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Bridging practice and process research to study transient manifestations of strategy

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  • Laurent Mirabeau
  • Steve Maguire
  • Cynthia Hardy

Abstract

Research Summary: At the intersection of Strategy Process (SP) and Strategy‐as‐Practice (SAP) research lies the focal phenomenon they share—strategy, which manifests itself in a variety of ways: intended, realized, deliberate, emergent, unrealized, and ephemeral strategy. We present a methodology comprised of three stages that, when integrated in the manner we suggest, permit a rich operationalization and tracking of strategy content for all manifestations. We illustrate the utility of our methodology for bridging SP and SAP research by theorizing practices that are more likely to give rise to unrealized and ephemeral strategy, identifying their likely consequences, and presenting a research agenda for studying these transient manifestations. Managerial Summary: Managers know well that, sometimes for good reasons and other times with negative consequences for organizations, not all aspects of strategic plans are implemented with fidelity, resulting in unrealized strategy; and not all bottom‐up projects receive the middle‐management support they need to become realized, resulting in ephemeral strategy making. Surprisingly, however, these transient manifestations of strategy receive little attention in the scholarly literature. Our paper addresses this gap by presenting a methodology for tracking all six manifestations of strategy (intended, realized, deliberate, emergent, unrealized, and ephemeral strategy), highlighting the interdependent relations among them. It also describes strategy making practices that are likely to give rise to the two transient manifestations, i.e., unrealized and ephemeral strategy, as well as their consequences for subsequent strategy making.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Mirabeau & Steve Maguire & Cynthia Hardy, 2018. "Bridging practice and process research to study transient manifestations of strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 582-605, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:39:y:2018:i:3:p:582-605
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.2732
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    Cited by:

    1. Tomi Laamanen, 2019. "Dynamic attention-based view of corporate headquarters in MNCs," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Bettina Bouchayer, 2023. "Evénement et temporalité en gestion : implication pour les pratiques d'anticipation," Post-Print hal-04487407, HAL.

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