Reconciling structure and agency in strategy -as-practice research: Towards a strong- structuration theory approach

An overwhelming focus of research on the micro agency of strategic actors has led to the literature being characterized as demonstrating a micro-myopia, resulting in a micro-isolationism. This means we know little about how the micro interrelates with the macro in strategy work. We address this problem in our conceptual article which adopts a structurationist stance to explicate how strategy-as-practice (SaP) research could be enhanced and extended by paying equal attention to both agency and structure. Specifically, we advance strong structuration theory (SST), a promising development from Giddens’ seminal work on structuration theory, to show how strategic activity can be understood as an ongoing process of structuration unfolding over time. We argue for the use of both types of methodological bracketing (context and conduct analysis), advocating systematic attention to the interplay between macro-societal and micro-local levels of analysis. Our discussion concludes with guidance for researchers inviting them to undertake empirical fieldwork that overcomes SaP’s current micro-myopia, creating a more balanced corpus of work

Strategy as practice: Recursiveness, adaptation, and practices-in-use

In this article, a social theory framework is developed to explain the common themes of recursive and adaptive practice underpinning the existing strategic management literature. In practice, there is a coexistent tension between recursive and adaptive forms of strategic action that spans multiple levels from macro-institutional and competitive contexts to within-firm levels of analysis to individual cognition. This tension may be better understood by examining how management practices are used to put strategy into practice. Such practices span multiple levels of context and are adaptable to their circumstances of use, serving to highlight both general characteristics and localized idiosyncrasies of strategy as practice. The article develops the concept of management practices-in-use into a research agenda and nine broad research questions that may be used to investigate empirically strategy as practice

Research Diary Visual Mapping : a reflective methodological tool for process and strategy-as-practice studies

Balogun, Huff and Johnson (2003) highlight the growing paradox for researchers who must focus on context and details while favouring general lines of research. These authors focus their reflection around the collection of qualitative data, particularly those of discussion groups, collaborative research and of research journal redaction techniques. We propose, in the context of collaborative research, a new utilisation of the personal diary, fuelled by our doctoral experiences in collaborative research. While the personal diary in its usual form increases the level of reflectivity on an intervening process, it is nevertheless difficult to exploit for the work of interpreting and legitimizing research. We therefore propose personal diary mapping. In addition to the advantages of personal diary mapping as a methodological tool for viewing the phenomenon, it allows a process to be described by highlighting specifics that are not obvious in reading a text. Moreover, the process of personal diary mapping provides a contribution to the epistemic work in a constructivist reference because it helps make the relationship between knowledge and empirical information explicit (Martinet 2007). After a summary bringing process studies closer to SaP and a review of the modalities of action research and their implications in terms of ethics and researcher responsibility, we present the origins, principles and benefits of visual mapping as regards the researcher's responsibility. In a second step, we illustrate the normative elements of this approach through a case study on strategic competence development based on personal diary mapping.Research Diary ; Visual Mapping ; methodological tool ; process ; strategy-as-practice

Enhancing organisational competitiveness via social media - a strategy as practice perspective

The affordances, popularity and pervasive use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have made these platforms attractive to organisations for enhancing their competitiveness and creating business value. Despite this apparent significance of social media for businesses, they are struggling with the development of a social media strategy as well as understanding the implications of social media on practice within their organisations. This paper explores how social media has become a tool for competitiveness and its influence on organisational strategy and practice. Using the 'strategy as practice' lens and guided by the interpretivist philosophy, this paper uses the empirical case of a telecom organisation in Tanzania. The findings show that social media is influencing competitiveness through imitation and product development. Also, the findings indicate how social media affects the practices within an organisation, consequently making the social media strategy an emergent phenomenon

Management accounting in support of strategy - a strategy as practice perspective

The term Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) was coined in the 1980's to both describe and encourage the development of accounting techniques that addressed strategic decision-making. This prompted the production of books and research papers into SMA techniques. However, there is very little research into how management accounting supports strategy making. Adopting the lens of strategy-as-practice and utilising a narrative research approach this developmental paper addresses the question: How does management accounting support the strategic management process? Although the term strategic management accounting may not be appropriate, there is evidence that management accounting supports the practice and praxis associated with the strategic management process via a range of activities and artifacts, that could be described as the 'stuff' of strategizing, with accountants contributing as practitioners involved in analysing, evaluating, interpreting, educating, and generally supporting the activity of strategizing

