concept-driven strategy is a process for formulating strategy that draws on the explanation of how humans inquire provided by linguistic pragmatic philosophy. This argues that thinking starts by selecting (explicitly or implicitly) a set of concepts (frames, patterns, lens, principles, etc.) gained from our past experiences. These are used to reflect on whatever happens, or is done, in the future.[1]
Concept-driven strategy therefore starts from agreeing and enacting a set of strategic concepts (organizing principles) that "works best" for an organization. For example, a hospital might set its strategy as intending to be Caring, World Class, Local, Evidence Based, and Team Based. A University might set its strategy as intending to be Ranked, Problem Solving, Online, Equis, and Offering Pathways. A commercial corporation might set its strategy as intending to be Innovative, Global, Have Visible Supply Chains, Agile and Market Share Dominant. These strategic concepts make up its statement of intent (or purpose).
Background
Much of the strategic management literature mutates Peter Drucker's call for corporations to start the strategic management process by producing a statement of purpose, mission and objectives. This has been mutated into a call to start with a vision, mission and objectives statement. There is an alternative approach which focuses on the statement of purpose or intent. Drucker's example for this statement for a commercial corporation was to state that the corporation's purpose was to create customers. That is, it was going to use the concept of 'customer creation' to coordinate and organise the cognition or mindset of those that worked for the organisation. This was why the corporation existed. Having one concept is now thought to be insufficient[citation needed]. George Armitage Miller's modified The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two and dialectic suggests a handful of concepts under tension would be preferable[original research?].
The statement of purpose, statement of intent or concept-driven approach to strategy formulation therefore focuses on setting and enacting a set strategic concepts. If a participatory approach is being used these concepts will be acquired through a process of collaboration with stakeholders. Once agreed the strategic concepts can be used to coordinate activities and act as a set of decision making criteria. The set of concepts that make up the Statement of Intent is then used to make sense of an unpredictable future across an organisation in a co-ordinated manner.[2][3]
Underlying philosophy
Linguistic pragmatism argues that our prior conceptions interpret our perception (sensory inputs). These conceptions are represented by concepts like running, smiling, justice, reasoning and agility. They are patterns of activity, experienced in our past and remembered. They can be named by those with language and so shared.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Bagginni explains pragmatic concepts using the classic example of whether the earth is flat or round.[10]
"...if we treat the world as if these concepts do exist then we find we can manipulate the world and make things work much better. The point about this is that you cannot just choose any concept. What is useful is not just on our whim to choose. [A concept is] a better concept for looking at the world because it works much better than others. You don't have to worry, as some British philosophers have thought that if you go down the pragmatic route that you might believe the world is flat because [that fits best with our sensory input]. Ultimately it isn't useful to believe that the world is flat. All sorts of things won't work if you construct your view in that way. These concepts are tools for helping us manipulate the world and some work better than others."
—Julian Baggini, (aired 2005) Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine.
Another example would be that we can think of the war in Iraq differently by reflecting off the concepts of oil security, Imperialism
This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance.(October 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )
A concept-driven strategy is a process for formulating strategy that draws on the explanation of how humans inquire provided by linguistic pragmatic philosophy. This argues that thinking starts by selecting (explicitly or implicitly) a set of concepts (frames, patterns, lens, principles, etc.) gained from our past experiences. These are used to reflect on whatever happens, or is done, in the future.[11]
Concept-driven strategy therefore starts from agreeing and enacting a set of strategic concepts (organizing principles) that "works best" for an organization. For example, a hospital might set its strategy as intending to be Caring, World Class, Local, Evidence Based, and Team Based. A University might set its strategy as intending to be Ranked, Problem Solving, Online, Equis, and Offering Pathways. A commercial corporation might set its strategy as intending to be Innovative, Global, Have Visible Supply Chains, Agile and Market Share Dominant. These strategic concepts make up its statement of intent (or purpose).
