The design school: Reconsidering the basic premises of strategic
management
Strat. Mgmt. J., 11 (3):
171--195 (1990)DOI: 10.1002/smj.4250110302
Abstract
Among the schools of thought on strategy formation, one in particular
underlies almost all prescription in the field. Referred to as the
`design school', it proposes a simple model that views the process
as one of design to achieve an essential fit between external threat
and opportunity and internal distinctive competence. A number of
premises underlie this model: that the process should be one of consciously
controlled thought, specifically by the chief executive; that the
model must be kept simple and informal; that the strategies produced
should be unique, explicit, and simple; and that these strategies
should appear fully formulated before they are implemented. This
paper discusses and then critiques this model, focusing in particular
on the problems of the conscious assessment of strengths and weaknesses,
of the need to make strategies explicit, and of the separation between
formulation and implementation. In so doing, it calls into question
some of the most deep-seated beliefs in the field of strategic management,
including its favorite method of pedagogy.