INFORMAL STRATEGIZING IN A PUBLIC ORGANIZATION

Strategy as Practice analyzes what people do in relation to the development of strategy in organizations, providing insights into current issues in strategy that require a more micro level of understanding (JOHNSON et al., 2007). Considering the perspective of strategy as practice arising from the emerging strategies, we noticed the lack of studies to understand how these activities occur in a daily basis of organization characterizing as informal strategies (WHITTINGTON, 2007). Therefore, this study proposes to address this issue, showing the occurrence of informal strategizing at a public organization under the strategy-as-practice perspective. For this we held a qualitative research through a single case study (EISENHARDT, 1989) in a municipality in southern Brazil. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with officials of different levels of the organization; direct observation, with notebook guide and analysis of documents provided by the organization, encouraging the triangulation of data. Informal strategies were mainly identified on customer service activities when an applicant’s request is not strictly met under the law or the legislation is dubious and opens room for double-meaning surveying, interpretation and information communication

Strategists in an uncertain world

Referring to the conceptual framework for strategy-as-practice (Whittington 2006, Jarzabkowski et al. 2007), this paper aims at investigating the practioners-practices couple, by analysing the main and recurrent individual characteristics of practitioners and the way they interact with their troubled environment and the strategy formation process of the organization (formalization, intuition, market or organization-focused, communication mode, ...). Hence, we focus on strategists and their strategizing practices.strategizing; strategists

Strategy Workshops and Strategic Change

Despite the attention that strategic change as a topic of research has received, there remain considerable difficulties in conceptualizing the actual sources of strategic change. Strategy workshops represent one obvious and explicit research site since organizations often use such events as a means of effecting or initiating strategic change. This paper examines empirical data from ninety-nine strategy workshops in ten separate organizations to address the research question: Do strategy workshops produce strategic change? The paper concludes that workshops can produce change but that one-off workshops are much less effective than a series of workshops. The data presented indicates that the elapsed duration of the entire series of workshops, the frequency of workshops, the scope and autonomy of the unit concerned, and the seniority of participants have an impact on the success or failure of the venture.Co-production of Knowledge; Engaged Scholarship; Strategic Change; Strategy as Practice; Strategy Workshops

Entrepreneurship as nexus of change: the syncretistic production of the future

This paper deals with the issue of how the future is created and the mechanisms through which it is produced and conceived. Key to this process appears to be social interaction and how it is used to bring about change. Examining the entrepreneurial context by qualitative longitudinal research techniques, the study considers the situations of three entrepreneurs. It demonstrates that the web of relationships in which individuals are engaged provide the opportunity to enact the environment in new ways, thus producing organizations for the future. It further provides empirical evidence for a Heideggerian reading of strategy-as-practice, extending this conceptualization to account for the temporal dimension

Wash Corporate Heads! Business Practice can be Changed via the Dispositions of Executives: Re-socialization towards Implicit Eco-sustainability

The present paper is the synopsis of my doctoral dissertation, which assumes that – in addition to rational factors – the dispositions of management also decisively affect business decisions, and thus business executives' mindset and behavioral patterns (their 'habitus') should be the target of the influence of society whenever societally important changes depend on current business practice. I outlined an institutionalized framework of re-socialization to influence the CEO subculture (and suggest it as part of the CSR agenda). The ecological sensitivity and awareness of industry are treated as a societal issue in the thesis. I have carried out research into the presence and functioning of dispositional logic (the Bourdieusian habitus) in managerial practice with the help of a few narrative interviews.disposition, Habitus, business practice, executive subculture, ecological responsibility, CSR, eco-sustainability, voluntary standard, logic of collective action, mindset, interplay as collusion, controlled influence, practice constructing community, auxiliary socialization, re-socialization, strategy-as-practice, stewardship, fiduciary duty, social engagement, organizational choreography, professional identity, executive mask, meaning negotiation