Essence of Strategy: Controversial Choices
17 Pages Posted: 10 May 2006
Date Written: April 2006
Abstract
The essence of strategy is to make controversial choices; this is the only way to gain a competitive advantage. Both strategy development and execution require making difficult choices and trade-offs often in the context of much uncertainty. Smart managers are bound to have opposing views given the nature of strategic decisions. This paper presents a process for strategy development that can help managers surface this conflict, and then manage and resolve the conflict, thus resulting in more effective strategic choices.
Keywords: Strategy, competitive advantage, strategic planning process, choices, trade-offs, managing conflict, strategic analysis
JEL Classification: M10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation