The Paradoxical Foundation of Strategic Management (Contributions to Management Science)

This book offers a systematic critique of the scientific discourse of strategic management. It uncovers scholars' unquestioned assumptions and shows that by upholding these assumptions reseachers obscure the paradoxical nature of strategic reasoning. To uncover the paradoxes of strategic management the author refers to the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. He exposes the paradoxes that inevitably occur when theorizing about corporate strategy along the dimensions strategy context, process, and content and shows how these paradoxes can enrich future thinking about strategic problems. The analysis is completed by a discussion of theoretical and practical implications which highlight the need to research strategy not as something an organization has, but as something an organization does. Such a 'practice perspective' gives reference to the paradoxical ground that strategic management rests on and enriches scholars' ability to reflect on practitioners' tasks while 'doing' strategy in organizations. "This book offers a critique of the scientific discourse of strategic management. It uncovers scholars' unquestioned assumptions and shows that by upholding these assumptions researchers obscure the paradoxical nature of strategic reasoning. To uncover the paradoxes of strategic management the author refers to the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. He exposes the paradoxes that inevitably occur when theorizing about corporate strategy along the dimensions strategy context, process, and content and shows how these paradoxes can enrich future thinking about strategic problems. The analysis is completed by a discussion of theoretical and practical implications which highlight the need to research strategy not as something an organization has, but as something an organization does. Such a 'practice perspective' gives reference to the paradoxical ground that strategic management rests on and enriches scholars' ability to reflect on practitioners' tasks while 'doing' strategy in organizations."--Jacket At last – a systematic critique of the scientific discourse of strategic management. This fantastic book uncovers scholars' unquestioned assumptions and shows that by upholding these assumptions researchers obscure the paradoxical nature of strategic reasoning. To uncover the paradoxes of strategic management the author refers to the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. He delves into the internal contradictions that inevitably occur when theorizing about corporate strategy along the dimensions strategy context, process, and content and shows how these paradoxes can enrich future thinking about strategic problems. Front Matter....Pages I-XIII Introduction to the Study....Pages 1-26 Strategic Management as a Field of Study....Pages 27-68 The Dominant Logics of Strategy Research....Pages 69-125 Deconstruction and the ‘(N)either/(N)or’....Pages 127-177 Strategic Realities — The Role of Paradox....Pages 179-191 The Deconstruction of Strategic Realities....Pages 193-269 ‘After Derrida’ — Strategy-as-Practice....Pages 271-287 Final Reflections — Retrospect and Prospect....Pages 289-305 Back Matter....Pages 307-345 Andreas Rasche. Rev. Version Of The Author's Dissertation (ph. D.)--european Business School. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [311]-345).