Reflecting on the strategy process

Viewing the evolution of strategic management as ten "schools" of practice, Mintzberg and Lampel explore whether these perspectives represent fundamen tally different processes of strategy making or different parts of the same process. Unwilling to be constrained by either definition, the authors point out tha t some schools clearly are stages or aspects of the strategy formation proc ess. Under certain circumstances, such? as during start-up or under dynamic conditions when prediction seems impossible, the process may tilt toward t he attributes of one school or another. Thus, identifiable stages and perio ds exist in making strategy - not in any absolute sense, but as recognizabl e tendencies. Despite this, the inclination has been to favor the interpret ation that the schools represent fundamentally different processes. In cautioning against adopting a pseudoscientific theory of change in strat egy formation, Mintzberg and Lampel note with optimism that recent approach es to strategy formation cut across the various schools of practice in ecle ctic ways. Some of the greatest failings of strategic management, they say, occur when managers rake one point of view too seriously. Ideas and practi ces that originate from collaborative contacts between organizations, from competition and confrontation, from recasting of the old, and from the shee r creativity of managers are driving the evolution of strategic management today. Mintzberg and Lampel advise scholars and consultants to gel beyond the narr owness of the ten schools to learn how strategy formation - which combines all ten schools and more - really works. The goal is better practice, not n eater theory.