What is Strategy Dynamics?

Strategy Dynamics was developed to improve the teaching and practice of strategic management. The principles and frameworks behind the Strategy Dynamics approach are built on sound theoretical foundations that have implications throughout the management field, as well as in many others.

Strategy Dynamics is concerned with understanding and managing performance through time - for commercial firms most often concentrate on earnings, though other performance measures may be important, especially in public policy and non-profit cases. The responsibility of strategic managers and teams is to build and sustain strong performance into the future. To fulfil this responsibility, management should at all times be able to answer 3 basic questions...

The answer to the final question - how to improve performance into the future - must give managers specific policy recommendations ... what to do, when, how much, in what order, coordinated how between different functions, with what likely outcomes , and with what mechanisms for monitoring and adjusting strategy and policy as the future unfolds.

How is Strategy Dynamics different from current approaches?

Most methods and frameworks for strategy analysis in use today trace back to either

Both value-chain analysis and statistical approaches to understanding and enhancing profitability are essentially static tools. They seek to explain profits at each moment in terms of other causes, at that same time. In some cases, analysis is time-shifted, in an effort to recognise that delays will arise – e.g. is today's profitability related to R&D expenditure or training commitments 5 years previously? In contrast, Strategy Dynamics recognises that organisations are travelling along a trajectory through time, whose path is determined by the accumulating history of their policies.

The key text on the approach is Kim Warren's book - Strategic Management Dynamics - this is available through booksellers and online bookstores. We also have a PDF version available from our shop

Our materials also include a number of conference presentations using the approach.