Amazon Strategy
Five Ps for strategy
Henry Mintzberg (1996) * Mintzberg, H. (1996) 'Five Ps for Strategy1 in Mintzberg, H. and Quinn, J. B. (1996) The Strategy Process, London, Prentice Hall. Originally published in extended form in California Management Review (Fall 1987). * Human nature insists on a definition for every concept. * Strategy has long been used implicitly in different ways even if it has traditionally been defined in only one. * Explicit recognition of multiple definitions can help people to maneuver through this difficult field. * Accordingly, five definitions of strategy are presented here—as plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective—and some of their interrelationships are then considered.
A. Strategy as Plan
* Anyone you care to ask, strategy is a plan [ some sort of consciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation. ] * By this definition, strategies have two essential characteristics: * They are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and * They are developed consciously and purposefully. * A host of definitions in a variety of fields reinforce this view. For example: * In the military: Strategy is concerned with "draft[ing] the plan of war ... shap[ing] the individual campaigns and within these, deciding] on the individual engagements" (Von Clausewitz, 1976:177). * In game theory: Strategy is "a complete plan: a plan which specifies what choices [the player] will make in every possible situation" (von Newman and Morgenstern, 1944:79). * In management: "Strategy is a unified, comprehensive, and integrated plan ... * B. Strategy as Ploy * As plans, strategies may be general or they can be specific. * There is one use of the word in the specific sense that should be identified here. * As plan, a strategy can be a ploy, [ really just a specific "maneuver" intended to outwit an
Henry Mintzberg (1996) * Mintzberg, H. (1996) 'Five Ps for Strategy1 in Mintzberg, H. and Quinn, J. B. (1996) The Strategy Process, London, Prentice Hall. Originally published in extended form in California Management Review (Fall 1987). * Human nature insists on a definition for every concept. * Strategy has long been used implicitly in different ways even if it has traditionally been defined in only one. * Explicit recognition of multiple definitions can help people to maneuver through this difficult field. * Accordingly, five definitions of strategy are presented here—as plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective—and some of their interrelationships are then considered.
A. Strategy as Plan
* Anyone you care to ask, strategy is a plan [ some sort of consciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation. ] * By this definition, strategies have two essential characteristics: * They are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and * They are developed consciously and purposefully. * A host of definitions in a variety of fields reinforce this view. For example: * In the military: Strategy is concerned with "draft[ing] the plan of war ... shap[ing] the individual campaigns and within these, deciding] on the individual engagements" (Von Clausewitz, 1976:177). * In game theory: Strategy is "a complete plan: a plan which specifies what choices [the player] will make in every possible situation" (von Newman and Morgenstern, 1944:79). * In management: "Strategy is a unified, comprehensive, and integrated plan ... * B. Strategy as Ploy * As plans, strategies may be general or they can be specific. * There is one use of the word in the specific sense that should be identified here. * As plan, a strategy can be a ploy, [ really just a specific "maneuver" intended to outwit an