Strategic Management Topics

The strategic schools for review are the design school and the power school. These schools are important for developing strategy and developing support through out the organization.

The Design School

According to Mintzberg, "the design school proposes a model of strategy that seeks to attain a match or a fit, between internal capabilities and external capabilities (p.24)". The design model has internal and external elements that are used to develop the corporate strategy.

The external elements include: Threats and opportunities in environment, key success factors, creation of strategy, Social responsibility, evaluation and choice of strategy and the implementation of the strategy (Mintzberg, p.26). The internal elements include the strengths and weaknesses of organization, distinctive competencies, managerial values (Mintzberg p. 26). The external and internal elements provide the elements of the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats (SWOT). If the organization follows this process the decision making will be clearer and more basic

The Power School

The power school can be view in many different aspects. There is the micro and macro view. Micro Power is the play of politics which can be viewed as illegitimate and alegitimate politics inside the organization (Mintzberg p. 235) Macro-power is the organization acts out of the organizations best interest in conflict or cooperation, with other organizations (Mintzberg p.235)

The power school can be conceptualized as a political process. This process consists of coalitions, differences, scarce resources, conflict and bargaining (this includes jockeying for position and negotiation) among stakeholders (Mintzberg p. 239). The best example of the power school is the TV show "Survivor". The contestants are supposed to outwit, outplay, and outlast. The show embodies the use of power to forward the contestants position. An organization can be driven on politics.

The design school and the power school allow the development of the strategy. The design school uses external and internal appraisals and SWOT analysis. The power school uses micro-power and macro-power views for politics to resolve the design process.

References

Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., & Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic Management. New York, NY: Free Press.