MEANING OF STRATEGY

Meaning of Strategy

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Analysis of Mintzberg's and Whittington's View3

Features of Strategic Planning6

Strategic Management7

Process and Dimension in Strategic Planning8

ADKAR Model8

Differentiation, Positioning, and Advantage10

Strategy Content11

Conclusion12

Meaning of Strategy

Introduction

Strategy is a program of general business-oriented utilization of production potential and resources to achieve objectives. There is no universal agreement on the meaning of strategy. The strategy is long-term objectives of the company, corresponding to the general directions of activity, and shows the allocation of resources that are necessary for achieving agreed goals. Another point of view on strategy is that it acts in defining its response to the enterprise environment. It is a way of shaping the relationship between the organization and its surroundings. It works as a string of consistent patterns in streams of organizational decisions on the environment. Henry Mintzberg developed a theory on the structuring of organizations. According to him, five main parts form an organization: the heart operation, the strategic apex, the hierarchy, the technology, and staff. Carrying out the formulation and solution of strategic tasks are recommended in stages. Each stages can be characterized by a certain order of activity. There are different approaches to understand the strategy.

Analysis of Mintzberg's and Whittington's View

Mintzberg's View

In 1991, following a controversy with Igor Ansoff, Mintzberg formulated his critical approach to strategic planning in management, a concept born in the year 1960. His argument is similar to that of Friedrich Hayek (1948). Organizations see themselves as knowledge systems in which dispersed central planning and resource allocation is inefficient compared to a process of bottom up. In his book, The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, shows that planning rarely reaches a strategic dimension, but, conversely it can often dispense with having one. For Mintzberg, planning and strategy are two contradictory terms. The first is the analysis and the second synthesis. Solving this oxymoron is impossible. In his book, published in 1979, "Designing effective organizations," Henry Mintzberg developed a theory on the structuring of organizations. According to him, five main parts form an organization: the heart operation, the strategic apex, the hierarchy, the technology, and staff (Andrews, 2008, pp. 67).

Each of the five parties has a tendency to pull the organization in a particular direction that is favorable. The top strategic push towards centralization, support staff pulls collaboration, standardization technostructure force, the heart of operations is mobilized to the professionalisation and the hierarchy leads to balkanization.

Henry Mintzberg has developed an analysis for showing that there are different leadership styles that grow best in terms of certain contexts. This is the reason that we broadly classify among the theorists Henry Mintzberg of contingency. Leadership styles are different depending on the type of business organization, and they are mechanistic, divisional, professional, innovative, or ideological (Mintzberg, Lample, Quinn & Ghoshal, 2009, pp. 34).  The simple structure of an entrepreneurial organization characterizes a small company. The structure is simple, dynamic and informal, which provides marvellous adaptability. Compared to the structural model designed by Henry Mintzberg, the structure is limited to a component "strategic apex" and a component of "operational center." The strategy is the responsibility of the ...