Strategy Formulation, Content and Performance

In this chapter, we explore the effects of strategy formulation on performance, and whether these effects are moderated by strategy content. This discussion attends to two of the central facets of the wider strategic management literature examining the ways in which strategy is formed, referred to as strategy formulation, and the substance of those decisions, or strategy content (which was explored in Chapter 3) (Boyne and Walker, 2004; Hart, 1992; Ketchen et al., 1996). By focusing upon content and formulation, we contribute towards the literature on strategic management in a number of ways. To date, research in the public sector has typically focused on either formulation or content (Andrews et al., 2006a; Boyne and Gould-Williams, 2003, for an exception see Walker et al., 2010). Furthermore, when such studies are undertaken on public agencies they typically focus on either a single approach to formulation or a limited range of alternative strategy content options (Elbanna, 2006; Zahra and Pearce, 1990). This is perhaps one of the central weaknesses in much of the prior literature. Over a decade ago, Ketchen et al. (1996, 231) passed similar remarks: ‘The traditional distinction between strategy process and strategy content has perhaps limited the ability of strategic management research to explain the determinants of organizational performance.’