enters? “These are ital elements of satey, whether in busines, government, or war fare. TR Strate ty Pweess. Cotreptr ‘Human nature insists on a dein for every concept. But he word strategy has Jong Been used implicitly in diferent ways evens ths traitioly been defined ‘in ony one. Expt recognition of multiple definitions can help people to mane ‘er throu this deat field. Accordingly, five definition of sraeey ae pre ‘ented here—as plan, ply, pattem, postion, and perspective and some oF eet Inteelasonships ate then considered. ‘STRATEGY AS PLAN ‘To almost anyone you cate oat, strategy ia plan—some sort of consciously in {ended corse of acon, a uidalive (rset of putes) to dal wih situation, A 30 has "ste" to get over ence, a comorain has one to capture a market By this definition, strategies have we essential characteristics they are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously 2nd purposely A host ef definition ina vat of Bids reinforce thew. For ‘example + in the military: Suaegy is concerned with “drfifing] the plan of war Shaplin) the individual campaigns and within these deciding) om the nd ‘vidual engagements” (Von Clausewitz, 1976177. + in Game Theory Stratey is "a complete plan: plan which specie what 5 iin ales nn eat HE. 9 by Rep eye ‘iia Sat poo Caen Mango ) tices the ple] wil make in every posible station” (von Newman and Morgensier, 1944.7). in management “Strategy is nied, comprehensive, and imtepated plan ‘desgned tease tha the basic objectives ofthe enterprise ae achieved” (Gieas, 19809), -Asplns strates may be pneral or they ca be specific. There sone use of ‘he word inthe speci sense tal should be identified here. As pan, a tategy ean tem poy, too, real jot spese"*maneover” intended Yo outwit an opponent or fompetion “The hai may use the fence au ploy to draw bly int his yard, eho tis Dbermas pinscher awaits intnders Likewise, a. comportion ma) Threaten o expand plant capacity to discourage a competitor from building 3 nes Plabt Here he real sttegy (as lan, hati the veal tention) i the threat, not the expansion el anda sch ploy. Th fay, theres 2 growing literature inthe ld of strategic management, as well as on the general process of bargaining that views state in his way and so Focuses attention on its most dynamie and competitive aspects For ena, in his popular boak, Compete Siete, Porter (1980) devotes one chapter to "Market Signals” inlading dscusson of the elects of announcing moves, the we of "the fiting brand” andthe ose of threats of private antios vits) and another to "Compative Moves" including ations 10 preempt competitive response). And Scheling (1980) devees much of his famovs book, The Sratepy of Con, tothe topic af plys to oui vals in a compeitve or bargaining stuation, 13 STRATEGY AS PATTERN oti strategies canbe intended (whether as general plan or spec ploys), surely they cam also be reed In other words, defining strategy 38a plan isnot sie ‘ent we also needa defiton tha encompass the resting Behavior Thos 8 ‘hid debnition is groped: seategy i a patera—speiically, a patter) jn Stream of actions (Mintaberg and Waters, 1985) By this denison, when Piss) puted ble for atime that was a stegy, jus as was the Behavior of the Fwd ‘Motor Company when Henry Ford offered his Model T only in black. In other word, by ths definition, strategy Is consistency i behavior, whether or not ise tended “his may sound lke a strange definition for a word that has bee so bound ‘up with re wil ('strtegos” in Grek, teat of the army general) But he at of ‘he materi that while hardly anyone defies syategy In this way, many people fscem at ne time or anather {oso ue it. Cansier this quotation frm a business nective: "Gradually the succesful approaches merge inte a patter of ation that ‘becomes our strategy. We cerainly don't have an overall sategy on this” (quoted ‘in Quinn, 198035) This commen is nconsite only if we rari oureves 1 (ve defnition of suatey: what this man seems 1 be saying tha is frm has Strategy 3s pater, but not as plan. Or consider this comment in Busnes ek on 8 joint venture beiveen General Motors and Toys: ‘The tsave Toot del may be mos sigan cae ie anater example of ‘ow Gas strategy Bl dawn to dong a ie Bt everyting unl he mare es where is ing (Busnes eek October 31 1983), 4 STRATEGY ——— inoue Dette nd Eneraent ‘journal hs infeed a pater nthe behavior of a corporation and able it ‘sig ‘The poi is that ever ie journals impues a suategy oa coporation ‘ortoa government, and everytime a manage does the same hingto = competor ‘or even othe senior management of bs ow fm, they ae mpi Jbning Stategy a pattern naction~ ha fering consistency in behaor and