Management Decision

Developing strategic thinking as a core competency

Ingrid Bonn,
Article information:
To cite this document:
Ingrid Bonn, (2001) "Developing strategic thinking as a core competency", Management Decision, Vol. 39 Issue: 1, pp.63-71,
https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005408
Permanent link to this document:
https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005408
Downloaded on: 16 September 2018, At: 08:13 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 29 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 11175 times since 2006*
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:

(2013),"A new model of strategic thinking competency", Journal of Strategy and Management, Vol. 6 Iss 3 pp. 242-264 <a
href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-10-2012-0052">https://doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-10-2012-0052</a>
(2005),"Stretching strategic thinking", Strategy &amp; Leadership, Vol. 33 Iss 5 pp. 5-12 <a href="https://
doi.org/10.1108/10878570510616834">https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570510616834</a>

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:379570 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service
information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please
visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of
more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online
products and additional customer resources and services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication
Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

 Developing strategic thinking as a core competency
Keywords
Strategic planning,
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
Core competences,
Management development
Abstract
Lack of strategic thinking by
senior managers has been
identified as a major shortcoming
in organisations. Draws on
concepts in management and
psychology to present a
framework that can be used to
remedy this situation. Argues that
strategic thinking needs to be
addressed at two different, but
interrelated levels: the individual
level and the organisational level.
Organisations that successfully
integrate strategic thinking at
these two levels will create a
critical core competency that
forms the basis of an enduring
competitive advantage.
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
# MCB University Press
[ISSN 0025-1747]
Ingrid Bonn
Graduate School of Management, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Introduction
My research interest in strategic thinking
started in 1993 when I interviewed 35 senior
executives for a longitudinal study on the
changes in strategic planning and strategic
management in large organisations between
1982 and 1993. These senior executives were
responsible for strategic planning, strategic
management or corporate development in 35
of the 100 largest manufacturing companies
in Australia. The interviews lasted between
three and four hours and one of the questions
I asked concerned the problems that they had
experienced with their strategic planning or
strategic management approach in the
preceding five years.
The main problem identified by the
majority of senior executives was strategic
thinking. Interestingly, strategic thinking
was a problem regardless of whether the
companies had a formalised strategic
planning system or used a non-formalised
approach. For example, one senior executive
from a company with a formalised strategic
planning system stated:
Our senior executives tend to get carried
away by details and lose their strategic
perspective.
Similarly, a senior executive from a company
without a formalised planning system
reported:
It is a major challenge to get our decision
makers to think in strategic rather than
operational terms.
This lack of strategic thinking is not
restricted to organisations in Australia. As
research from the Institute of Directors in
London has shown, 90 per cent of directors
and vice-presidents ``had no induction,
inclusion or training to become a competent
direction giver of their business'' (Garratt,
1995a, p. 242). According to Garratt (1995a),
this percentage ``seems to hold good in
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
Europe, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand
and the United States'' (p. 242).
The ability to think strategically, however,
is crucial to remaining competitive in an
increasingly turbulent and global
environment. Considering that the average
life expectancy of US Fortune 500 companies
is only between 40 and 50 years (de Geus,
1997) and that only 49 percent of the 100
largest manufacturers in Australia in 1982
were still among the top 100 manufacturers
in 1993 (Bonn and Christodoulou, 1996), the
need for strategic thinking has never been
greater.
This paper presents a framework that can
be used to increase strategic thinking in
organisations. It argues that strategic
thinking needs to be considered at two
different, but inter-related levels.
Organisations that successfully integrate
strategic thinking at these two levels will
create a critical core competency that forms
the basis of an enduring source of
competitive advantage.
The debate on strategic thinking
There is no agreement in the literature on
what strategic thinking is. A number of
authors have used the term interchangeably
with other concepts such as strategic
