From strategy to strategizing

In this chapter we first introduce different approaches to strategy as they exist within the extant literature, beginning with the basic distinction between deliberate and emergent strategies. Taking our cue from Mintzberg’s five Ps for strategy, we identify four scholarly perspectives: intentional planning, everyday practices, market adaptation and organizational constitution. Second, we address topical debates and developments, indicating how these may shape the field of strategy for the future. We identify three such areas, one having to do with current technological developments and the other with concerns about sustainability and responsibility. The third area combines the two to consider the rise of new business models. We conclude the chapter by discussing how existing theories and current developments may best be synthesized, suggesting a move from strategy to strategizing. Developing the concept of strategizing, we argue, may more fully capture the dynamics and multiplicities of the study and practice of strategy-making.