...- 13 - Uditha Liyanage Abstract Strategy is often confused with planning. The many definitions and delineations of strategy, which highlight one or more aspects of strategy, while ignoring the others, have led to a state of confusion as to what strategy really is. This is evident in the content-analysis of the vision, mission and value statements of a number of companies. Not only were the analysedanalyzed company- - specific statements vague and general, they were also unrelated to one another. Specifically, the espoused values were generic and terminal in nature and unrelated to the tasks and goals at hand. To avoid the confusion in the minds of practitioners, and as reflected in the literature itself, a Strategy Quadrant (content), consisting of Stand, Standing, Shared values and Steps is proposed. The process of developing the 4Ss of strategy is delineated in terms of Mintzberg's "think/see/do first" processes (Strategy Triangle). The context ofcontext of strategy is defined in terms of stability and complexity (Strategy Duality). It is argued that, in complex and unstable contexts, the traditional mode of "think-first" deliberate strategies which set "thinking" apart from "doing" is becoming increasingly ineffective. The unpredictability of complex contexts, in which we operate, leave us with no choice but to be markedly adaptive rather than attempt to be overly prepared. Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) are the order of the day, and the organization's Standing...
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