SYNTHESIS

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Plan

 the design school vs. the planning school on formalizing

the strategy
 Strategic Thinking
 strategic model

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 The art and science of planning and marshalling resources for
their most efficient and effective use.

 Mintzberg defined the strategy as "a pattern in a stream of

decisions" to contrast with a view of strategy as planning

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the design school vs. the planning school on
formalizing the strategy

 the design school proposes a model of strategy making that seeks to

attain a match, between internal capabilities and external
possibilities.

 Strategy should be formulated using tools and techniques such as

SWOT analysis and Ash ridge Mission model. The companies who
would follow this concept should carry out a SWOT analysis and
discover their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
 These are combined to allow for the creation of strategy.

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 Useful when the environment is
unstable

focuses more on the organization

than on its employees.
avoids external changes
Avoids innovation

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Planning school

 The planning school of thought recommends analysis of the current

business situation and focuses more on implementation of the
strategies.

 Once the objectives have been set, the external environment is

evaluated. The main purpose of this audit is to provide forecasts
about future market conditions.
 Then the internal environment is also evaluated. The result of this
stage is the definition of distinctive competencies.

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 The strategies are analysed or delineated in a quantitative form. Each
strategy is delineated to enable the best to be selected.

 This ideology resembles the five tasks of strategic management

process (forming the strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting the
strategy, Implementing it, and evaluating it)

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 This concept has room for innovation and focuses on external
environment as well as implementation but it also has some
drawbacks since it can create conflicts between managers during
groupthink.

 The planning school follows much the same process as the design
school, but with a much more formalised approach. This
formalisation is aimed at providing control. Strategic planning
became a numbers game.

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Strategic Thinking

 Strategic thinking is a set of ideas, principles, policies,

concrete rules and operational procedures that shape the
way managers think about their role and that guide their
daily actions.

 Different from operational plans, which represent more

concrete commitments and specific actions at particular
points in time.

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 The author linked strategic thinking to mental representations of
strategic decision makers.
 4 positions, depending on the content and drivers for modification
of the manager’s mindset and whether his state of mind is individual
or collective

Drifted Frame of reference

Reflected frame of reference

Enduring organizational mindset

Strategic thinking

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 Drifted Frame of reference:

 Organizational culture influences the manager’s mindset through beliefs,

values and habits.
 The main factors that make it change are experience and immersion
through the organization’s culture and environment
 individuals adopt a defensive organizational position against new truths
and new mindsets

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 Reflected frame of reference

 The manager’s mindset changes along with new events. It is

guided by formal decisions and adjusted to match changes and
the new reality.
 because individuals correct their own view as they find flaws in
their logic
 organizational behavior and cognitive limitations make of it an
unstable frame of reference.

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 Enduring organizational mindset

 organizational culture is the core that influences values and

beliefs, and is shared among organizational members
 Individuals behave according to their leader’s beliefs, even if
they are a bit different from their own beliefs.
 Leaders influence the mindsets of their subordinates.

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 Strategic thinking

 All organizational members have their own personal opinions

and preferences
 Solutions and ideas are made by all organizational members,
without imposition of ideas
 Managers’ actions are guided by formal decisions resulting
from their involvement and discussion
 Working habits are frequently modified.

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strategic model
 The strategic model aim to diagnose in complete and integrated way the
context of an organization, to evaluate the choices available to it and to
determine how to deploy:
Strategic diagnosis:
it seen as an essential element for defining the future strategy through the
analysis of :
impact of the environment (source of
opportunities and threats)
resources and expertise of the organization in
order to assess its strengths and weaknesses.
The visions and strategic objectives of the
business.
The cultural influences that lead all strategic
changes.
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Strategic choices:

 it’s about the strategic options selected for an organization, both

in terms of guidelines and conditions to achieve them.
 different strategies such as: strategy by industry, Portfolio
Management, internationalization, innovation and the
acquisitions & cooperation.

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Strategic deployment:

 A strategy does not exist until the time it is actually implemented and
resulted in operational actions. This part is cut into five stages:
 The evaluation: after the establishment of strategic options they
should be evaluated to see if they meet the needs of the company.
 The process of strategic development.
 The organization: it needs to achieve the objectives set by the
strategy.
 The change: the implementation of a process of change to keep
the strategy remains a day.
 The practice of the strategy.

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