The rivalry between “business policy” and “strategy analysis” that played out at Harvard Business School during the 1980s remains an unresolved debate in strategic management teaching. I argue that developing managers with the knowledge and insight needed to make sound strategic decisions and guide the development of their organizations is best served by strategy teaching that is rooted in theory. My argument is based upon my observations of how complex business situations are understood by the actors involved and the basis upon which they form their judgments. To the extent that complex strategic situations are perceived through a cognitive framework, then it is better such frameworks are derived from empirically validated theory than from folk wisdom, the gospel according to Warren Buffett, or an atheoretic classificatory system (such as SWOT analysis).
Why strategy teaching needs to be theory based
GRANT, ROBERT
2008
Abstract
The rivalry between “business policy” and “strategy analysis” that played out at Harvard Business School during the 1980s remains an unresolved debate in strategic management teaching. I argue that developing managers with the knowledge and insight needed to make sound strategic decisions and guide the development of their organizations is best served by strategy teaching that is rooted in theory. My argument is based upon my observations of how complex business situations are understood by the actors involved and the basis upon which they form their judgments. To the extent that complex strategic situations are perceived through a cognitive framework, then it is better such frameworks are derived from empirically validated theory than from folk wisdom, the gospel according to Warren Buffett, or an atheoretic classificatory system (such as SWOT analysis).
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