Spring 1999, Vol. 40, No. 3

 

When MIT's Industrial Management Review was established in 1959 as a student-edited publication, its stated goals were to promote understanding of scientific management, to analyze methods of management education, and to facilitate communication among students, faculty, and alumni. Over the years, what is now Sloan Management Review became a peer-reviewed, professionally edited and managed journal with broader goals and an international audience of practitioners and academics. SMR's purpose is to provide senior managers with the best current theory and practice.

With "In Search of Strategy," we celebrate SMR's fortieth anniversary with a publication that is unusual for us. All the articles have a single focus, strategy. We have a guest editor, Constantinos Markides of London Business School. Almost two years ago, when Markides approached us with a proposal to gather this impressive array of authors into one issue, we admit we were skeptical. Indefatiguably, he persevered, encouraged authors, read submissions, helped find peer reviewers, and suggested extensive revisions. We are extremely grateful for his vision and hard work.

Although all the articles in this issue have one focus, they show the many facets of current strategic thinking. The first three take broad, philosophical views of strategy and management in general. Sumantra Ghoshal, Christopher Bartlett, and Peter Moran advocate a new role for managers — they should build organizations, rather than tear them down, create value rather than expropriate value. Henry Mintzberg and Joseph Lampel review the evolving field of strategy and suggest that managers should give more attention to strategy formation as a whole, rather than being diverted by narrow perspectives. C.K. Prahalad and Jan P. Oosterveld propose a radical restructuring of an organization's wealth-creating processes; they suggest ways managers can deal with the current gap between knowing the problem and knowing the solution.

The next four articles take an active approach to developing strategy. Rather than constantly eyeing the competition, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne suggest that companies should focus specifically on value innovation. Constantinos Markides points out the ongoing need for companies to choose distinctive strategic positions. The ability to make fast, widely supported, high-quality decisions leads to effective strategies; Kathleen Eisenhardt's research documents the relationship between strategic decision making and superior performance. Derek Abell recommends that companies creatively develop present and future agendas simultaneously.

In further developing ways to manage today's business and prepare for the future, Richard Pascale discusses complexity theory and relates it to experiences at Royal Dutch/Shell. Eric Beinhocker furthers the discussion by proposing that managers develop a portfolio of diverse strategies that increase the odds of survival in an unpredictable business world. Paul Geroski presents methods for spotting potential competitors and new market entrants and either preempting them or following them into the market as a second mover. Peter Williamson points out that strategic planning is frequently based on inaccurate projections; he advocates establishing a portfolio of future options to accommodate those inaccuracies.

Richard D'Aveni and Jay Barney view strategy from additional angles. D'Aveni suggests that managers can develop better strategies by understanding the patterns of turbulence in their business environment. And Barney proposes using transactions cost economics and a capability perspective to determine which activities a company should undertake.

As you'll see, while the theme of this issue is strategy, there are as many viewpoints as there are authors. We hope these varying views stimulate your thinking and aid you in your search for strategy.

— Jane Gebhart

 

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