Shaping Corporate Performance

Strategy as Synthesis - with its central proposition that strategy is a synthesis of market, firm, leadership and ethical influences that individually and collectively generate performance - is a new way of conceptualizing strategy. It recasts contemporary theories of strategy as parts of a whole, each one contributing to the content of strategy and the process through which it is formed. It argues that focusing on the linkages and complementarities among different strategy theories offers insight into how and why strategies form, and how effective they will be.The book proposes coherence as a new test for the effectiveness of strategy and, through a detailed, in-depth empirical investigation, shows how coherence is a critical factor in explaining corporate performance. Based on an indepth study of strategy formation in a multi-national company in the aerospace sector over a period of 15 years, Strategy as Synthesis examines the interplay among a range of elements, the case study draws upon several major theoretical perspectives to reach a holistic understanding of strategy formation.
It incorporates theories that are well-accepted and widely-used in the practice of strategic management, and adds a new element to the practitioner's strategic management toolkit - a theory of the integrative process.This theory helps practitioners direct their strategic management practices to achieving superior, sustainable performance. At the same time the book provides a framework for teaching strategy to a variety of students - undergraduates, MBAs, graduate students and executives. It not only covers and explores the major approaches to strategy and strategic management, but also incorporates issues of growing importance in corporate life - the role of stakeholders, sustainability, and social responsibility. Strategy as Synthesis addresses issues of significant contemporary interest to both scholars and practitioners. In doing so, it has the potential to inform and advance research in strategy and corporate social responsibility, as well as the teaching and practice of strategic management.