Strategy and Organization

Abstract

s STRATEGY AND ORGANIZATIONOutsourcing, Off-shoring and the Internet: Their impact on StrategyThis Manager Update will explore recent writings on strategies for networks and communities. In recent years, we have seen the dissagregation of the value creating process in many industries. Many companies, under pressure to compete and survive in increasingly contested markets, have focused on core business operations and outsourced other activities. The application of digital technology and the globalisation of markets has accelerated this process, and many companies now routinely off-shore manufacturing and service activities which are linked seamlessly through to satisfy end-consumer needs, wherever they may be.Strategy in this networked environment is, clearly, likely to be more complex. It requires a deeper understanding of how markets and communities evolve and what the roles and interests of the respective players in each industry are. Implementing strategies which create incentives for partner organizations to collaborate and comply is, therefore, a key task.

Fractals of strategic coherence in a successful nonprofit organization

“…There, as elsewhere, one of the most common ways of conveying the contextual meaning of words is through stories, illustrations, and examples (Boyce, 1995;Barry and Elmes, 1997;Bradshaw, 2002). People use stories to accomplish a purpose and enact an account of themselves and their community (Boje, 1995 There is a school of thought in the area of strategic management that depicts strategy as a form of storytelling (Barry and Elmes, 1997;Turner, 1998;Forster and others, 1999) and stories as a new way to understand strategy (Randels, 1998). Storytelling highlights the discursive, social nature of strategy, linking it to cultural and historical contexts (Smircich and Stubbert, 1985).…”