This section discusses strategy process and practice research. It makes the case for researching individual strategists located below the upper echelons. Importantly fo this esea h, Fi kelstei et al : suggest that [t]he eed to fo us o business unit managers is great…it is at their level that many strategic initiatives are formulated and executed...However, such research has recently been sparse, p o a l due to the diffi ult of o tai i g data. Only a few studies have
investigated the activities of actors below the CEO (Paroutis and Pettigrew, 2007; Angwin et al, 2009) who are important practitioners (Whittington, 2006;
Whittington, 2007) involved in making and executing strategy.
The strategy-as-practice lens is applied in this thesis as the approach sees strategy as a so iall a o plished, situated a ti it a isi g f o the a tio s a d
87 i te a tio s of ultiple le el a to s Ja za ko ski, : . F o this
pe spe ti e, st ateg is so ethi g o ga isatio al a to s do Joh so et al, 03; Jarzabkowski et al, 2007) athe tha a stati pla gathe i g dust i a CEO s offi e. This dynamic approach allows for research on the four Ps of praxis, practices, practitioners, and the profession of strategists (Whittington, 2007: 1578). Whittington ites that [p] a ti es efe to the outi es a d o s of st ateg work. These practices are both stand-alone – such as forming strategy project teams or doing strategy away-days – o i pli it i the a ious tools of st ateg (ibid: 1579).
Strategy-as-practice is not an entirely new phenomenon but links with research on strategy processes. Vaara and Whittington (2012: 320) suggest that “AP a d Strategy Process remain part of the same family and there are strong grounds for developing a shared agenda. The practice approach has evolved from process research. Table 2 highlights several distinct differences between the two perspectives.
88 Table 2: Differences between strategy process and practice research
Strategy Process Research Strategy-as-Practice Research
1. This is o e ed ith u de sta di g ho organizational strategies are formulated and implemented and the processes of strategic
ha ge Va de Ve , :
the a s i hi h a to s a e enabled by organizational and wider social practices in thei de isio s a d a tio s Vaara and Whittington, 2012: 286)
2. Corporate level focus Focus on what individuals actually do, habits 3. Systems focus Behaviours of managers and others involved
in strategy
4. Often depersonalised Close-up, fine-grained, greater intimacy, and level of detail (e.g. Hendry and Seidl, 2003; Samra-Fredericks, 2003), it digs into processes (Brown and Duguid, 2001) 5. Concerned with structures Social interactions, learning, relationships 6. Concerned with operational levels Situated, temporal, interested in routines,
recursivity (Jarzabkowski, 2004) 7. Atte tio to hat Balogun et al (2003: 199): st ategizi g
research looks for know how, know when and know where
8. Research methods tend to be based on organisational case studies, interviews, much of the work is by scholars in the USA
Ethnographic studies, orientation to qualitative research, European scholars in particular have conducted these studies 9. Economic underpinning Sociological underpinning
10. Examples in mainly private firms: Bower (1982); Mintzberg and Waters (1982); Burgelman (1983a, 1983b); Pettigrew (1985)
Examples of studies on not-for-profit organisations: Maitlis and Lawrence (2003); Jarzabkowski (2008); Spee and Jarzabkowski (2011)
The more sociological and person-oriented stance taken in this thesis on micro- strategizing practices from a SAP perspective acknowledges meso and macro level contingencies such as structural, systemic, and processual influences on the middle management function.
. Middle managers’ practices
Table 3 lists articles on middle managers and their strategic activities.
Sensemaking (Balogun, 2003; Wooldridge et al, 2008; Rouleau and Balogun, 2011), championing (Rouleau, 2005; Ren and Guo, 2011), and communicating
89 (Carney, 2004) have attracted particular attention. Recent work has examined
iddle a age s knowledge brokering functions (Shi et al, 2009; Burgess and Currie, 2013).
Table 3: Articles o iddle a age s st ategi oles
(1) Balogun (2003: 80)
ibid: 81
The la k of app e iation of the true nature of middle-manager roles constrains the e te t to hi h the a e a le to pe fo ade uatel ithi these oles. Key roles of middle managers: dealing with personal change, helping others through change, implementing change. Balogun focuses on sensemaking and implementation.
If ou o ga izatio s eall do o tai iddle a age s o ki g lo g hou s ith little perceived work/life balance or job security, mobilizing the middle may still p o e diffi ult.
(2) Carney (2004) Flatter organisational structures enha e iddle a age s o u i atio s a d engagement with strategy.
(3) Rouleau (2005)
Sensemaking, interpreting, issue selling. Four strategic change micropractices: translating the orientation, overcoding the strategy, disciplining the client, justifying the change. These efle t Flo d a d Woold idge s , , s thesizi g and championing roles.
(4) Wooldridge et al (2008: 977)
What sepa ates a effe ti e st ategi pla e f o a less effe ti e st ategi pla e is their ability to relate and engage in a way meaningful to those they seek to
i flue e a d lead. (5) Shi et al
(2009)
Middle a age s fi e oke age oles li ked to Flo d a d Woold idge s fou strategic roles.
(6) Rouleau and Balogun (2011)
Middle a age s se se aki g a d talk i the t o oles of performing the o e satio a d setti g the s e e.
(7) Ren and Guo (2011)
This pape splits the ha pio i g ole i to t o fo iddle a age s i ol e e t i corporate entrepreneurship: (i) noticing opportunities and (ii) issue selling upwards. Organisational attention structures are important contingencies.
This stream of literature indicates a preoccupation with middle managers as strategic interpreters, communicators, and issue sellers. It also reiterates the i po ta e of opti isi g iddle a age s alue ithi app op iate st u tu es to enable strategic conversations and interactions. Balancing roles and enhancing the
90 legitimacy of middle managers and their strategic business units are key themes that are relevant to this thesis.