planning or strategic management. Wilson
(1994) for example notes that:
This continuing search for improvement has
profoundly changed the character of strategic
planning so that it is now more appropriate to
refer to it as strategic management or strategic
thinking (p. 14, italics in original).
Other authors have focussed on strategic
management processes and either stated
explicitly that good strategic planning
contributes to strategic thinking (Porter,
1987) or assumed implicitly that a well
designed strategic management system
facilitates strategic thinking within an
organisation (Thompson and Strickland,
1999; Viljoen, 1994).
Mintzberg (1994) suggested a clear
distinction between strategic thinking and
[ 63 ]
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
[ 64 ]
concepts such as strategic planning. He
stated that ``strategic planning is not
strategic thinking'' (p. 107) and argued that
each term focuses on a different stage in the
strategy development process. In his view,
strategic planning focuses on analysis and
deals with the articulation, elaboration and
formalisation of existing strategies. Strategic
thinking, on the other hand, emphasises
synthesis, using intuition and creativity to
create ``an integrated perspective of the
enterprise'' (p. 108). He claimed that strategic
planning is a process that should occur after
strategic thinking. Garratt (1995b) argued
along similar lines. He defined strategic
thinking as a process by which senior
executives ``can rise above the daily
managerial processes and crises'' (p. 2) to
gain a different perspective of the
organisation and its changing environments.
Heracleous (1998) made the distinction
between strategic planning and strategic
thinking by an analogy to single-loop
learning and double-loop learning. In his
view, the former is analogous to strategic
planning, the later to strategic thinking. He
claimed that single-loop learning involves
thinking within existing assumptions and
taking actions based on a fixed set of
potential action alternatives. Double-loop
learning, in contrast, challenges existing
assumptions and develops new and
innovative solutions, leading to potentially
more appropriate actions. Heracleous argued
that like single-loop learning and double-loop
learning, strategic planning and strategic
thinking are interrelated in a dialectical
process and are equally important for
effective strategic management.
This article supports the view that
strategic thinking and strategic planning are
two different concepts and that strategic
planning is a process, which takes place after
strategic thinking. My analysis in the
following sections demonstrates that
strategic thinking manifests itself at two
different levels: the individual level and the
organisational level. This approach
integrates the micro domain's focus on
individuals and groups with the macro
domain's focus on organisations and their
context. In other words, it acknowledges the
influence of individual characteristics and
actions on the organisational context and
vice versa, the influence of the organisational
context on individual thinking and
behaviour. As Chatman et al. (1986) have
argued:
When we look at individual behaviour in
organizations, we are actually seeing two
entities: the individual as himself and the
individual as representative of this
collectivity . . . Thus the individual not only
acts on behalf of the organization in the usual
agency sense, but he also acts, more subtly `as
the organization' when he embodies the
values, beliefs, and goals of the collectivity.
Thus, understanding strategic thinking
requires a dual-level approach that
investigates the characteristics of an
individual strategic thinker as well as the
dynamics and processes that take place
within the organisational context in which
the individual operates. For instance, to
obtain an accurate picture of the effects of
differing leadership styles on strategic
thinking, we can look at their impact on
individual managers and on the way they
influence the wider organisational climate,
culture and structure.
Strategic thinking at the individual
level
Strategic thinking at the individual level
comprises three main elements:
1 a holistic understanding of the
organisation and its environment;
2 creativity; and
3 a vision for the future of the organisation.
Each of these elements will be addressed
in the following sections.
A holistic understanding of the
organisation and its environment
A crucial element of strategic thinking is the
ability to take a holistic perspective of the
organisation and its environment. This
requires an understanding of how different
problems and issues are connected with each
other, how they influence each other and
what effect one solution in a particular area
would have on other areas. As Kaufman
(1991) has expressed it:
Strategic thinking is characterized by a
switch from seeing the organization as a
splintered conglomerate of disassociated
parts (and employees) competing for
resources, to seeing and dealing with the
corporation as a holistic system that
integrates each part in relationship to the
whole (p. 69).
Taking a holistic approach requires the
ability to distance oneself from day-to-day
operational problems and to see how
problems and issues are connected to the
overall pattern that underlies particular
details and events. Senge (1990) has called
