Social:Strategic lenses

Strategic lenses are a concept of strategic management. They are the four angles from which strategy can be viewed and implemented on a corporate level. Overall, strategy is likely to come from a variety of sources and a combination of the above techniques. Johnson and Scholes talk about 'strategic lenses', which are three ways of viewing what can be meant by the term 'strategy'

Views

The four viewpoints are: as design, as experience, as ideas, as discourse.

Strategy As Design

This lens views Strategy development as a process of logical determinism. Through careful evaluation of the firm's industry, environment and available resources, the optimal strategy and clear direction can be determined. This strategic process thus follows an analysis-selection-implementation process.

Fundamental to this view is that the responsibility of strategy development is top-management driven and that they are capable of choosing the optimal strategy for the business.

Strategy As Experience

Many proponents of the view of Strategy As Experience, such as Mintzberg would argue that the design lens is often inaccurate as top level executives are too distant from daily developments of the organisation.

According to Minzberg, strategic development should be adaptive, and divides it into intended, realised and emergent strategies.

In this model, strategic development is the continuous adaptation of past strategies based on experience. In this view strategy is greatly influenced by taken for granted assumptions (culture) and involves large levels of bargaining and negotiation. Strategy as Experience carries with it a risk of the effect known as strategic drift as a result of failing to act upon environmental changes by being too 'path dependent' on past activity.

Remember the 4 lenses are a theory of strategic management.

Strategy As Idea

This approach to strategy emphasis innovation and the need for diversity of ideas in the organisations. Strategy can emerge from the way people within the organisation handle and respond to the changing forces present both in the organisation and in the environment. Support of this view argue partly by analogy with evolutionary theory, suggesting where there is diversity of approach, a change in environmental conditions is likely to be accommodated by one of the various methods, products or system already existence.

Strategy As Discourse

This view consists in making choices between different possibilities and then inspiring confidence for the choice taken. This view is very high on legitimacy and low on rationality and innovation. Strategy as discourse sees strategy development in terms of language as a "resource" for managers by which strategy is communicated, explained and sustained and through which managers gain influence, power and establish their legitimacy as strategists.

Johnson and Scholes suggest that viewing strategy through only one of these lenses can mean that problems that the other lenses might show up are missed. For example, too much reliance on incremental changes (strategy as experience) might overlook radical new developments that could be essential for the organisation's success (strategy as ideas).

It is worth considering the very strong influence the design and experience lenses have in large organisations and government departments. Often, the larger the organisation, the less able it is to adopt early essential but radical changes.

References

Johnson Gerry / Scholes Kevan / Whittington Richard: Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th Edition, Pearson, 12/2007, S. 29 - 46