On the Origin of Great Strategies

Gavetti, Giovanni; Porac, Joe

doi:10.1287/stsc.2018.0054

Cited by 36 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our findings also suggest that CF training can help leaders to make cognitive leaps by overcoming dominant mental models (Vecchiato et al, ). Such leaps can also lead to the development of great strategies, which has become a new term to describe strategies that are new, unique, and transformative for an industry (Gavetti & Porac, ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate foresight as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities

Schwarz

Rohrbeck

Wach

2019

Futures & Foresight Science

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The dynamic capabilities perspective is aimed at explaining how firms achieve and sustain competitive advantages, especially in environments that become volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). In this paper, we combine factors that explain dynamic capabilities on the firm level with factors of dynamic managerial capabilities on the individual level. In addition to the dynamic capabilities theory, we draw on corporate foresight (CF) literature to test the impact of CF training. We find that both the organizational‐level practices and the individual‐level training of leaders are positively associated with firm‐level outcomes. We further observe that this relationship is mediated by dynamic managerial capabilities (i.e., the ability of leaders to challenge current business models, make decisions under uncertainty, and reconfigure organizational resources). Our findings emphasize the importance of training leaders and building organizational CF practices to build the dynamic capabilities needed in VUCA environments.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corporate foresight as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities

Schwarz

Rohrbeck

Wach

2019

Futures & Foresight Science

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“…The relationship between these dimensions is dynamic but is stabilized by a reinforcing feedback loop, whereby schemas define consistent patterns of resource use, and resource allocations validate schemas. Routines, technologies, and settled business models fit this pattern (Gavetti and Porac 2018). As Sewell (1992, p. 13) notes, "Sets of schemas and resources may properly be said to constitute structures only when they mutually imply and sustain each other over time."…”

Section: Interpretative-materials Structure and Constructive Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agentic choice, in our view, is also a choice about what aspects of the environment to take as "givens" and what aspects to reconstruct imaginatively through envisioning new possibilities. These individuated identities and action repertoires give rise to different approaches and, ultimately, different ways actors shape the environment-whether they take actions to stabilize, modify, or transform a given market order (Gavetti and Porac 2018). Temporal agency therefore can influence the transformative capacities of agents as well as the content of their transformative agendas.…”

Section: Individuated Agentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As noted at the outset, market spaces are typically defined as relatively fixed structures that stabilize interactions (e.g., Liu and Emirbayer 2016, Lee et al 2018, and Hannan et al 2019. Even when structural change is acknowledged, scholars implicitly or explicitly assume structures are sticky enough to assume as relatively fixed (e.g., Gavetti and Porac 2018). A fixed structure allows researchers to measure similarity between positions in the space and thus between agents in positions, which is especially important for empirical measurement and formal models (Hannan et al 2019).…”

Section: Market Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Shaping Markets Through Temporal, Constructive, and Interactive Agency

Pontikes

Rindova

2020

Strategy Science

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In this introductory essay, we develop a theoretical framework of agency as a basis for strategic shaping and market transformation. We conceive of agency as both constrained and enabled by structure, and we build on sociological views that treat market structures as pairings of cultural schemas and material resources that are mutually sustaining. Structures contain the seeds for change because contradictions and conflicts that are inherent to structure inspire agents to imagine a new order and provide pathways to enact them. We theorize three connected forms of agency. Constructive agency captures agents’ ability to differently apply schemas to mobilize resources and improve their strategic positions. Temporal agency underlies agents’ autonomy and individuation, and enables agents to envision new possibilities. Interactive agency captures the collective nature of agency, where interactions among heterogeneous actors provide opportunities for agents to persuade others of their changing conceptions and learn new schemas, expanding agents’ repertoires for shaping opportunities.

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“…A group of strategy scholars recently joined to explore the origins of great strategies—a question infused with theoretical and practical significance (Gavetti and Porac, 2018). While not claiming to capture the field’s diversity in its entirety, the set of papers compiled represents a wide range of perspectives on strategy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategy and dialectics: Rejuvenating a long-standing relationship

Farjoun

2018

Strategic Organization

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This essay broadens the conversation on the state of organizational contradictions and paradox research by turning to dialectics—a time-honored, living perspective on social processes and relations, which continues to influence our understanding of the past, present, and future. Dialectics distinctive relational process worldview sets it apart from approaches stressing equilibrium, linearity, and coherence, making it highly relevant to a world in flux. I propose that dialectics is already present in strategy research and in contemporary business, and can become even more central to strategy, addressing core questions in the field and propelling it in new directions. Strategy scholars can draw on dialectics principles as a generative tool kit to construct new theories and managerial tools. Dialectics can also be used as a theoretical lens to understand emerging empirical phenomena such as the rapid advent of artificial intelligence. Finally, dialectics critical stance and philosophical grounding makes it a particularly attractive perspective for challenging existing theoretical models and for considering alternatives.

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On the Origin of Great Strategies

Cited by 36 publications

References 29 publications

Corporate foresight as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities

Corporate foresight as a microfoundation of dynamic capabilities

Shaping Markets Through Temporal, Constructive, and Interactive Agency

Strategy and dialectics: Rejuvenating a long-standing relationship

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