Strategy management - Literature review Example

However, this fact does not affect his performance. In fact, crafting is characterized by the detailed review of organizational problems, allowing for more precise managerial decisions compared to common methods of strategic decision making, where there is the risk of generic assumptions. This advantage of crafting towards other methods of strategic decision making is made clear through the following statement of Mintzberg: manager as a craftsman ‘has to craft his strategy as a potter has to manage her craft’ (Mintzberg 1988, p.73). Another characteristic of the manager who acts as a craftsman is that he is able to use his critical thinking on a constant basis – even when executing a task using his hands (Mintzberg 1988, p.78); this potential for simultaneous use of mind and hands is an advantage of the manager who acts as a craftsman.

The view of Mintzberg that the manager is a craftsman, is in opposition with the view of Miller et al. (2005) who noted that strategic decision making is based on intuition; when being used for decision making in organizations, intuition may have two different forms: it could be either a holistic hunch or an automated expertise (Miller et al. 2005, 22); in its first form, intuition is used in organizations where ‘exploration has been adopted as a goal’ (Miller et al. 2005, p.22-23); on the other hand, intuition in its second form can be identified in organizations that focus on ‘execution and building on past investments’ (Miller et al. 2005, p.22-23).

At this point, it is assumed that these managers prefer to avoid focusing on details when having to develop critical strategic decisions (ignoring the theory of manager as a craftsman, as stated by Mintzberg, 1987) considering their intuition as more appropriate criterion for the development of effective strategic decisions. The use of the theory of Mintzberg for