Week 4:

Learning Journal 3

Strategy like Science or like Art or Craft:

Science-like:

All the tools involved in strategy like mathematical terms and analysis, rational formulaic application of analytical tools and their implementation feels scientific. Strategy is like science like because it requires true systematic evidence and analysis.

Art, Craft like:

Strategy is making like Art or craft because it is a group activity that involves conflict, politics and compromises. Strategies need to be planed and addressed before being implemented. Likewise, making a strategy is a creative and unpredictable process. You need to build a solution with your own entirely new ideas. It forms a vision and creative insights. Similarly, it comes from experiences and practical learning. Thus, strategy is more like an art or craft like.

Difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy:

• Intended strategy is when strategy is planned carefully in advance whereas emergent strategy is when companies respond to market changes and environmental forces rather than prescribed long term plan.
• Intended strategy moves according to pre planned formal process whereas emergent strategy moves along with practical experimentations.
• Intended strategy is formal and structured whereas emergent strategy is informal and unstructured.
• Parties in intended strategy think and act but in emergent strategy, people do trial and error and they learn from their mistakes.
• Intended strategy is more like strategic planning, emergent strategy believes in strategic thinking.
• Intended strategy relies on stand-alone brain trust while emergent strategy encourages ideas from everyone.
• Intended strategy prefers in analyzing whereas emergent strategy prefers exploring.
• Intended strategy requires leadership, vision, plan, command and externally imposed strategies. Emergent strategy requires logical incrementalism, political processes,  prior decision and organizational system.

Design and Planning schools

This school of strategy is a very planned, controlled and formal process. Strategy is supported by checklists and analytical techniques. All the steps are supervised by the CEO to the staffs. This school is an intended strategy. Banks can be a good example for design and planning schools as the process are very formal, systematic and conventional. 

Learning School

Learning school defines strategy as an emergent process. Strategies are generated through adaptation and experimentation. They emerge informally, sometimes gradually, sometimes spontaneously, and usually in a collective process. Google can be a good example as a strategist in a learning school because it relies on practical experimentations, gathers ideas from everyone, and they learn by acting and exploring. The firm learns from the environment, evaluates what their consumer needs and makes everything possibly user friendly.

My experience

Today’s case study was about Google and its strategies. It was very interesting and video of Googleplex was very fun. I found that the strategy and working system of Google to be very unique and motivation. I answered that Google was a deliberate firm but later came to know that it was more an emergent one

References:

Anon., 2013. Strategic Planning. Strategic planning: Art, craft or science?, 9 March.

Niranjan Chatterjee Intendent or Emergent [Online] Available at http://niranjanchatterjee.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/intended-or-emergent-%E2%80%93-what-is-the-ultimate-strategy-adopted-by-an-organisation/ (Accessed on March 12th 2013)