Background
Much of the strategic management literature mutates Peter Drucker's call for corporations to start the strategic management process by producing a statement of purpose, mission and objectives. This has been mutated into a call to start with a vision, mission and objectives statement. There is an alternative approach which focuses on the statement of purpose or intent. Drucker's example for this statement for a commercial corporation was to state that the corporation's purpose was to create customers. That is, it was going to use the concept of 'customer creation' to coordinate and organise the cognition or mindset of those that worked for the organisation. This was why the corporation existed. Having one concept is now thought to be insufficient[citation needed]. George Armitage Miller's modified The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two and dialectic suggests a handful of concepts under tension would be preferable[original research?].
The statement of purpose, statement of intent or concept-driven approach to strategy formulation therefore focuses on setting and enacting a set strategic concepts. If a participatory approach is being used these concepts will be acquired through a process of collaboration with stakeholders. Once agreed the strategic concepts can be used to coordinate activities and act as a set of decision making criteria. The set of concepts that make up the Statement of Intent is then used to make sense of an unpredictable future across an organisation in a co-ordinated manner.[12][13]
Underlying philosophy
Linguistic pragmatism argues that our prior conceptions interpret our perception (sensory inputs). These conceptions are represented by concepts like running, smiling, justice, reasoning and agility. They are patterns of activity, experienced in our past and remembered. They can be named by those with language and so shared.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
Bagginni explains pragmatic concepts using the classic example of whether the earth is flat or round.[20]
"...if we treat the world as if these concepts do exist then we find we can manipulate the world and make things work much better. The point about this is that you cannot just choose any concept. What is useful is not just on our whim to choose. [A concept is] a better concept for looking at the world because it works much better than others. You don't have to worry, as some British philosophers have thought that if you go down the pragmatic route that you might believe the world is flat because [that fits best with our sensory input]. Ultimately it isn't useful to believe that the world is flat. All sorts of things won't work if you construct your view in that way. These concepts are tools for helping us manipulate the world and some work better than others."
—Julian Baggini, (aired 2005) Editor of The Philosophers' Magazine.
Another example would be that we can think of the war in Iraq differently by reflecting off the concepts of oil security, Imperialism, aggressive capitalism, liberation or democracy. The concept-driven approach to strategy formulation involves setting and using a set of linguistic pragmatic concepts.[21]
Method
The steps to formulating a participatory concept-driven strategy are:
Select who the strategy is for exactly, and what exactly is their problem.
Reflect on significant events in the past that have impacted on the organisation (past experience matters)
Identify all stakeholders including suppliers, competitors, staff, alliances, government, environmentalist, industry experts, etc.
Ask them what concerns they have for the future relevant to your organisation. Use their experiences and expertise from being involved in the industry.
Use idea networking to cluster these stakeholder concern statements into about five clusters
Name these clusters as strategic concepts (priorities, organizing principles). For example, one cluster of statements might be about innovation, another about becoming more international.
Reflect on the possible paradoxical consequences of enacting these strategic concepts
Draft a one-page 'Statement of Intent' which says the organisation intends to become more like the five or so strategic concepts.
Draft implementation action plans for each strategic concept. These should be both organisational change actions and investment projects, with goals and milestones.
Communicate the 'Statement of Intent' and 'Action Plans' to stakeholders as appropriate.
Get senior staffs' comments, performance measures, selection criteria and decision criteria to reflect the 'Statement of Intent'.
In the longer term, reflect on the strategic concepts in the Statement of Intent.[22]
Other terminology
Concept-driven strategy is the name given to a number of similar strategic thinking approaches.
Generally, the term 'concept-driven' is used to encourage a focus on the 'concepts' being used.[23][24] See Concept learning or Management Concepts.[25]
Some organisations produce a 'statement of intent' with little thought as to the concepts it contains.[26][27][28] However, if it is a short list of concepts, high level objectives, principles, priorities or frames, then concept-driven strategy offers a philosophical basis for these statements.
Some organisations produce a 'strategic principles'[29][30] statement which again is similar to a statement of intent and the same applies about the concepts approach offering a philosophical basis. The term 'strategic priorities' or 'strategic values' are often used in the same way as strategic principles.
