Strategy as a form of Problem Structuring

Chandler's (1964) strategy-structure debate has never been conceptually reconciled for the simple reason that research has failed to produce an adequate conceptualisation of the interplay between strategy and structure. An intrinsic feature of this distinction is the complementary distinction between strategy as content and as process. These issues are important as strategy is a concept which is much abused in the everyday use of the concept.  Moreover, as a practice, it is not effectual - despite intent, commitment and resources, strategies are not realised. The more recent shift from a 'resource based view' of strategy to a 'strategy as practice' might have drawn attention to the detail of specific mechanisms, but, nevertheless, still fails to reveal why strategy is still one of the most enigmatic topics of research into business practice. Indeed, despite over 50 years of academic research, strategy is still an enigma.

Recent research into the development of strategy is conceptually grounded in the work of Stafford Beer (Viable System Model), which permits the modelling of a distributed governance structure, allowing the interplay of policy and practice to be explained. It is processually conceptualised as problem structuring methodology, thereby providing a prescriptive approach to the development and implementation of the strategy. It draws empirically upon the Scottish tourism industry and the national tourism strategies.

This work has been published in a preliminary form in Harwood, 2011: Can a Cybernetics Lens Contribute to the Business Strategy Domain? Kybernetes, (special issue: Progress in Organisational Cybernetics) 40(3/4), 507-527. LINK

Distributed Governance through lens of VSM

The VSM (Viable System Model) was developed by Stafford Beer in the 1960s to 1980s and offers a powerful framework to make sense of organisational complexity, in particular, governance structures.

It focuses attention upon how discretion to make decisions is distributed throughout the organisational entity, irrespective of whether this is a firm, region, sector or nation state. Each named unit has its own sense of identity and a degree of autonomy, whilst accepting membership to a bigger whole. Thus, it supports collective activity in a co-ordinated manner, yet also is adaptive to changing circumstances, whether small or great. An effective adaptive mechanism leads to greater resilience to deal with the unexpected. Nevertheless, it adaptation is not passive and responsive, but proactive, innovative and creative. Innovation emerges in  its broadest sense from all elements of the system. Innovation, viability and sustainability is everyone's business. The VSM supports the design of more effective democratic and distributed governance structures and conditions more conducive to achieving aims.

Organisational Dysfunctionality

There are many reasons why organisations, whether public or private sector, do not function smoothly. It can be due to structural dysfunctionality, whereby mechanisms are not adequate to deal with the complexity of the everyday. Alternatively it may be due to individuals who, for whatever reason, are pursuing their own agenda. There are other reasons, for example, inappropriate technologies or policies. Invariably, dysfunctionality can be diagnosed, given sufficient transparency of what is happening - transparency is revealed in the detail of discrete events, which collectively can reveal the problematic areas, and thus allow a negotiated resolution. The analogy is the diagnosis of an ailment, which, by evaluating its symptoms, leads to an iterative process involving deeper examination of the problematic area(s), until the cause of the ailment is found. Bad customer service is an ailment, but its cause requires a systematic approach. One approach that facilitates such an analysis - diagnosis uses Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM). However, this raises an interesting question. If dysfunctionality can be diagnosed, why is dysfunctionlity endemic to all organisations and not eliminated? One reason is that resolution requires negotiation. But this draws attention to another problem...