'Strategy is something all organizations are encouraged to have. Many that do get it wrong. Their strategies are empty black box 'diamonds' or other modish schemes. In this book Jarzabkowski argues, cogently, that strategy should be seen in terms of practice - in terms of what it is that organizations and strategic actors do when they do strategy. The book signals a major re-orientation and intellectual maturation of a field that is too important for organizations to leave to the odd blend of occasional scholarship, analysis based on aggregate data, and inspired prescription that has characterized much of strategy to present. In addition, it charts how organizations in one of the most important institutional areas of contemporary societies, the universities, actually do strategy' Stewart Clegg, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia 'This is a pioneering work. As the first book in the new strategy-as-practice field, it offers its readers both innovative models and exemplary field research.It should be a rich source of inspiration for future researchers in the field' - Richard Whittington, Professor of Strategic Management, Said Business School, Oxford 'This book extends and develops the emerging fields of strategy and practice as well as activity theory.
It also demonstrates empirically, using University settings, how activity theory is itself bounded by the wider contexts of organisation, embedded routines and the heavy hand of history' - David C. Wilson, University of Warwick 'The subject of strategy has, in general and regrettably, migrated to a concern with abstract concepts, macro strategic issues and a distance from what managers do. In that context this book is unusual and very welcome. At the most fundamental level, managers manage activities and that is what this book addresses. However it relates those activities to strategic outcomes and therefore allows the reader to make the important bridge between what managers do and organisational strategies. It is a book that, unusually, is to do with the practice of strategy' - Gerry Johnson, Strathclyde University Strategy as practice heralds a defining moment in how strategic management is understood.Paula Jarzabkowski's book leads the way in setting out the meaning and implications of this new field. This book is the first of its kind to help readers bridge the gap between what managers actually do and organizational strategies.
It provides an activity-based framework for studying strategy as practice, with empirical evidence to illustrate the dynamics of this framework in real terms. The book supports readers with: * definition of key terms * the context in which strategy as practice has developed * Clear concepts, frameworks and models for analyzing strategic activity Strategy as practice is indispensable reading for postgraduate students conducting research or doing courses on Strategy and Practice, Strategy Implementation or Strategy in Action as well as Advanced Issues in Strategy. This book will be a resource for both students and researchers alike. "> www.strategy-as-practice.org
Industry Reviews
'Given the book is the first to deal with 'strategy-as-practice' in depth, it becomes vital to set the contours of the field and lay the path for future research, both achieved in an admirable fashion. More importantly, it also raises several questions and forces the reader to embark on an invigorating thought process -the hallmark of an interesting book for the serious reader.' Srinivas Gunta IIMB Management Review Reviews for Higher education Market: 'This volume will appeal to researchers, students and those engaged in strategic management in higher education. The case study material provides a detailed portrait of the ways in which senior managers engage in strategic development. Overall, the volume provides rich insights on strategic management in higher education' -Professor Bob Burgess, Vice-Chancellor, University of Leicester 'This is a completely original account of three contrasting universities' approach to creating and managing strategy in modern conditions. The problem of multiple strategies which interact with one another will be recognised by every practitioner but have not been described in this way before." Strategy as Practice" represents an important contribution to higher education literature because it theorises decisions and strategies which are for the most part instinctive responses to external realities' - Professor Michael Shattock was Registrar of the University of Warwick before taking up his Visiting Professorship at the Institute of Education, University of London, where he is Director of the MBA in Higher Education Management. Overall, I found this book insightful and intriguing. As an interested outsider, I appreciated the aim of the activity-based framework and its key concepts. While I believe that many scholars will similarly recognize the significance of the theoretical apparatus developed, the real value of the book lies in the fact that it raises more questions than it answers. This is especially helpful in emerging areas of research, and in this case, Jarzabkowski has astutely signaled an agenda for future scholarship that will no doubt fuel the continued growth of this subfield. Jarzabkowski's book is a welcome contribution and introduction to the emerging strategy-as-practice research community. Jarzabkowski has astutely signaled an agenda for future scholarship that will no doubt fuel the continued growth of this subfield. -- Michael Lounsbury * Organization Studies *
