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The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy

The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy _1'11'111"1,,01'...------------------ The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps For Strategy Henry Mintzberg uman nature insists on a definition for every concept. The field ofstrategic management cannot afford to rely on a single definition ofstrategy, indeed the word has long been used implicitly in different ways even if it has traditionally been defined formally in only one. Explicit recognition of multiple definitions can help practitioners and researchers alike to maneuver through this difficult field. Accordingly, this article presents five definitions of strat­ egy-as plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective-and considers some of their interrelationships. Strategy as Plan To almost anyone you care to ask, strategy is a plan-some sort of con­ sciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation. A kid has a "strategy" to get over a fence, a corporation has one to capture a market. By this definition, strategies have two essential characteristics: they are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously and purposefully. (They may, in addi­ tion, be stated explicitly, sometimes in formal documents known as "plans," although it need not be taken here as a necessary condition for ''strategy as http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png California Management Review SAGE

The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy

Mintzberg, Henry
California Management Review , Volume 30 (1): 14 – Oct 1, 1987
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References (42)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© 1987 The Regents of the University of California
ISSN
0008-1256
eISSN
2162-8564
DOI
10.2307/41165263
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

_1'11'111"1,,01'...------------------ The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps For Strategy Henry Mintzberg uman nature insists on a definition for every concept. The field ofstrategic management cannot afford to rely on a single definition ofstrategy, indeed the word has long been used implicitly in different ways even if it has traditionally been defined formally in only one. Explicit recognition of multiple definitions can help practitioners and researchers alike to maneuver through this difficult field. Accordingly, this article presents five definitions of strat­ egy-as plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective-and considers some of their interrelationships. Strategy as Plan To almost anyone you care to ask, strategy is a plan-some sort of con­ sciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation. A kid has a "strategy" to get over a fence, a corporation has one to capture a market. By this definition, strategies have two essential characteristics: they are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously and purposefully. (They may, in addi­ tion, be stated explicitly, sometimes in formal documents known as "plans," although it need not be taken here as a necessary condition for ''strategy as

Journal

California Management Review – SAGE

Published: Oct 1, 1987

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