labeling ‘tatrategy. They may, of course, go frter and impute intent to that consi sya asume there a plan tehind the pater, Bot tht ean asomp- $n, which may prove fae. “Thus the definitions of srategy as plan and pater can be uit independent ofeach oer plans may go unreaie, while pattems may appear sihoutpreson tention. To paraphrase Hume, sraepes may rest fom human actions bu not human designs (see Majone, 1976-17) IF we label the ft definition intended strategy apd the Second razed strate as shown in Figure |, then we can itn {qth deliberate trateic, where intentions tht existed previous weve raed, From emerge states, where patiers developed inthe absence intentions, oF spite them (which wen wmreaized) Fora azaegy tobe rly deierae—that i fora pater y have been in- tended exact as realized—would seem lob al ores. Pree ntenions would have had to be sated in vance bythe leadership ofthe organiction: there would have had o be acceped as iby everyone ele, and thes realized with no imerfer= ence By marke, technological, or politial frees and So 0m. Likewise ty fmegentsuateg is again a al order, requiring enssteney in acton withovt any hint of intention. (No consistency means no sate), or at eas realized srt egy) Vet some steps do come close enough to ee om, while others peob- {3 most on the continaum tha existe beeen the to, elk deliterate ‘aswell as emergent aspects. Tab | Iss varius ind of Sates along thi con Strategies About What? Labeling strates as plans or patters sill beps one basic question: strategies ‘our wa? Many writers respond by discussing the deployment of resouees, bat ‘the question remains: which rexouros and for what purposes? An army ay plan to reduce the numberof mails in its shoes, or corporation may eeaize a pattern of SA “TABLE } Various Kin Mostly Emerget™ ‘Plonend Sates. Prease intentions are formolaed ad aricubtd by» central edership and backed vp by formal “rani hot the surpraeripleeriaon ina ernest is eign, cree, or pile {Goenwre parton of tendon se ste mel aerate _Enrorencirl Satay neon isthe peo, var vison of singe ees, aso ate tape i cppni th ogrtaton ede he pra cont ote leader an loa a One ce ‘hnscmen thee ten etiney Slee lcm mere fo. dat Say otters cts the cllesive von of al he meres fhe rnin cone tough ‘hor shared som: he onan ellen pensive vise ts emironment nee steps re rater Detierste nit Sire: A ears in pari conte of orion actions defines sate gets or tours itn ch ter mst et (ar tmp ht al net prods be high poe and at he mol tinge, “eager acteal redo reo te le emer a eh sates py tert he ton Ss) and party mere ihe pterns wih them hs Sata cn io be ened deeratey emerge, eat ‘helesdehip rps allows ees the Netto mateaer ad form pater wine bounds roe Srey Te eseaip cont te proces apes of suey (nob ied ap so ps a chance a ae ‘ices, wits they work wine) eng the etal ott f ay others strategies are Spon party diese conceeing proces) od pay emeren (cncering ante ap!eteraely emer Disooncted at Memter slurs ly coupled oie rea he osetia peace pees nthe ‘rams ofthe own acon in th hence oor eel anrcion 1 the cna common neon the ‘rotenone ste ean eter or thse who ake hem Comm Soy Troe met stn, arouses omer on pate tht prade the orion Ine atence of ema or oman ienions hese steps ae rae ener in hate Imposed Srey The enteral ernment cae ates in acon bes Tough et imositon by an outdeovoc or by «song csiome o oop impbtypreemling or toundag oszaonal choke sa 3 ie aii at mst ly jombe eso venaln a; these Sates ae oaseatonlyemeren, lok thy ‘a be nepali and ade eer * Aged fom Mine and Wane (1985.20 ‘marketing only pode pinted Mack, but hese hardly meet the lofty be stat ay" Or do they? ‘As the word hasbeen handed down from the military, “eategy” refers tothe important things, "tactics" to the details (more formally, “lacie eahes te use of armed forces he engagement, sratey the use of enpaement forthe object of the war,” on Ciasemts 1976128) Nails n shoes, eblors of ears thee sre oer tainly duis The probe is that in werospect details can sometimes prove" tepe” Even in the mltary. "For wat of Nal the Shoe wa los for want of Shoe he Horse was lost." and so on though the dey and weneal othe bat te, "al for want of Cae sbout a Horseshoe Nail” (Franklin, 1977-280) Indeed fone af the reasons Henry Ford lots war wih General Motors was tate 1e- Fone to paint i ar anything bt Black. ‘Rumelt (1979) notes tht “one person's sates are another's actes—that, what isstaepic depends on where you si.” I also depends on when you sts what Seems tactical today may prove sratepc tomorrow. The pin is ht labels should tot te used 1 imply that some eles are ineviably more important han olhes ‘There are times when i pays to manage te details and let he suaees mere for theses. Thus there is good reason 1 refer oss a more rls “ata,” in otter words. more oss important i some content, whether a intended be- fore ating ora realized after Accorinpy, the answer fo the question, sate aboot what. potentially about anything, About products and processes, cls tomers an citizens, soil responsibiies and sf interes, conto and calor. “wo aspects ofthe content of strategies mus, however, be singled ut because 15 STRATEGY AS POSITION ‘The fourth defition is that strategy i posion—specfically, a means of loca. Ing an organization in what crganiationtheorsts ket eal an “envronment™ By this definition, strategy becomes the mediating foro “mitch” according to Hofer ana Senenel (19788}—betweenorpaniation and environment, that beeen the interal andthe extemal context In eel lems, saiy be: omnes “niche ecmomie terms place that penerats "rent (hai "returs to being) ina ‘unique’ pce” (Bowman, 19747) i management terms fore ray, 2 produce-market “domain” (Thompson, 1967), the place te environ tment where resnures ae concentrated, Note tat this deition of sategy can be compatible with citer (ral) of. the preceding ones; pasion can be preselected ad apired to thowgh plan (or ‘loy) andor it canbe reached, perhaps even found, hough a aterm of behave. ‘In mitary endgame theory views of etatgy, it generally used inthe Con text of what felled "twosperson game,” beter known in buss head-on Competition (where ploy ae especially common). The debniten of strate 2 Postion, however, impli allows us to open up the cone, toso-caled npr: Son games (hati, many players) nd beyond. In other words, while postion can way be defined with respect to 2 singe competitor (erally son the mit, ‘where pesiton becomes the it of bate), it an lo be considered i the content (fa numb of competitors or Smply with respect to mathes or environment tine But sratey as postion ean extend beyond compet ' occupied to avoid competion. Thus, we can move from the deft ployed ty General Uies Grant inthe 1860s, "Strateg Vis] the ployment fe respures ina manner which i most ely to defeat the enn (otha oF Profesor Rodard Romelt inthe 198 Stategy is creating stations for co nomic Tents and nding ays To suin them,” that iy, 3ny Hb poston, ‘wether or not arety competitive ‘Astley and Fomran (1983), n fc, take the next logic sep by introdocng, the notion of collective” stat, tha sae pursued to prorat cooperation between organizations, even would-be ompetiors (equivalent in biology Yo an ‘mals herding togeer for protection). Sbchsaeses ean range "om informal fangemens and discussions fo formal devies such as interlockag directorates, joint venture, and mergers" (p. 577). In fa, considered Irom a sigh eileen ng, these can sometimes be desebed ax pial states, hte stages 0 subvert the letimate Fores of competition. ‘STRATEGY AS PERSPECTIVE 16 ‘Wile the founh defniion of sate looks out, seeking to locate he organization in the external environment and down to concrete postions, the th looks ine "he organiation indeed inside the head of the cole state, but p10 broader view Here strategy isa perspectives conten consisting ot jas of chosen position, bu of an grained sear organ ‘aon at vor mating and ala gee dct an Ty Hew Patan ar deseopeo MBM se ence ee Shas become famous fo is emphasis on EET State his respect is to the organization what perionsiy to the in ‘iyo ndeed oe of the eats and moa lentil writers on sae at es 45 his ideas have been reflected in more poplar writings) was Philp Selick (195747), who wite about te “character of an ogatzation sinc apd inte {rated "commitnens 19 waj of acting an responding that are Blt gh nto ‘variety of coneps ffom other feds also capture this notion; antropologats ‘eft he “eure” ofa society and sociologists 1s ideoloey” iar theo. fists write ofthe and srtey” of armies while management theorists have wed terms such asthe theory ofthe busines” and ite "diving force” (Drucker 1974, ‘Tregoc and Zimerman, 1980)- and Germans perhaps capture it Best with thet word "Welanschevung” literally “worldview,” meaning ealletve inition about how the world works, “This ih defition soe above al that tata i RBs es one important implication, namely that all srategs are absracions which exist only inthe mings ofineresied partes. It isimperant to remember lst noone hat ever seen srs or touched one; every strategy i a invention, 2 fyment of some ‘nes imagination, whether concsved ofa nlenions to reste behavior before intakes pace or inferred as patter to describe behavior tat has already cared ‘What sof key imporance about this fifth defiaion, however, thatthe