Strategy without design
Subtitle: the silent efficacy of indirect action
By: Robert C. H. Chia and Robin Holt
Contributors: Holt, Robin, 1966-
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 248
ISBN-13: 9780521895507
Description: "In business the survival and flourishing of an organisation is most often associated with the ability of its strategists to create a distinctive identity by confronting and rising above others. Yet not all organisational accomplishment can be explained with recourse to deliberate choice and purposeful design on the part of strategic actors. This book shows why. Using examples from the world of business, economics, military strategy, politics and philosophy, it argues that collective success may inadvertently emerge as a result of the everyday coping actions of a multitude of individuals, none of whom intended to contribute to any preconceived plan. A consequence of this claim is that a paradox exists in strategic interventions, one that no strategist can afford to ignore. The more directly and deliberately a strategic goal is single-mindedly sought, the more likely it is that such calculated instrumental action eventually works to undermine its own initial success"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Spontaneous order : the roots of strategy emergence; title: Economic agency and steps to ecological awareness; title: Reconceptualizing agency, self-interest and purposive action; title: The 'practice turn' in strategy research; title: Building and dwelling : two ways of understanding strategy; title: Strategy as 'wayfinding'; title: The silent efficacy of indirect action.