Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics

by Stacey, Ralph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780273708117
• ISBN10: 0273708112
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

'I would very much like to use the book in my classes. The issues are spot on and reflect a refreshing and relevant new perspective on strategy and organisations.' Carl Broslash;nn, The Norwegian University of Life Sciences 'Stacey's defining strength is his critical approach which challenges students to make sense of contested knowledge. His passionate interest in the subject is reflected in the dynamic and exciting development of the text and communicated through a remarkably clear writing style.' Steve Hills, Sheffield Hallam University Renowned for its unconventional thinking, Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics continues to be a refreshing alternative for students and lecturers of strategic management specifically looking for 'something different'. Stacey challenges the conceptual orthodoxy of planned strategy, focusing instead on the influence of more complex and unstable forces in the development of strategy. Ideal for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate study, this critically detailed account deals with up-to-the minute issues, raising the challenge of complexity within practice and theory. As such it remains unique amongst strategic management text books. In this fifth edition, Stacey also covers contemporary issues including: bull; bull;The links between micro and macro-level activities in the organisation bull;Focus on the gathering interest in 'strategy-as-practice' bull;The treatment of ethics and values in strategic management bull;A reflective series of management narratives indicating how strategic thinking processes affect behaviour. Ralph Stacey is Professor of Management at the Business School, University of Hertfordshire. He is the director of the Complexity and Management Centre at the University of Hertfordshire and author of a number of books and papers on complexity and organisations.

Author Biography

Ralph Stacey is Professor of Management at the Business School, University of Hertfordshire.

Table of Contents

List of boxes

List of figures

Preface

Thinking about strategy and organisational change

Introduction

The phenomena of interest

Making sense of the phenomena

Key features in comparing theories of organisational evolution

Outline of the book

Systemic ways of thinking about strategy and organisational dynamics

The origins of systems thinking

Introduction

The Scientific Revolution

Kant: natural systems and autonomous individuals

Systems thinking in the twentieth century

Thinking about organisations and their management

How systems thinking deals with four key questions

Summary

Thinking in terms of strategic choice: cybernetic systems,cognitivist and humanistic psychology

Introduction

Cybernetic systems

Formulating and implementing long-term strategic plans

Cognitivist and humanistic psychology

Leadership and the role of groups

Key debates

How strategic choice theory deals with four key questions

Summary

Thinking in terms of organisational learning and knowledge creation: systems dynamics, cognitivist, humanistic and constructivist psychology

Introduction

Systems dynamics: nonlinearity and positive feedback

Personal mastery and mental models: cognitivist psychology

Building a shared vision and team learning: humanistic psychology

The impact of vested interests on organisational learning

Knowledge management: cognitivist and constructivist psychology

Communities of practice

Key debates

How learning organisation theory deals with four key questions

Summary

Thinking in terms of organisational psychodynamics: open systems and psychoanalytic perspectives

Introduction

Open systems theory

Psychoanalysis and unconscious processes

Open systems and unconscious processes

Leaders and groups

How open systems/psychoanalytic perspectives deal withfour key questions

Summary

Thinking about participation in systems: second-order systems and autopoiesis

Introduction

First- and second-order systems thinking

Interactive planning and soft systems thinking

Critical systems thinking

Autopoiesis

Summary

Thinking about strategy process

Introduction

Rational process and its critics: bounded rationality

Rational process and its critics: trial and error action

A contingency view of process

Institutions, routines, politics and cognitive frames

Process and time

Strategy process: a review

The activity-based view

The systemic way of thinking about process and practice

Summary

The challenge of complexity to ways of thinking

The complexity sciences

Introduction

Mathematical chaos theory

The theory of dissipative structures

Complex adaptive systems

Different interpretations of complexity

Summary

Systemic applications of complexity sciences toorganisations

Introduction

Modelling industries as complex systems

Understanding organisations as complex systems

How systemic applications of complexity sciences deal with four key questions

Summary

Complex responsive processes as a way of thinking about strategy and organisational dynamics

Responsive processes thinking

Introduction

Responsive processes thinking

Chaos, complexity and analogy

Time and responsive processes

The differences between systemic process and responsive processes thinking

Summary

The emergence of organisational strategy in local communicative interaction: complex responsive processes of conversation

Introduction

Human communication and the conversation of gestures: the social act

Ordinary conversation in organisations

The dynamics of conversation

Leaders and the activities of strategising

Summary

Reflective management narrative 1 Strategic development of a merger: formulating and implementing at the same time

The link between the local communicative inter

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