Unpacking complexity, pinning down the "elusiveness" of strategy: a grounded theory study in leisure and cultural organisations

Bakir, Ali and Bakir, Vian (2006) Unpacking complexity, pinning down the "elusiveness" of strategy: a grounded theory study in leisure and cultural organisations. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, 1 (3). pp. 152-172. ISSN 1746-5648

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Abstract

The dominant strategy discourse projects strategy as rational and calculable. However, leading academics conclude that strategy is "elusive" and "complex". The purpose of this paper is to unravel strategy's elusiveness and unpack its complexity through empirical hermeneutic investigation. Strauss' grounded theory is used to investigate leisure and cultural managers' understanding of strategy-making. Data were collected through multiple interviews with senior managers of a local authority, and the organisation's strategy documents were examined. The grounded theory's transferability to organisations in, and outside, public leisure and culture was provisionally tested. It was found that in making strategy, managers engage in purposeful, complex processes, here termed "navigational translation" which have mutually impacting relationships with organisational resources, the environment and managers' character, explaining its complexity and elusiveness. The provisional testing of navigational translation's transferability suggests that it has scope beyond public sector leisure and cultural strategy. As this research focused on theory generation, a main limitation is its small-scale testing of navigational translation's transferability.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	?? BucksNewUniversity ??
Depositing User:	ULCC Admin
Date Deposited:	17 May 2013 11:43
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2017 19:20
URI:	https://bnu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/9929

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