Emergent Strategy

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What is Emergence?

In general, an emergent phenomenon occurs when a (high) number of simple (or complex) entities operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviors as a collective. Emergent behaviors occur due to intricate causal relations across different scales and feedback, known as interconnectivity. The emergent property itself may be either very predictable or unpredictable and unprecedented, and represent a new level of the system's evolution. Emergent behavior is very hard to predict due to the immense number of interactions between components of a system, which increases exponentially with the number of components, thus potentially allowing for many different results to emerge.

What is an Emergent Strategy? Meaning.

Emergent Strategy is the vision or process towards strategy formation in strategic management in organizations that emphasizes the benefits of letting the strategy emerge as things gradually becoming apparent. Try before you commit. Strategy is viewed as an ongoing process of constant learning, experimentation and risk-taking. It is an adaptive, incremental and complex learning process in which the ends and means are intertwined and often specified simultaneously. It is the opposite of Deliberate Strategy.

The ends are rarely announced or recorded in a Formal Planning document, and when they are, they remain broad, general and non-quantifiable.

The means develop or evolve over time as the organization learns from environmental developments and interactions.

It does not mean that emergent strategists do nothing upfront and react completely ad-hoc to things as they evolve.

Benefits of emergent strategy formulation. Advantages

• Opportunism. Organizations must retain the mental freedom to grab unpredictable opportunities as they emerge. See: Scenario Planning

• Flexibility. Organizations must keep their options open, by not committing to early to actions and investments. See: Real Options, Strategic Agility, Dynamic Capabilities

• Learning. Letting strategy emerge provides the environment to learn. See: Organizational Learning

• Entrepreneurship. The best way to find out what will work is to let people try. This is conducive to an entrepreneurial spirit to emerge. See: Chaos Theory

• Building Support. Major strategic change causes considerable resistance in organizations. So time to build support for it is important. See: Appreciative Inquiry

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Information Sources Various sources of information regarding Emergent Strategy. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops. Henry Mintzberg on Management and Emergent Strategy Background on Mintzberg, Emergent Strategy Development. McGill Professor Henry Mintzberg shares some background on his historic and recent thinking on management and strategy d... Two Recent Trends in Leadership Leadership Development, Leadership Styles, Coaching, Mentoring, Servant Leadership, Vision, Business Model Innovation Business thought leader John Spence presents 2 important trends in leadership: BEHAVORIAL: Spence argues there is a mo... The Nature and Complexity of Organizational Change Change Management, Organizational Change Presentation about organizational change. The presentation discusses and highlights the complexity and multi-dimensional... Emergent Strategy versus Planned Strategy Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Emergent Strategy, Deliberate Strategy Basic explanation of the key difference between planned strategy and emergent strategy.... Top 5 Strategy Pitfalls Strategy Errors, Strategy Traps, Strategy Barriers, Strategic Planning, Strategy Process Strategy is complex and companies are making many mistakes while working on it. Stuart Cross identified 5 frequent strat... Deliberate versus Emergent Strategies Deliberate Strategy, Emergent Strategy, Strategy Formulation Presentation about deliberate versus emergent strategies. The presentation includes the following sections: 1. Introduc... Strategic Drift Strategic Drift, Emergent Strategy, Deliberate Strategy, Logical Incrementalism Short explanation of the concept of strategic drift, the reasons for its existence, and 3 historic examples....

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