1. Characteristics
The emergent approach to the strategic process arose from a series of research studies that, unlike the deliberate approach (theoretical and prescriptive approach), focused on answering the question of how strategies are actually formed in companies, based on the observation and description of the real processes of strategy formation (descriptive approach).
In this case, strategies are formed as a consequence of the development of actions that have not been planned or foreseen in advance by the company’s top management with the aim to create strategies. These actions can be carried out by any person or group of people in the organization, arise by chance and develop in many very different ways.
Three different types of emergent strategic processes can occur depending on where the actions arise, or in other words, who the protagonists of these actions are:
- Emergent actions that originate from the top, meaning, that have the company’s top management as protagonists: Top-down emergent process.
- Emergent actions arising from below, so, involving people or groups of people at lower hierarchical levels (line managers, employees, etc.): Bottom-up emergent process.
- ‘Joint’ (top + bottom) or ‘democratic’ type emergent actions. These are emergent actions carried out jointly by the top management and other people at lower hierarchical levels: ‘Democratic’ type emergent process [1].
Each of these three types of emergent strategic processes is described below.
TOP-DOWN EMERGENT STRATEGIC PROCESS
In this case, the protagonists are the company’s top managers, who take actions incrementally and iteratively as they respond to unexpected events that occur (internal events (events that arise within the organization) or external events (events that arise in the organization’s environment)), so that over time a pattern of behavior may be formed in this stream of actions, which constitutes the strategy, or a new strategic concept, idea, vision or decision may emerge as a result of this process.
In this regard it is also interesting to cite a unique type of ‘top-down’ emergent strategic process, which is characterized by the sudden emergence of new strategic ideas, concepts or visions, like sparks, in the mind of the company’s top manager (unconscious thought process). This type of process was first noted by Mintzberg and Waters (1984), describing it as follows: it is“a kind of revelation – the confluence of different ideas to create a new mental set…All of a sudden the idea forms”. “Continuous bombardment of facts, opinions, problems, and so on, may have had to prepare the mind for the change, but one simple insight probably creates the synthesis – brings all the disparate data together in one sudden ‘eureka’ – type flash,…” by which the new strategic orientation (idea, concept or vision) emerges.
In general, the top-down emergent strategic process can be conceptualized as a learning process in which events are analyzed (‘strategic analysis’), decisions are made (‘strategic formulation’), the actions decided are carried out (‘strategic implementation’), the feedback of these actions is obtained (‘strategic control’), and this feedback is analyzed and produces a learning process (‘strategic analysis/learning’), generating the new strategy as a result of the development of one or more iterations of this strategic learning cycle (analysis –> formulation –> implementation –> control –> analysis/learning).
The top-down emergent strategic process may consist of some or all of the following actions: strategic thinking, strategic analysis, strategic formulation, strategic implementation, strategic control and strategic analysis/learning. All these actions have been described in the previous paragraph, except the one related to ‘strategic thinking’. The latter is developed when the vision, mission, general objectives and values of the organization are refined or modified as a result of the change in perception that the company’s top management undergoes as a consequence of the strategic learning they experience during the development of the strategic process.
As a result of this emergent strategic process, ’emergent strategies’ may be generated or, on the contrary, incipient patterns of behavior may not be consolidated, or new strategic concepts, ideas, visions or decisions may not ultimately influence the company’s strategy.
BOTTOM-UP EMERGENT STRATEGIC PROCESS
In this case, the protagonists are in the low and/or middle levels of the organization (employees, line managers, etc.). These people usually have intimate contact with technology and/or customers, which facilitates the emergence of new strategic ideas and the generation and development of new internal initiatives, which can influence the organization’s strategy if these are detected, accepted and incorporated into the deliberate strategy creation process by the company’s top management.
Or it may also be that incipient behavioral patterns are forming in streams of actions carried out by these people, which may become strategies if they are detected, accepted and incorporated into the deliberate strategic process by the top managers. Or, in some types of organizations (highly decentralized, lacking leadership, without clearly defined strategies, etc.), it may even be that these incipient behavioral patterns eventually become emergent strategies without the intervention of the company’s top management.
In general, as with the ‘top-down’ emergent process, this process can also be conceptualized as a learning process, but with the particularity that the protagonists are located in the low and/or middle levels of the organization, and possibly, later on, this process will move up to higher hierarchical levels if these new ideas, initiatives or incipient patterns are evaluated and/or promoted by people at higher hierarchical levels.
The result of this emergent strategic process may be the generation of ’emergent strategies’, or on the contrary, it may be that new strategic ideas or initiatives, or incipient new patterns, do not ultimately influence the company’s strategy.