perspective is shared, As implied inthe words Weanschanu (ve In ef, when we are king of sae) inthis context, we ae em ‘ening the calm ofthe collec mind—inividuae united by commen thinking andor behavior. major issue inthe study of strategy formation becomes, there fore, how 10 read that coltive mind-—to understand how intentions disc tvough the system called eraniaton to become shared and how actions come 10 brexeesed an a collie yet consistent bas, 7 THE STRATEGY INTERRELATING THE Ps As sugested above, sratey a both postion and perspective canbe compatible with saps a pan adr paren. Buti fat he elaonships been these Aiferemt definitions cam te more involved than that For example, wie some onside perspective 1 bea pla Lapierre, 1980, writes of sae seamen Search of eaiy" ers describe i 35 gringo plan (for example, 8 pos ‘ions and/or pater in sme kindof mit hierarchy) But te concep of emer bet sacegy fs thapatern ean emerge and e recognized 0 that pve eto 8 formal lan perhaps within an overall pepective. "le may ask hw perspective ais in he fr place Probably through ealer experiences he oiganization tied varius things in is formative yets and badvaly consolidated round wha worked. In oer words, or Sales oul tts sane” moh a me eee personaiy—by ineracting wth the, GARI senor ety creuson of he wet mer ‘and sik men” ofthe textile rade people who developed an almest rious ded Cation othe Res they produces ‘No matter ho they appear. however. there i reason to bees tat while plans and postions may be espensabe. perspectives are immutable (Brunson 18 1982). In other words, once they are establishes, perspectives become dificult to STRATEGY ———— change. Indeed, a paspectve may hesome s0 desl inpsined inthe behovier of $n onanization that he asocated ‘tte membes, When that happens i ther word, ean be fd more nthe onstency of be- ‘havin than inthe aricultion of tetentons.| ‘OF course, i perspective is immutable, then change in plan and postion within perspective iseasy compared to change oui perspective. Inher, IGintresting to tke up the case of Ep MeMfin. Ws this progue when nem ‘the American breakfast in a bus—a sates chnge forthe MeDonald est food ‘hain? Posed in MBA elec, his eath-saering (or test tomach-shatering) ‘question inevitably evokes bested debate. Proponents (svally peop tympaiet *o fas Toad) rae tha of couse wa: brought MeDunal's nto new mathe, the breakfast one, extending the we of existing facies, Opponents tor thst hs ‘is nonsense; noting changed but afew ingredient: his wat the sam old pap in 2 ew package: Both ids ar jfin is pure MeDonsi', not only in product and package, but also in prodoction and propagation. Bt imagine 4 ‘change of poston at MeDonal's that would requires change of penpectvesy, to nrc candlelight dining wih personal sevice (your MeDuckling& Orange ‘cooked 10 order) to eaptore the ate evening marke. We mead 3) more, excep ‘ethaps to label this te "Egg Mein syndrome.” THE NEED FOR ECLECTICISM IN DEFINITION iil various relationships exis among the diferent defnitons, noone elation Ship, mr any singe dentin for hat mate, takes precedence ove the thers Ty Some ways, these dfnitions compet (in tht hey Ean stot er each oe), butin perhaps more important ways, they complement. Not al plan become pt ters nr are al patterns that develop planned sme ploy are ss an postions, wile the sratgies ae more than positions ye las than perspectives Fach Sf nition adds important clemems 19 our understanding of strategy, ined encour ge sto address Fundamental quetons about organizations infer ‘As plan, ratepy dels with how leades ry to establish etic for organ zations, 10st them on predetermined courses of acon. Stratey pn ale aes the fundamental ise of cognition how intentions ave conceived inthe Puta ‘ain in the fst place, indeed, hat intentions really anean, The read to hel i this Bld cam Be paved with those wha fake al sated intentions at fice valve. In studying strategy as plan, we must somehow get into the mind of the sti, find out what i aly intend “As ploy strategy takes ws tothe eam of iret compton, where threats ‘and fein and various other manevvers are employed to gain aantage. This laces the proces fsrtegy formation in is mos dynamic sting, with moves brovoking countemoves and so on. Ye ironical, staegy tel is 9 concept footed not in change but in statin set plans aod sable pater. ow ‘he to reconcile the dynamic notions of satay as ploy wit the atic Ones of strategy a5 patter and eter form of plan? ‘As paler, strategy focuses on atin, reminding ws hat he concep an ‘empty one iit doesnot tke behavior into account. Staley spate as int.

    You might also like