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The creation of momentum for change through the process of strategic issue diagnosis
Author(s) -
Dutton Jane E.,
Duncan Robert B.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.4250080306
Subject(s) - process (computing) , process management , strategic planning , organizational change , momentum (technical analysis) , business , management science , knowledge management , computer science , marketing , political science , public relations , economics , finance , operating system
This paper presents a model of how decision‐makers interpret stategic issues. The model of strategic issue diagnosis identifies three critical events: activation, assessments of urgency and assessments of feasibility. The relationship of each of these interpretive assessments to the creation of momentum for change allows one to predict if and how organizations will respond to a changed decision environment. The paper further links strategic issue diagnosis to organizational responses by highlighting the systematic effect of two contextual variables—the organization's belief structure and its resources—upon the assessments in diagnosis. In this way, the model of issue diagnosis provides a framework for understanding how and why organizations respond differently to strategic issues.