Open AccessStrategy as a Learning Process: An Empirical Study of its Determinants in a Company of It
Author(s) -
José Geraldo Pereira Barbosa,
Nelson Lopes Marques Filho,
Jorge Augusto de Sá Brito e Freitas,
Silvestre Prado de Souza Neto
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
revista ibero-americana de estratégia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2176-0756
DOI - 10.5585/ijsm.v11i3.1812
Subject(s) - process (computing) , identification (biology) , process management , intrapreneurship , strategic management , emphasis (telecommunications) , strategic planning , knowledge management , perspective (graphical) , control (management) , field (mathematics) , computer science , strategy implementation , empirical research , strategic fit , business , marketing , artificial intelligence , entrepreneurship , mathematics , telecommunications , botany , finance , pure mathematics , biology , operating system , statistics
The aim of this study was to verify in a Brazilian manufacturer of computers, if its process of formulating business strategies is understood primarily as a learning process. Interviews based on a script of questions, direct observation, archival research and content analysis were the instruments used in a field research with a qualitative approach. The first stage of the research was the identification of strategic actions recently implemented in the company. The subsequent stage verified from the analysis of the process of choosing seven strategic actions identified in the first stage, the intensity of the presence in the company of nine characteristics that, according the authors cited in the theoretical framework, are common to companies who understand the formulation strategies as a learning process. The survey results suggest that four features - intrapreneurship, strength of middle management, flexible organizational structure and unstable external environment - are strongly present in the company; two features - little emphasis on planning and control, and emergency of unplanned strategies - can be classified as average degree of presence, and three characteristics - emphasis on strategy as umbrella; emphasis on double-loop learning, and emphasis on strategy as perspective - proved to be present in low level. The research revealed that the most effective strategic actions of the company surveyed were not developed through clear, well ordered, controlled and explicit processes, but were shaped, in a relevant way, for a learning process focused on the past history of the company.