The literature about 'corporate purpose'[31][32] is also similar to that of strategic intent. Sometimes, purpose refers to present actions and intent to future ones. If purpose is expressed as a set of concepts, then the concepts approach again provides some philosophical basis.
There is a connection between 'systems thinking'[33] and concept-driven strategy. The Churchman/Ackoff stream of systems thinking was interested in a developing generic system of concepts for thinking about problems. Rather than a generic set of concepts, the concept-driven approach uses whatever concepts stakeholders think work best for the future of their organisation.
There is a military planning approach called 'concept-led'.[34][35][36] The military-like leadership seems to have moved the concepts from being drivers to be leaders. There seems to be very little difference otherwise.
In turbulent environments, concepts are thought 'more flexible than objectives' (goals, targets) as they provide why certain actions are preferable. The purpose and intent literature likes to distinguish itself from the objectives literature by saying purpose and intent provide the reasons for (why change), the driver for change. Objectives are where you end up. In complex dynamic situations, there may be many acceptable end points, many of which cannot be anticipated by planners. Arguably the only objective is to survive. How is explained in the statement of intent.
Perhaps strangely, there is a connection between 'metaphor', metaphoric criticism, or conceptual metaphor and concept-driven strategy. Pragmatic concepts are not images but most concepts relate to metaphors. For example, to say an organisation is like a machine, with cogs, or like an adaptive organism, is to use the concepts of machine and organism to reflect on organisations. Much of what has been written about the usefulness of metaphors in planning applies to concepts.[37]
The term 'strategic frames' is not common given the extensive literature on frame analysis but frames and pragmatic concepts seem to be very similar. Amos Tversky defines a frame as a conception of outcomes.
The system of strategic concepts listed in a statement of intent, purpose, principles, frames or conceptual metaphor are organizing principle(s).[38]
Also, as Karl Weick explains sensemaking as the process of conceptualising problems, concept-driven strategy might be thought of as a pragmatic means of sensemaking a strategy. [39]
In common usage, evaluation is a systematic determination and assessment of a subject's merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program, design, project or any other intervention or initiative to assess any aim, realizable concept/proposal, or any alternative, to help in decision-making; or to generate the degree of achievement or value in regard to the aim and objectives and results of any such action that has been completed.
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to attain strategic goals.
In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the organization operates. Strategic management provides overall direction to an enterprise and involves specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve those objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans. Academics and practicing managers have developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision-making in the context of complex environments and competitive dynamics. Strategic management is not static in nature; the models can include a feedback loop to monitor execution and to inform the next round of planning.
Multimethodology or multimethod research includes the use of more than one method of data collection or research in a research study or set of related studies. Mixed methods research is more specific in that it includes the mixing of qualitative and quantitative data, methods, methodologies, and/or paradigms in a research study or set of related studies. One could argue that mixed methods research is a special case of multimethod research. Another applicable, but less often used label, for multi or mixed research is methodological pluralism. All of these approaches to professional and academic research emphasize that monomethod research can be improved through the use of multiple data sources, methods, research methodologies, perspectives, standpoints, and paradigms.
A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well-structured report used to keep track of the execution of activities by staff and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions.
In a corporation, a stakeholder is a member of "groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist", as defined in the first usage of the word in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research Institute. The theory was later developed and championed by R. Edward Freeman in the 1980s. Since then it has gained wide acceptance in business practice and in theorizing relating to strategic management, corporate governance, business purpose and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The definition of corporate responsibilities through a classification of stakeholders to consider has been criticized as creating a false dichotomy between the "shareholder model" and the "stakeholder model", or a false analogy of the obligations towards shareholders and other interested parties.
The Natural Step is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in Sweden in 1989 by scientist Karl-Henrik Robèrt. The Natural Step is also used when referring to the partially open source framework it developed. Following publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987, Robèrt developed The Natural Step framework, setting out the system conditions for the sustainability of human activities on Earth; Robèrt's four system conditions are derived from a scientific understanding of universal laws and the aspects of our socio-ecological system, including the laws of gravity, the laws of thermodynamics and a multitude of social studies.
