PERSPECTIVE OF STRATEGY-AS-PRACTICE AND THE PROCESS OF STRATEGY FORMATION ARTICULATED BY THE MIDDLE MANAGER

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how the strategy as practice occurs (strategy implementation) when the organization adopts deliberate strategy formation process, considering the action of middle manager in this process. In the last decade, the focus of studies in strategy has been in the researches of process or in strategy as practice. The results are in strategic processes and practices that constitute the day-to-day of organizational activities. Strategy implemented from top-down is not enough and that all stakeholders of the organization are involved in the implementation of strategies. These studies intend to explain strategy as a social activity, whereas the strategy is not something the organization has but something that its members perform. Thus, strategies can be formed in different organizational levels, i.e., this process can be either top-down (deliberately) as bottom-up (emergent) depending on the needs of the organization to cope with environment dynamism, leading to an integrative strategy formation process (middle-up-down). To achieve the proposed objective a qualitative methodology and a case study was applied. Through the flow of activities, practices and organizational actors articulated by the middle manager, was obtained a better understanding of strategizing, proving that the strategy as practice is present in the studied company. The middle management contribution and influence, organizational strategy, acting as a facilitator and coordinator of the strategy-as-practice. The importance of the strategy-as-practice is to enable examine what is really needed so that organizational goals are successfully achieved. The strategy-as-practice can be associated with knowledge, learning, and thus be responsible for better organizational performance, characterizing the flow of activities, practices and organizational actors articulated by middle management.