Applying strategic Management Education in Practice: Patterns and Drivers of Adoption in UK Business Schools Alumni
Lead Research Organisation:
Aston University
Department Name: Aston Business School
Abstract
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Organisations
Publications
Jarzabkowski P
(2012)
"We Don't Need No Education"-Or Do We? Management Education and Alumni Adoption of Strategy Tools
in Journal of Management Inquiry
Jarzabkowski P
(2009)
Building a strategy toolkit: Lessons from business
Jarzabkowski P
(2014)
Strategy tools-in-use: A framework for understanding "technologies of rationality" in practice
in Strategic Management Journal
Spee A
(2009)
Strategy tools as boundary objects
in Strategic Organization
| Description | In particular, our research revealed the following: • While the world's managers may be firmly attached to SWOT analysis, the most popular by far of the strategy tools we encountered, several other tools are both frequently used and useful. From our research we have constructed the following core strategy toolkit for practitioners: SWOT analysis, key success factors, core competences analysis, scenario planning, value chain, Porter's five forces, resource-based analysis, industry life cycle, PESTLE analysis and portfolio matrices. • Diversity is important. The majority of managers use between three and five strategy tools, providing sufficient diversity, but still manageable. • The US and Europe are lagging behind. Managers from companies with headquarters in Asia, Africa, the Middle East or South America tend to use a higher number of tools than managers from companies with headquarters in the US and Europe. • Even though SWOT analysis is easily the most popular tool, the tools with the most users are not the ones considered by managers as the most valuable. • The usefulness of strategy tools varies according to the stage of the strategy process - strategy analysis, choice or implementation. Porter's 5 forces and PESTLE analysis are considered to be the more valuable for conducting strategy analysis; scenario planning for strategy choice; and key success factors for strategy implementation. • Managers consider strategy tools more useful for analysis and sense-making purposes than for making and implementing decisions; this may mean that more emphasis is required during training and education on those tools that assist managers with making and implementing decisions. • There is a strong link between training and education, age, and career progression and a greater use of strategy tools. Managers with higher levels of education (e.g. post-graduates) and who attend management training regularly (at least once a year), use more strategy tools. Although managers who had their last formal education less than two years ago use slightly less tools than other managers. Equally, senior managers tend to use more strategy tools than managers in all other hierarchical levels; the use of strategy tools starts increasing after two years in a position or firm. • Finally, and importantly, our findings show that managers do not choose tools because of their relevance to the topics they intend to address, but those that are easier to understand and use, as well as those that hold the highest level of legitimacy with their peers i.e. the best known and most frequently used. |
| Exploitation Route | In an increasingly competitive business environment, the ability to spot and seize new opportunities, to plot a path of successful growth for an organisation, and to use resources effectively and efficiently, becomes paramount. Managers have a number of management tools at their disposal to help meet the challenges that they face. Among these are tools for dealing with strategy analysis, choice and implementation. The challenge for managers is knowing which of these tools to use, how many to use, and when to use them. Our research explored the use of strategy tools in organisations. By questioning over 2,000 business school alumni, all of whom will have been exposed to a variety of strategy tools as part of their business education, we looked at the impact of a range of variables on the use of strategy tools. By consulting with both business academics and alumni on their knowledge and use of strategy tools, we have constructed a strategy toolkit containing a limited number of strategy tools that managers would benefit from being familiar and using in their work, particularly as their experience and seniority increases. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Retail,Transport |
| Description | Translated into Polish for Polish managers, and also drawn on for Johnson, Scholes Whittington strategy textbook, |
| First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
| Sector | Other |
| Impact Types | Economic |