Neopragmatism is a variant of pragmatism that infers that the meaning of words is a result of how they are used, rather than the objects they represent.
Public value describes the value that an organization or activity contributes to society. The term was originally coined by Harvard professor Mark H. Moore who saw it as the equivalent of shareholder value in public management. Public value is supposed to provide managers with a notion of how entrepreneurial activity can contribute to the common good. Nowadays, public value is no longer limited to the public sector, but is used by all types of organization, including non-governmental organizations and private sector firms. Therefore, the public value researcher Timo Meynhardt from the University of St. Gallen and HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management uses the term to generally raise the question about organizations' contribution to the common good. He believes that current management concepts, such as shareholder value, stakeholder value, customer value, sustainability or corporate social responsibility, should legitimize themselves in regard to their impact on the common good. In his (social-)psychological-based concept, public value emerges for individuals from the experiences made in social structures and relationships. Hence, it can be seen as a prerequisite and a resource for successful living.
Strategic communication can mean either communicating a concept, a process, or data that satisfies a long-term strategic goal of an organization by allowing the facilitation of advanced planning or communicating over long distances, usually using international telecommunications or dedicated global network assets to coordinate actions and activities of operationally significant commercial, non-commercial, and military business or combat and logistic subunits. It can also mean the related function within an organization, which handles internal and external communication processes. Strategic communication can also be used for political warfare.
The information audit (IA) extends the concept of auditing from a traditional scope of accounting and finance to the organisational information management system. Information is representative of a resource which requires effective management and this led to the development of interest in the use of an IA.
A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation. It may include a short statement of such fundamental matters as the organization's values or philosophies, a business's main competitive advantages, or a desired future state—the "vision". Historically it is associated with Christian religious groups; indeed, for many years, a missionary was assumed to be a person on a specifically religious mission. The word "mission" dates from 1598, originally of Jesuits sending members abroad.
In business performance management, a third-generation balanced scorecard is a version of the traditional balanced scorecard, a structured report, supported by design methods and automated tools, that can be used by managers to keep track of the execution of activities by the staff within their control, and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions.
Sustainability accounting originated in the 1970s and is considered a subcategory of financial accounting that focuses on the disclosure of non-financial information about a firm's performance to external stakeholders, such as capital holders, creditors, and other authorities. Sustainability accounting represents the activities that have a direct impact on society, environment, and economic performance of an organisation. Sustainability accounting in managerial accounting contrasts with financial accounting in that managerial accounting is used for internal decision making and the creation of new policies that will have an effect on the organisation's performance at economic, ecological, and social level. Sustainability accounting is often used to generate value creation within an organisation.
Stakeholder management is a critical component in the successful delivery of any project, programme or activity. A stakeholder is any individual, group or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a programme.
The philosophy of accounting is the conceptual framework for the professional preparation and auditing of financial statements and accounts. The issues which arise include the difficulty of establishing a true and fair value of an enterprise and its assets; the moral basis of disclosure and discretion; the standards and laws required to satisfy the political needs of investors, employees and other stakeholders.
ISO 31000 is a family of international standards relating to risk management codified by the International Organization for Standardization. The standard is intended to provide a consistent vocabulary and methodology for assessing and managing risk, resolving the historic ambiguities and differences in the ways risk are described.
Traditionally, market orientation (MO) focuses on microenvironment and the functional management of an organisation. However, contemporary organisations have widened their focus to incorporate more roles, functions and emphasis on the macro environment. Firms have been concerned with short run success and often not taken into account the long-run ecological, social and economic effects from their activities. Despite growth in the MO concept, there is still a need to reconceptualise the concept with a greater emphasis on external factors that influence a firm.
Management accounting principles (MAP) were developed to serve the core needs of internal management to improve decision support objectives, internal business processes, resource application, customer value, and capacity utilization needed to achieve corporate goals in an optimal manner. Another term often used for management accounting principles for these purposes is managerial costing principles. The two management accounting principles are:
Principle of Causality and,
Principle of Analogy.
