mintzberg's configuration school

Mintzberg’s Ten Schools Of Thought About Strategy Formation

THE CONFIGURATION SCHOOL

Jholina B. GamboaKate Bernadette T. Madayag

BA 190 – Strategic ManagementUniversity of the Philippines

Prof. Mita Angela M. Dimalanta

Configuration SchoolO Strategy formation as a process of

transformationO Mid-1900sO Integrate strategy by showing how

different dimensions of an organization band together under particular conditions to define “states, models, or ideal types” (Matthews, 2005).

Configuration SchoolO McGill University in CanadaO With authors Pradip Khandwalla, Danny Miller

and Henry Mintzberg O Alfred D. Chandler (Strategy and Structure:

Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise)

2 main sides of Configuration School

CONF IGURAT ION TRANSFORMAT IONDescribes states of the

organization and its surrounding context

Describe the strategy-making process

Researched and described by academics

Practiced by managers and prescribed (especially) by

consultantsDescriptive Prescriptive

2 main sides of Configuration School“These are 2 sides of the same coin: if an organization adopts states of being,

strategy making becomes a process of leaping from one state to another.

Transformation is an inevitable consequence of configuration. There is a

time for coherence and a time for change. This is compatible with strategic management characteristics,

that strategy isn’t about change, but about continuity – whether as plan to establish patterns

of behavior or as emergent pattern by which patterns get established. While process of strategy making may set out to change the direction in which an organization is going, the resulting strategies stabilize that direction. And

configuration school describes the relative stability of strategy within given states,

interrupted by occasional and rather dramatic leaps to new ones.”

(Mintzberg, Ahlstrand, & Lampel, 1998)

Configuration School

“ALL OF THE ABOVE

”

DIAMOND

Premises of Configuration SchoolO Distinguishable period of time particular form of

structure particular type of context particular behavior particular set of strategies

O Process of transformation : a quantum leap to another configuration.

O Successive states of configuration and periods of transformation patterned sequences

O Sustain stability or at least adaptable strategic change most of the time and manage that disruptive process without destroying the organization.

O Schools of thought on strategy formation themselves represent particular configurations.

O Resulting strategies take the form of plans or patterns, positions or perspectives, or ploys, but each for its own time and matched to its own situation.

Stages in an Organization

1. Stage of Development2. Stage of Stability3. Stage Adaptation4. Stage of Struggle5. Stage of Revolution

ContributionO Brings order to messy world of strategy

formationO Pulls together all of the schools and provides

ways to see the best in each schoolsO Constructs various forms of strategy

formation in a particular time frame

LimitationsO Perceives organization as stable

entity acting in a certain behaviorO Integration of other schools can be

problematic because each school uses different criteria in obtaining information needed in strategy formation.

Organizational Configurations


Entrepreneurial Organization or Simple

Structure

Machine Organization or

Machine Bureaucracy


Professional Organization

Diversified Organization or

Divisional Organization


Adhocracy Organization or

Innovative Organization

Missionary Organization or

Idealistic Organization


Political Organization

There's no one "right" organizational structure,

so it's important to understand how structure relates to the variety of attributes in a company.

CHICKEN

Chaos TheoryO Study of complex, nonlinear, dynamic systemsO Edward N. LorenzO Demonstrate how simple set of deterministic

relationships can produce patterned yet unpredictable outcomes

O Chaotic systems never return to the same exact stateO Fundamental order, structure and strategy behind

complex and dynamic events within the organizationO it indicates that achieving a lasting change is

impossible for organizations.

Chaos TheoryO Disorder, instability and nonlinear

relationshipsO Certain patterns are within systems

of apparently random behavior and there are a lot of ways to succeed in each setting

O Cohesive configurations reduce number of ways elements combine and choose the best course of action and strategy

Chaos Theory1. Long-term planning is very difficult2. Industries do not reach stable

equilibrium3. Dramatic change can occur

unexpectedly4. Short term forecasts are possible

Catastrophe TheoryO New branch in mathematics proposed

by French mathematician Rene Thom and popularized by Zeeman

O “ Static method for studying and modelling unstable discontinuous processes . . . that shift from one steady state to another until a certain barrier or threshold is exceeded and then they move on to the next steady state” (Carayannis, 2001). “

Disruptive InnovationsO Process where a smaller company

with fewer resources available successfully challenged established and large companies (Christenses, Raynor, & McDonald, 2015).

O Smaller firms try first to dominate markets neglected by big companies then eventually pollute the market dominated by well-established companies.

References O Carayannis, E. (2001). Strategic management of technological learning. New York:

CRC Press LCC. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=O-7LBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=catastrophe+theory+to+strategic+management&source=bl&ots=rcVyBOldr6&sig=Dh9N6ecm-SL6oQuuAH98HCN4fvc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS0oT8iKDPAhUFFZQKHU2_B6cQ6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=catastrophe%20

O Christenses, C. M., Raynor, M. E., & McDonald, R. (2015, December). Disruptive Innovation. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation

O Jacobs, D. (2010). Mapping strategic diversity: strategic thinking from a variety of perspectives. Oxon: Routledge. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=5xOPAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT136&lpg=PT136&dq=Pradip+Khandwalla+configuration+school&source=bl&ots=OGsz9UhPS8&sig=Fpb6rnZzRZvFxnYRY2lmp8Omw9o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic6tmL0JvPAhUEFJQKHXEIDAcQ6AEIIzAB#v=snippet&q=Pradip%20Khandwall

O Levy, D. (1994). Chaos theory and strategy: Theory, application, and managerial implications. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 167-178. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from http://media.proquest.com/media/pq/classic/doc/917611/fmt/pi/rep/NONE?cit%3Aauth=Levy%2C+David&cit%3Atitle=Chaos+theory+and+strategy%3A+Theory%2C+application%2C+and+managerial+implications&cit%3Apub=Strategic+Management+Journal&cit%3Avol=15&cit%3Aiss=&cit

References O Matthews, J. (2005). Strategic planning and management for library managers.

Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=WqVjTp0UNKIC&pg=PA40&lpg=PA40&dq=configuration+school+of+strategic+management&source=bl&ots=auGv_umT9m&sig=GClPWwgr0WukXnhjBlrLRP95rEU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwil08ONg5nPAhVCHJQKHUQ_ATsQ6AEIWDAJ#v=onepage&q=configuration%

O Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., & Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy safari : a guided tour through the wilds of strategic management. New York: The Free Press.

O Qi, E., Shen, J., & Dou, R. (2015). Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. Atlantis Press. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=sj-FCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=catastrophe+theory+to+strategic+management&source=bl&ots=8eiLhaCCed&sig=YTk74TGDBV6DszLgp_sfGuCD9wY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS0oT8iKDPAhUFFZQKHU2_B6cQ6AEIMjAE#v=onepage&q=catastrophe%20

O Wright, D. J. (1983). Catastrophe Theory in Management Forecasting and Decision Making. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 32(10), 935-942.

mintzberg's configuration school

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