Concept of strategic process
‘Strategic process’ is understood as the process by which the strategy actually followed in a company is formed, taking into account that it can be the result of multiple actions, both deliberate (conscious and intentional actions, planned in advance by the firm’s management, in order to create strategy) and emergent (actions not carried out consciously and intentionally by the firm’s management in order to create strategy).
It is a complex and dynamic process (it develops over time), individual and social, both cognitive and learning, composed of more or less deliberate or emergent actions, more or less formal or informal, and affected by a multitude of variables not only internal (organization) but also external (environment).
General typologies of the strategic process
A more in-depth study of the strategic process, or strategy formation process, reveals some general principles that should be considered in this regard:
1. There is no single optimal form of strategic process for all organizations. For each organization, at any given moment, there will be a type or a combination of types of strategic processes that best fit the internal characteristics of the company and the environment in which it is immersed.
2. Strategies do not necessarily develop through homogeneous or pure types of strategic processes (purely deliberate processes or purely emergent processes). In many cases, strategies are generated from processes that change their typology over time. Thus, for instance, a strategy may initially arise in an emergent form and continue to develop in a deliberate form, or vice versa, or develop in some other sequence.
3. Strategies do not always have to be generated from actions carried out by a central authority, the company’s management. Sometimes strategies arise and/or are developed as a consequence of actions carried out by people in other functions and at other hierarchical levels (middle managers, employees, etc.).
4. Strategies, in short, can arise anywhere in the organization and develop in many different ways, through any sequence of deliberate and/or emergent actions.
The following is a list of the different forms or general typologies that the strategy formation process can take in a company:
Deliberate strategic process
This is a process carried out consciously and intentionally by the company’s top management in order to create strategies or, in other words, a sequence of actions carried out consciously and intentionally by senior management in order to formulate and/or implement strategies.
Emergent strategic process
In this case, strategies are formed because of the development of actions that were not planned or foreseen in advance by company’s top management with an aim to create strategies.
The following three different types of emergent strategic processes may occur depending on who the protagonists of the actions are:
- Top-down emergent process, when the protagonists are the company’s top managers.
- Bottom-up emergent process, when the protagonists are individuals or groups of people at lower hierarchical levels (middle managers, employees, etc.).
- Democratic type emergent process [1], when emergent actions are carried out jointly by top managers and others from lower hierarchical levels.
Strategic process composed of deliberate and emergent actions
Strategies need not always develop through homogeneous or pure types of strategic processes such as those mentioned above (processes composed only of deliberate actions or processes composed only of emergent actions). In fact, on many occasions, strategies are generated as a consequence of the development of streams of deliberate and emergent actions. Thus, for instance, it may be the case that a strategy initially arises in an emergent form and continues to develop later in a deliberate one, or vice versa, or develops following any other sequence of deliberate and emergent actions.
In the next blog entries I will describe in detail each of these forms or typologies that can present the strategy formation process in a company and, although it may seem obvious, it is important to emphasize that these descriptions will be carried out from the point of view of the organization’s top managers [2], since these are the individuals who have the greatest responsibility for strategies and strategic processes within the firm.
[1] The existence of this type of strategic process has recently been considered in this field of study, being defined (theoretically) and verified (empirically) for the first time during the research carried out in his doctoral thesis by Roch (2016 and 2019). This type of strategic process is also described in the book: “The strategic process of the firm: Theory and cases” (Roch, 2024).
[2] The reference point from which the different types of strategic processes are observed and described relies on the company’s top management.
If you are interested in going deeper into the strategic process, allow me to recommend you: - Book: "The strategic process of the firm: Theory and cases" (Roch, 2024). - Courses and consulting program on the strategic process.
