Design and Entrepreneurship Schools of Strategy - Comparative Analysis Research Paper

Design and Entrepreneurship Schools of Strategy - Comparative Analysis - Research Paper Example Strategy formation is establishing a fit between the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and the opportunities available in its external environment.   Christensen, Andrews, Bower, Hamermesh and Porter (1982) are among the major proponents for the design school strategy The model of strategy formation of the design school is one in which leaders seek to attain a fit between an organization’s internal capabilities and the possibilities external to the organization (i.e., the need to bring together the organization’s internal state with its external expectations). The design school model proponents place primary emphasis on the appraisals of the external and internal situations.   Appraising the external situations is accomplished by uncovering the threats and opportunities in the environment.   Appraising the internal situations is accomplished by revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (Wang 2008, p. 643). The external environment includ es technological, economic, social and political aspects of a company’s environment and also includes issues of forecasting and scanning.   The design school proponents also consider the role played by managerial values and organizational social responsibility important in the process of strategizing.   Mintzberg et al (1998) provided a diagram detailing the process in the design school. Rumelt (1997), one of the proponents of this school, proposed a framework to evaluate strategy making.   In his framework, a formulated strategy should be consistent in terms of the goals and policies of the organization and must be adaptive to the changes in the organization’s environment. Rauch et al (2004) examined this framework through collected empirical evidence and found that the framework has a positive effect on strategic outcomes. The proponents of the entrepreneurial school focus on the leader and his vision. The central construct of the entrepreneurship school is a vision: a mental representation of strategy created or at least expressed in the head of the leader.