Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice

A systematic and comprehensive introduction to the different aspects of strategy as practice, capturing recent developments and providing suggestions for future research.

Damon Golsorkhi (Edited by), Linda Rouleau (Edited by), David Seidl (Edited by), Eero Vaara (Edited by)

9781107421493, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 June 2016

692 pages, 14 b/w illus. 25 tables
24.5 x 17 x 3.8 cm, 1.19 kg

'The second edition of the Handbook is a major step forward in surveying progress in this rapidly expanding field, addressing its diverse orientations, and anticipating future developments. For anyone seeking inspiration for the study of strategy as it is practiced, or searching for insights into their strategising practices, the Handbook provides an invaluable resource.' Hugh Willmott, Cass Business School, City University London, and Research Professor of Organization Studies, Cardiff Business School, Wales

Now in its second edition, this extended and thoroughly updated handbook introduces researchers and students to the growing range of theoretical and methodological perspectives being developed in the vibrant field of strategy as practice. With new authors and additional chapters, it shows how the strategy as practice approach in strategic management moves away from disembodied and asocial studies of firm assets, technologies and practices to explore and explain the contribution that strategizing makes to people working at all levels of an organization. It breaks down many of the traditional paradigmatic barriers in strategy to investigate who the strategists are, what they do, how they do it, and what the consequences or outcomes of their actions are. This essential work summarizes recent developments in the field while presenting a clear agenda for future research.

Preface to the second edition
Introduction: what is strategy as practice?
Part I. Ontological and Epistemological Questions: 1. Practice in research: phenomenon, perspective and philosophy
2. Epistemological alternatives for researching strategy as practice: building and dwelling worldviews
3. Making strategy: meta-theoretical insights from Heideggerian phenomenology
4. Constructivist paradigms: implications for strategy as practice research
5. Constructing contribution in strategy-as-practice research
6. The ongoing challenge of developing cumulative knowledge about strategy as practice
7. Practical relevance of practice-based research on strategy
Part II. Theoretical Resources: Social Theory: 8. Giddens, structuration theory and strategy as practice
9. An activity theory approach to strategy as practice
10. A Bourdieusian perspective on strategizing
11. An economies-of-worth perspective on strategy as practice: justification, valuation and critique in the practice of strategy
12. A Wittgensteinian perspective on strategizing
13. A Foucauldian perspective on strategic practice: strategy as the art of (un)folding
14. A narrative approach to strategy as practice: strategy-making from texts and narratives
15. Actor-network theory and strategy as practice
Part III. Theoretical Resources: Organization and Management Theories: 16. An institutional perspective on strategy as practice
17. Relating strategy as practice to the resource-based view, capabilities perspectives and the micro-foundations approach
18. Theory of routine dynamics and connections to strategy as practice
19. Identity work as a strategic practice
20. Sensemaking in strategy as practice: a phenomenon or a perspective?
21. The communicative constitution of strategy-making: exploring fleeting moments of strategy
22. Analytical frames for studying power in strategy as practice and beyond
23. A critical perspective on strategy as practice
Part IV. Methodological Resources: 24. Using ethnography in strategy-as-practice research
25. Researching strategists and their identity in practice: building 'close-with' relationships
26. Studying strategizing through biographical methods: narratives of practices and life trajectories of practitioners
27. Researching everyday practice: the ethnomethodological contribution
28. Critical discourse analysis as methodology in strategy-as-practice research
29. Studying strategy as practice through historical methods
30. Quantitative methods in strategy-as-practice research
Part V. Substantive Topic Areas: 31. Strategic planning as practice
32. Meetings and workshops as strategy practices
33. The role of materiality in the practice of strategy
34. Strategy-as-practice research on middle managers strategy work
35. Participation in strategy work
36. The role of emotions in strategizing
Index.

Subject Areas: Management & management techniques [KJM], Business strategy [KJC], Business & management [KJ]