‘DEMOCRATIC’ TYPE EMERGENT STRATEGIC PROCESS (Roch, 2016 and 2019) [1]
This emergent strategic process is quite unique, as it does not adhere to the traditional classification that differentiates between top-down and bottom-up emergent strategic processes.
The ‘democratic’ type emergent strategic process is made up of emergent actions carried out jointly by top management and other people at lower hierarchical levels, as a result of which new strategic concepts, ideas, visions or decisions emerge, or new incipient patterns of behavior are generated, which may (’emergent strategies’) or may not influence the organization’s strategy.
In general, and similar to the two previous cases, this process can also be conceptualized as a learning process, with the particularity that it involves both top management and others at lower hierarchical levels.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Although the three types of strategic processes described above have been classified within the typology of ’emergent-type strategic processes’, as has traditionally been done in this field of study (case of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ emergent strategic processes), however, it may be that these processes are actually circumscribed or belong to the typology of ‘strategic processes composed of deliberate and emergent actions’, which will be described in the following entry (Entry 8). Whether they belong to one or the other typology will depend on the following:
- These strategic processes will belong to the typology of ’emergent-type strategic processes’ when no deliberate action appears in their development (all actions are emergent type).
- These strategic processes will belong to the typology of ‘strategic processes composed of deliberate and emergent actions’ when deliberate actions appear in their development (apart from the emergent actions inherent to these strategic processes).
Deliberate actions will appear in these processes when the company’s top managers deliberately implement the new strategic concepts, ideas, visions or decisions, or new internal initiatives, or new incipient behavioral patterns that have previously arisen in an emergent manner.
The following is a description of the different cases that may arise in this regard:
– Incipient behavioral patterns that form because of the development of emergent actions (‘top-down’, ‘bottom-up’ or ‘democratic’ type) may eventually become realized strategies in the following two possible ways:
- If these incipient patterns are consolidated thanks to the sustainability over time of the emergent actions that have originated them and/or thanks to the development of new emergent actions. The whole process, therefore, would be composed only of emergent actions, so it would belong to the typology of ’emergent strategic processes’.
- If the company’s top management detects, accepts and implements such incipient patterns in a deliberate manner (through the development of deliberate actions). The whole process, therefore, would initially be made up of emergent actions and later by deliberate actions, so it would therefore belong to the typology of ‘strategic processes composed of deliberate and emergent actions’.
– New strategic concepts, ideas, visions or decisions, or new internal strategic initiatives, which arise because of the development of emergent actions (top-down, bottom-up or democratic type), can only become realized strategies if they are deliberately implemented by the company’s top management.
The whole process, therefore, would initially be constituted by emergent actions and later by deliberate actions, so it would belong to the typology of ‘strategic processes composed of deliberate and emergent actions’.
2. Context
Emergent strategic processes tend to mainly occur in companies operating in turbulent or dynamic environments, as they usually arise from the occurrence of unexpected events (from the environment and/or from within the organization) to which the company’s top management responds.
In terms of the different types of emergent strategic processes, the following can be considered:
– ‘Top-down’ emergent strategic processes will occur in all types of organizations that are immersed in turbulent or dynamic environments, since, in all cases, it is the company’s top management that is responsible for ensuring that the organization responds to unexpected events as they occur.
– ‘Bottom-up’ and ‘democratic’ type emergent strategic processes will be primarily found in large, complex, decentralized companies that are immersed in turbulent or dynamic environments, and, above all, and in all cases, in organizations with participative management styles and open and tolerant organizational cultures [2]. In this regard, the following should be considered:
- The greater the size, complexity and decentralization of a company, and the more dynamic its environment, the more difficult it will be for its top management to address all aspects that influence the business and, therefore, the more they will have to rely on existing knowledge and strategic ideas and initiatives that arise at lower levels of their organization (line managers, employees, etc.). In turn, in this context, the greater the likelihood that new strategic ideas or initiatives or new incipient behavioral patterns will emerge elsewhere in the organization.
- Participative management styles and open and tolerant organizational cultures encourage the participation of the company’s employees and thus the emergence and development of new strategic ideas, new internal initiatives and new incipient behavioral patterns, or, in other words, the formation of new ‘bottom-up’ and ‘democratic’ type emergent strategic processes.
[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] Open and tolerant organizational cultures are based on a set of beliefs, assumptions and values that encourage fluid and trusting communication, knowledge sharing and learning, the generation and exploitation of new ideas (wherever they come from), entrepreneurial attitudes among employees, etc.
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.
