Open AccessCorporate Strategy and Corporate Strategists: Power, Identity, and Knowledge within the Firm
Author(s) -
Erica Schoenberger
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
environment and planning. a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1472-3409
pISSN - 0308-518X
DOI - 10.1068/a260435
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , power (physics) , identity (music) , corporate identity , business , public relations , competitive advantage , strategic management , corporate security , social identity theory , law and economics , corporate social responsibility , marketing , political science , sociology , social group , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , acoustics
In this paper it is argued that, to explain why whole groups of once-successful firms in a particular nation or region fail to react appropriately to new competitive conditions, we need to take a closer look at the people who devise and implement corporate strategies. That is to say, we need to analyze corporate strategists as social agents in a particular time and place, and try to understand what aspects of their social being might tend systematically to produce inappropriate corporate strategies. The argument centers on questions of power and identity and on how these shape knowledge and the ability to act. In this way an explanation of the origins and the power of the managerial commitments that shape strategic decisions is sought.