We first argue that it is important to go further in analyzing how agency is constituted in a. In summary, existing research substantiates that strategy tools are used in practice but offers only limited clues about how they are used. As a result, its a very peoplecentric view on strategy trying to understand how what people do in the name of strategy shapes the strategies. Strategy as practice is a rapidly growing branch of research in the business strategy discipline that seeks to understand how it is that strategists work by focussing on the microactivities of strategists rather than strategy at the organisational level. Professor paula jarzabkowski on strategy tools in practice. Her research focuses on strategy as practice in complex contexts, such as regulated firms, third sector organizations and financial services, particularly insurance and reinsurance. Strategy as practice sasp has been positioned as a moderator in this debate, and by explicitly seeking to explain the practice or doing of strategy, rather than getting caught up in the strategy. Her research in this regard has been foundational in the establishment of the field of strategy as practice. Keywords strategy as practice, recursiveness, adaptation, management practices, social theory. In response, focus was increased on the social practice view of strategising as something is done by people in specific contexts. Keywords strategy as practice, recursiveness, adaptation, management practices, social theory, strategizing.
Paula jarzabkowski is a professor of strategic management. The objective of the strategy as practice series of talks is to provide an introduction into this novel approach to strategy and to reveal the particular insights that can be gained by adopting such an approach. As opposed to the currently dominant view on strategy as something organizations posses, the field of strategy as practice is. Following an introduction on the emergence and foundations of strategy. Pdf a strategyaspractice approach to strategy research. Apart from an introductory talk which will elaborate on the legacy of the strategy as practice approach and its relation to other. In addressing strategy as practice, the focus of research is on strategy praxis, strategy practitioners and strategy practices, i. Strategy as practice is an international network of more than 3000 scholars and practitioners in over 150 countries around the globe. Jarzabkowski and sillince 2007 and strategy as practice sasp george and desmidt 2014. An institutional perspective on strategy as practice chapter. It would, however, be a mistake not to link strategy as practice research to the broader prac. Jarzabkowski and sillince 2007 and strategy as practice s as p george and desmidt 2014. Download city research online city, university of london. Cambridge handbook of strategy as practice now in its second edition, this extended and thoroughly updated handbook introduces researchers and students to the growing range of theoretical and methodological perspectives being developed in the vibrant.
The first section of the paper draws upon social theory to address two themes implied by practice, recursiveness and adaptation. Researchers who practice in this field are interested in the micropractices of. The typologies explain the relationships between strategic practices and continuity and change of strategy as practice. Recursiveness, adaptation and strategic practicesinuse introduction recently, concern over the gap between the theory of what people do and what people. This book is the first of its kind to help readers bridge the gap between what managers actually do and organizational strategies.
Jarzabkowski p 2004 strategy as practice recursiveness. However, in the empirical analysis of strategy as practice, strategy becomes somehow reified. The authors argue for strategy research based rigorously on sociological theories of practice. We proceed to outline five directions for further progress in sap. These activities often take place in journal of management policy and practice vol. The foundations of strategy as practice are often cited in many of the articles that you can read as moving us from a focus on strategy as something that a firm has. The paper concludes by linking activity theory to wider change literatures to illustrate its potential as an integrative methodological framework for examining the subjective and emergent processes through which strategic. Practitioners recursively draw on practices and thus reproduce as well as change them continuously jarzabkowski. While institutional scholarship through the 1990s often gave primacy to structure, stability and the macrolevel contexts that condition organizations dimaggio and powell 1983.
The strategyaspractice research agenda addresses some of the concerns raised by bower and grant. Implications for practitioners, teachers and researchers are developed. Call for papers journal of strategic information systems. Scott 1987, strategy as practice scholars have emphasized agency, potential for change and the collective activities of individuals inside. A strategy as practice approach to strategy research and education. The first section will discuss different theoretical perspectives in strategy as practice.
Paula jarzabkowski 3 the paper is in three sections. In this book the author builds on the work of an emerging community of scholars to lay out theoretical and methodological underpinnings of an activitybased framework for applying the practice lens to strategy. Even fewer studies address the application of sm in relation to what tools are used in strategy making jarzabkowski and kaplan 2015 and so far, to our knowledge, none of them focus. A strategyaspractice approach to strategy research and education. Pdf the role of meetings in the social practice of strategy. Strategy is something people do jarzabkowski, 2004.
