Strategy as practice (SAP) research has developed into an established area of study, and the Journal of Management Studies (JMS) has played an important role in this as a hospitable outlet, including via a foundational special issue in 2003. This article offers a bird’s eye view of the domain and a ready source of relevant literature to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to this topic. We make three observations that reflect both the JMS thematic collection and the wider literature on SAP and help to shed light on some of the key tensions facing scholars who seek to develop a distinct body of research. First, in terms of the rationale for SAP research, this body of work has grappled with its framing as building upon, yet distinct from strategy process research, to delve into practices within strategy process. Second, in terms of the approach to research (and community-building), SAP research has reflected European intellectual roots which has helped to deliver on its broad research purpose but has perhaps also impeded its impact on more mainstream strategy. Third, in terms of the contribution of SAP research, there has been a large volume of high quality work, appearing in well-regarded journals, generating a considerable diversity of perspectives.
Strategy as Practice Research: Reflections on its Rationale, Approach, and Contributions
Shameen Prashantham & Mark P. Healey
The Double Edge of Ambiguity in Strategic Planning
Chahrazad Abdallah & Ann Langley
Placing Strategy Discourse in Context: Sociomateriality, Sensemaking, and Power
Julia Balogun, Claus Jacobs, Paula Jarzabkowski, Saku Mantere & Eero Vaara
The Process Affordances of Strategy Toolmaking when Addressing Wicked Problems
Gary T. Burke & Carola Wolf
The Discursive Construction of Strategists’ Subjectivities: Towards a Paradox Lens on Strategy
Stéphanie Dameron & Christophe Torset
Processes and Practices of Strategizing and Organizing: Review, Development, and the Role of Bridging and Umbrella Constructs
Steven W. Floyd, Joep P. Cornelissen, Mike Wright & Andrew Delios
Strategy, Discourse and Practice: The Intensification of Power
Cynthia Hardy & Robyn Thomas
The Structure and Significance of Strategic Episodes: Social Systems Theory and the Routine Practices of Strategic Change
John Hendry & David Seidl
Strategic Practices: An Activity Theory Perspective on Continuity and Change
Paula Jarzabkowski
The Practice and Process of Delivering Integration through Strategic Planning
Paula Jarzabkowski & Julia Balogun
Micro Strategy and Strategizing: Towards an Activity-Based View
Gerry Johnson, Leif Melin & Richard Whittington
Micro-Level Discursive Strategies for Constructing Shared Views around Strategic Issues in Team Meetings
Winston Kwon, Ian Clarke & Ruth Wodak
Emotional Dynamics and Strategizing Processes: A Study of Strategic Conversations in Top Team Meetings
Feng Liu & Sally Maitlis
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Understanding Failure in Organizational Strategizing*
Sally Maitlis & Thomas B. Lawrence
Role Expectations and Middle Manager Strategic Agency
Saku Mantere
What Is Organizational Strategy? A Language-Based View
Saku Mantere
Strategy Creation in the Periphery: Inductive Versus Deductive Strategy Making*
Patrick Regnér
Micro-Practices of Strategic Sensemaking and Sensegiving: How Middle Managers Interpret and Sell Change Every Day*
Linda Rouleau
Middle Managers, Strategic Sensemaking, and Discursive Competence
Linda Rouleau & Julia Balogun
The Role of Micro-Strategies in the Engineering of Firm Evolution*
Carlo Salvato
How Crisis Reveals the Structures of Practices
David Seidl & Richard Whittington
Middle Managers’ Struggle Over Their Subject Position in Open Strategy Processes
Violetta Splitter, Paula Jarzabkowski & David Seidl
Strategies as Discursive Constructions: The Case of Airline Alliances
Eero Vaara, Birgit Kleymann & Hannu Seristö
How Useful Are the Strategic Tools We Teach in Business Schools?
Robert P. Wright, Sotirios E. Paroutis & Daniela P. Blettner