Idea networking is a qualitative method of doing a cluster analysis of any collection of statements, developed by Mike Metcalfe at the University of South Australia. Networking lists of statements acts to reduce them into a handful of clusters or categories. The statements might be source from interviews, text, websites, focus groups, SWOT analysis or community consultation. Idea networking is inductive as it does not assume any prior classification system to cluster the statements. Rather keywords or issues in the statements are individually linked (paired). These links can then be entered into network software to be displayed as a network with clusters. When named, these clusters provide emergent categories, meta themes, frames or concepts which represent, structure or sense-make the collection of statements.
References
↑ James, W. 1911/1996. Some Problems of Philosophy. University of Nebraska Press Nebraska.
↑ Metcalfe M. A Pragmatic System of Decision Criteria Systems Research and Behavioral Science 2012 doi:10.1002/sres.2122
↑ McKenna Allen, Metcalfe Mike (2013). "The linguistic turn in project conceptualization". International Journal of Project Management. 31 (8): 1154–1162. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2012.12.006.
↑ Rorty, R. 1982. Consequences of Pragmatism. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
↑ Schon, D.A. 1963. Displacement of Concepts. Tavistock Publications, London.
↑ Shields, P. 2005. Classical Pragmatism does not need an Upgrade. Administration & Society 37(4) 504-518
↑ Brandom, R., B,. 2011. Perspectives On Pragmatism. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
↑ Haack, S. 2006. Pragmatism: Old and New. Prometheus Books, New York.
↑ Toulmin, S. 1972. Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts. Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey.
↑ Baggini, J. 2005. Pragmatism History Of Ideas. BBC Radio 4, London.
↑ James, W. 1911/1996. Some Problems of Philosophy. University of Nebraska Press Nebraska.
↑ Metcalfe M. A Pragmatic System of Decision Criteria Systems Research and Behavioral Science 2012 doi:10.1002/sres.2122
↑ McKenna Allen, Metcalfe Mike (2013). "The linguistic turn in project conceptualization". International Journal of Project Management. 31 (8): 1154–1162. doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2012.12.006.
↑ Rorty, R. 1982. Consequences of Pragmatism. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
↑ Schon, D.A. 1963. Displacement of Concepts. Tavistock Publications, London.
↑ Shields, P. 2005. Classical Pragmatism does not need an Upgrade. Administration & Society 37(4) 504-518
↑ Brandom, R., B,. 2011. Perspectives On Pragmatism. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
↑ Haack, S. 2006. Pragmatism: Old and New. Prometheus Books, New York.
↑ Toulmin, S. 1972. Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts. Princeton University Press, Princeton New Jersey.
↑ Baggini, J. 2005. Pragmatism History Of Ideas. BBC Radio 4, London.
↑ Metcalfe M Pragmatic inquiry Journal of the Operational Research Society (2008) 59
↑ Katada, T. 1994. Strategic Intent to Corporate Purpose: The Remaking of Komatsu. Harvard Business Review 72(6) 83-.
↑ Saku M., Sillance J.A.A. (2007). "Strategic Intent as a Rhetorical Device". Scandinavian Journal of Management. 23 (4): 406–423. doi:10.1016/j.scaman.2007.03.002.
↑ Schon, D.A. 1963. Displacement of Concepts. Tavistock Publications, London.
↑ Vnuk-Balan, E. 2010. Concept Driven Strategy, American Academy of Management Conference, Toronto.
↑ Weick, Karl E. (2010). Sensemaking in organizations. Foundations for organizational science (Nachdr.ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publ. ISBN978-0-8039-7177-6.
Further reading
Ackoff, R.L. 1970. A concept of corporate planning Wiley., New York:.
Carter, P.D. 2002. Building Purposeful Action: Action Methods and Action Research. Educational Action Research 10(2) 207-232.
Gustavsen, B., B. Hofmaier, M. Ekman Philips, A. Wikman. 1996. A Concept-Driven Development and the Organization of the Process of Change. John Benjamins, Amsterdam.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