The practice perspective on strategy focuses on strategists and strategizing, rather than organizations and strategies. Strategy as practice as a research approach since early 2000 strategy as practice sap has emerged as a distinctive approach for studying strategic management, strategic decisionmaking. It provides an activitybased framework for studying strategy as. With new authors and additional chapters, it shows how the. Paula jarzabkowski s book leads the way in setting out the meaning and implications of this new field. Jarzabkowski and richard whittington, year2008 paula a. Coordinated by eight institutional members, sapin is committed to the importance of a focus on everyday processes, practices and activities involved in the making of strategy. Dr jason downs what is strategyaspractice and why is it. This article maps the development of strategic thinking since the 1960s and identifies an emerging perspective on strategy as practice. The article develops the concept of management practicesinuse into a research agenda and nine broad research questions that may be used to investigate empirically strategy as practice.
Sep 01, 2012 professor paula jarzabkowski on strategy tools in practice. This conclusion to the dialog proposes a strategy as practice based approach to bringing strategy research and education closer to practice. Jarzabkowski has astutely signaled an agenda for future scholarship that will no doubt fuel the continued growth of this subfield. Hello and welcome to this series on strategy as practice. Five categories of outcomes are found within existing empirical studies, and an agenda for building upon this evidence is advanced. There have increasingly been calls to consider the many everyday processes and activities of an organisation that together forms strategy. In this way, strategy as practice research can contribute to the evolution of strategic management as a discipline and body of knowledge with new theories and methodological choices. The role of strategy meetings in the social practice of strategy. Introduced by whittington 1996, sap relies on social constructivism as epistemology and subjectivism as ontological paradigm. Strategy as practice af paula jarzabkowski som ebog. Apart from an introductory talk which will elaborate on the legacy of the strategy as practice approach and its relation to other areas of strategy research, the series is divided into three main sections. Sorry, we are unable to provide the full text but you may find it at the following locations. These authors raised two critical points for the association between strategy research.
Strategy as practice the thrust of the practice approach is to take seriously the work and talk of practitioners themselves. Taking social practices seriously eero vaara hanken school of economics, emlyon business school richard whittington. First, the paper examines the concepts of practitioners and praxis. Strategy as practicebrief overviewmario porfirio 2. Pdf strategy as practice heralds a defining moment in how strategic management is understood. A firm has a strategy to excel in something that a firm and the people within it do. Strategy theory in practice, presented at the 19th egos colloquium, 35 july 2003 work in progress chris fenton and ann langley 2008 strategy as practice the narrative turn hec montreal canada paula jarzabkowski, julia. Recursiveness, adaptation and strategic practicesinuse. In this first introductory seminar, i, paula jarzabkowski, professor of strategy at aston university, and my colleague, david seidl, whos a professor of strategy at the university of zurich, will be giving you a brief overview of the broad field of strategy as practice. Strategy as practice heralds a defining moment in how strategic management is understood. Meetings as strategizing episodes in the social practice. Strategy as practice is a community of scholars interested in the practice of strategy. Praxis is defined as the actual work that constitutes strategy, and includes activities such as meetings, talking, calculating, thinking, presenting, communicating, etc.
The final section attends to the call for strategy. May 23, 2014 strategy as practice is a rapidly growing branch of research in the business strategy discipline that seeks to understand how it is that strategists work by focussing on the microactivities of strategists rather than strategy at the organisational level. Jarzabkowskis book is a welcome contribution and introduction to the emerging strategyaspractice research community. Jarzabkowski p 2004 strategy as practice recursiveness adaptation and practices from mba st4s19 at uni. Since early 2000 strategy as practice sap has emerged as a distinctive approach for studying strategic management, strategic decisionmaking, strategizing, strategy making and strategy work whittington 1996. The strategy as practice research agenda addresses some of the concerns raised by bower and grant. Drawing on hendry and seidls 2003 theoretical framework of strategizing episodes as microevolutionary mechanisms in the strategy process and based on empirical data of 51 strategiclevel meeting observations, the paper elucidates the episodic nature of strategic meetings in shaping organizational strategy. Strategy as practice in line with a general development in social theories towards an actor and system centric perspective, strategy research started to turn its attention to strategy as social practice. What we are agreed on is the importance of a focus on the processes and prac tices constituting the everyday activities of organizational life and relating to strate.
752 672 451 514 943 343 1274 603 70 689 1327 38 1425 834 128 1093 939 1212 1357 1513 1109 939 743 1383 1275 776 770 1013 513 289 289 1128 603 1294 550 1208 876 710 388 1326 140