Strategies For Flexible Organisations

Any company has a lot of options to choose in the market. The fact of this provides freedom to the businesses; however this level of freedom involved a high grade of responsibility. Good or bad decisions conduct to the success or failure, this fact generates that decisions need to be taken carefully.

In this context is imperative for the managers to design strategies that provide the highest benefits to the companies that they lead. The good strategy provides an advantage against the rivals and good position toward others.

There are three schools of strategies that teach different ways how companies can design their strategies. The first is the planning school (Andrews, 1971 & Ansoff, 1965) who propose to find a balance between the organizational strategy and the environment in which it operates. Also this kind of strategy needs detailed and inflexible planning not appropriate in turbulent markets. The planning school uses “product life cycle” and different theories.

Moreover the planning school focused so much in the experience and since that perspective builds better ideas for the future. Another aspect that characterizes this school is that is very bureaucratic and rational in its process.

The positional school emphases on rational, analytical approach of making strategy. In the same way this school looks for a favorable market environment that creates a good organization and its products. The goals are measured from a good level of performance and decision making tools. Also this school focuses in competitive advantage.

Lastly the resource based school is a doctrine that is oriented to the internal environment instead of the market. Also add the core competence approach of Prahalad and Hamel, 1994. This school teaches that own distinctive resources, capabilities and competences are an advantage of an organization.

References:

Atkinson J 1984 Manpower Strategies For Flexible Organisations Personnel Management 16 28 3rd August pp. 28-31

Barney J 1991 Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage Journal Of Management 17,1,99-120

...