Strategic philosophy in Turkey: Balancing the art-science, consistency-flexibility, and top-down-bottom-up perspectives

John A. Parnell, Mehmet Ali Koseoglu, Donald L. Lester

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

Abstract

Top executives are faced with a number of concerns when formulating strategies for their organisations. Three strategic dimensions - strategy formulation as an art or science, strategic emphasis on consistency or flexibility, and strategy as a top-down or a bottom-up approach - appear to require difficult choices or compromises between polar extremes. Measurement scales have been developed and tested among US managers, but little work has been done in emerging economies. This paper reports on the measures of these dimensions in Turkey. As predicted, a scientific perspective on strategy was preferred to an artistic perspective and strategic consistency was preferred to flexibility. Surprisingly, however, Turkish respondents expressed a preference for a bottom-up strategy formulation process. Implications for managers and future research are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)163-181
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Management and Decision Making
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Art
  • Decision-making
  • Flexibility
  • Middle managers
  • Science
  • Strategic philosophy
  • Turkey

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Decision Sciences

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