Strategy as discourse

Abstract

Strategy as discourse is a distinct approach to the analysis of organizational strategy that focuses on how discursive practices “give social existence to the objects (e.g. ‘opportunities’, ‘markets’, ‘competencies’ that researchers are urged to study; that students are expected to know about; and which managers are urged to act upon” (Ezzamel & Wilmott, 2008, p.192). It provides an alternative lens to strategy, traditionally understood in a rationalist manner as dealing with objectively existing material entities such as organization, environment, or market, where strategy is a matter of gaining accurate knowledge to support rational decision-making. Strategy as discourse is also seen as a language-focused extension to strategy-as-practice (SAP), an interpretivist approach that focuses on the micro-level of activities undertaken by strategists in daily practice. Seen as a particularly fruitful development, this strand of analysis connects discursive and non-discursive activity to explore how texts and their contextual characteristics (physical, social, psychological) can be treated as resources employed in the processes of production and consumption of strategy (Balogun et al, 2014).