Efstathios Tapinos

Does the Balanced Scorecard make a difference to the strategy development process

A great number of strategy tools are being taught in strategic management modules. These tools are available to managers for use in facilitating strategic decision making and enhancing the strategy development process in their organisations. A number of studies have been published examining which are the most popular tools; however there is little empirical evidence on how their utilisation influences the strategy process. This paper is based on a large scale international survey on the strategy development process, and seeks to examine the impact of a particular strategy tool, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), upon the strategy process. Recently, it has been suggested that as a strategy tool, the BSC can influence all elements of the strategy process. The results of this study indicate that although there are significant differences in some elements of the strategy process between the organisations that have implemented the BSC and those that have not, the impact is not comprehensive.

The impact of the performance measurement systems in setting the ‘direction’ in the University of Warwick

This paper presents a case study examining the role of performance measurement systems in setting organizational ‘direction’. There is a growing concern in the existing literature to link the development of organizational ‘direction’ with performance measurement systems. Furthermore, the alignment between organizational ‘direction’, strategy and performance measurement is an area of increasing interest for both academics and practitioners. However, there is no adequate research recorded in the literature on the use of the performance measurement systems and the potential impact that performance measurement can have in setting the organizational ‘direction’. This study reports the findings of a case study from one of the leading academic institutions in the UK, the University of Warwick, presenting the main characteristics of its performance measurement system and attempting to explain the connection with setting the universitys ‘direction’.

Examining the Strategy Development Process Through the Lens of Complex Adaptive Systems Theory

The development of strategy remains a debate for academics and a concern for practitioners. Published research has focused on producing models for strategy development and on studying how strategy is developed in organisations. The Operational Research literature has highlighted the importance of considering complexity within strategic decision making; but little has been done to link strategy development with complexity theories, despite organisations and organisational environments becoming increasingly more complex. We review the dominant streams of strategy development and complexity theories. Our theoretical investigation results in the first conceptual framework which links an established Strategic Operational Research model, the Strategy Development Process model, with complexity via Complex Adaptive Systems theory. We present preliminary findings from the use of this conceptual framework applied to a longitudinal, in-depth case study, to demonstrate the advantages of using this integrated conceptual model. Our research shows that the conceptual model proposed provides rich data and allows for a more holistic examination of the strategy development process.

Assessment of Anticipation

Investigating the assessment of the practice and impact of any managerial activity is an important stage in developing a better understanding on it. Thus, this chapter explores how anticipation can be assessed. Firstly, the conceptualisation of anticipation is explored and particularly how it compares to ‘traditional’ foresight. Once the differences between these two concepts are established then this chapter looks at how existing frameworks of foresight can be used for assessing anticipation. This chapter builds on Poli’s (2017) definition of anticipation which distinguishes it from foresight with the addition of the enactment. The exploration of how anticipation can be assessed considers foresight and anticipation both as individual activities and as collective activities taking place within an organisational context. This chapter shows that the most developed forms of assessing anticipation are expressed as foresight maturity frameworks, which implicitly address elements of anticipation.