Opening Strategy: Evolution of a Precarious Profession

This paper takes the long view on the development of strategy as a profession, from the 1950s to today. We identify strategy as a structurally precarious profession, subject to cyclical demand and shifts in organizational power. This precariousness has increased with the secular shift towards more o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish journal of management Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 531 - 544
Main Authors Whittington, Richard, Cailluet, Ludovic, Yakis-Douglas, Basak
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2011
Blackwell Publ
Wiley
Subjects
Beruf
Business administration
Humanities and Social Sciences
Management research
Management theory
Organization development
Organizational behaviour
Strategic behaviour
Strategic management
Strategic studies
Strategisches Management
Studies
Transparency
Uncertainty
STRATEGIC planning
PROFESSIONAL practice
STRATEGIC planning consultants
"STRATEGIC planning"
MANAGEMENT science
"PROFESSIONAL practice"
"STRATEGIC planning consultants"
"MANAGEMENT science"
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Summary:This paper takes the long view on the development of strategy as a profession, from the 1950s to today. We identify strategy as a structurally precarious profession, subject to cyclical demand and shifts in organizational power. This precariousness has increased with the secular shift towards more open forms of strategy‐making, with more transparency inside and outside organizations and more inclusion of different actors internally and externally. We analyse four forces – organizational, societal, cultural and technological – driving the evolution of strategy as a profession and discuss implications for the future of strategy work, for effective strategies, for strategy's professional bodies and for strategy research.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-SDZ7K4D1-X
ArticleID:BJOM762
istex:CA93169845E341903A0A97D10435D97DE6DBA07C
This paper has benefited from comments received at seminars at the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, particularly from Andrew Campbell, the University of Auckland and the University of Technology, Sydney. The usual disclaimers apply. It has also benefited from funding from the Millman Foundation, New College, Oxford.
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ISSN:1045-3172
1467-8551
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8551.2011.00762.x