this approach ``systems thinking''. He argued
that:
We must look beyond personalities and
events. We must look into the underlying
structures which shape individual actions
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
and create the conditions where types of
events become likely (p. 43).
Such an attention to the underlying
structures of complex situations requires
thinking in terms of processes rather than
events to enable a reconciliation of apparent
contradictions and the development of
innovative solutions.
Mastering complexity in organisations also
requires managers to be familiar with the
dynamics of organisational life. Stacey (1996)
argued that managers need a thorough
understanding of how organisations and
managerial actions change over time and of
the feedback processes that lead to such
changes. This includes being sensitive to the
subtle interactions between the different
parts of the organisation and understanding
the structural causes of behaviour and their
effects on other parts of the organisation.
Finally, a holistic view requires
recognition that organisations are
components within large and complex
systems, such as markets, industries and
nations. Strategic thinkers need to
understand how organisations are embedded
within this wider context and how they are
influenced by the dynamics, interconnection
and interdependency of these systems.
Creativity
Strategy is about ideas and the development
of novel solutions to create competitive
advantage. Strategic thinkers must search
for new approaches and envision better ways
of doing things. A prerequisite for this is
creativity, in particular the ability to
question prevalent concepts and perceptions
(de Bono, 1996) and to recombine or make
connections between issues that may seem
unconnected (Robinson and Stern, 1997).
According to Amabile (1998), creative
thinking refers to ``how people approach
problems and solutions ± their capacity to put
existing ideas together in new combinations''
(p. 79, italics in original). This involves
challenging the ``tyranny of the given'' (Kao,
1997, p. 47) by questioning prevailing beliefs
or mental models in the organisation. Senge
(1990) has described mental models as
``deeply ingrained assumptions,
generalizations, or even pictures or images
that influence how we understand the world
and how we take action'' (p. 8). He argues that
such models are often tacit and beneath our
level of awareness, yet they have a strong
influence on organisational behaviour:
. . . new insights fail to get put into practice
because they conflict with deeply held
internal images of how the world works,
images that limit us to familiar ways of
thinking and acting (p. 174).
Thus, the ability to reflect on mental models
and to challenge prevailing assumptions and
core beliefs is crucial for the development of
unique strategies and action programs. This
requires strategic thinkers to understand
their own behavioral patterns as well as
existing concepts and perceptions within the
organisation. Strategists should enjoy the
challenge of thinking ``out of the box'' and of
using imagination and creativity to explore
whether there might be alternative ways of
doing things. De Bono (1996) has made this
point very clear:
Without creativity we are unable to make full
use of the information and experience that is
already available to us and is locked up in old
structures, old patterns, old concepts, and old
perceptions (p. 17).
Creativity is a process that begins with the
generation of ideas. As de Bono (1996) has
noted
. . . strategy is too often seen solely as a
reduction process in which various
possibilities are reduced to a sensible course
of action (p. 72).
Creative thinking is needed to imagine
multiple possibilities and to search for
alternatives to conventional approaches.
The creative process also involves the
selection and development of ideas. Good
strategists are able to recognise the potential
of a new idea at a very early stage. To
visualise the value of an idea that has been
put forward by people from different
organisational levels might be even more
important than the generation of original
ideas by the strategist. As Robinson and
Stern (1997) have observed:
The larger the company, the more likely it is
that the components of creative acts are
already present somewhere in it, but the less
likely it is that they will be brought together
without some help (p. 15, italics in original).
Finally, there is the need for translating the
new idea into practice. Senior management
must provide the resources that are needed to
implement the idea. As Amabile (1998) has
noted:
. . . deciding how much time and money to
give to a team or project is a sophisticated
judgment call that can either support or kill
creativity (p. 82)
A vision for the future
Strategic thinking should be driven by a
strong sense of organisational purpose and a
vision of the desired future for the
organisation. A genuine vision ± as opposed
to the popular ``vision-statements'' ± conveys
a sense of direction and provides the focus for
all activities within the organisation.
[ 65 ]
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
[ 66 ]
For Senge (1990), a genuine vision is ``a
calling rather than simply a good idea'' (p. 142,
italics in original). In his view, visions are
``pictures or images people carry in their
heads and hearts'' (p. 206). They represent
what one truly wants, based on fundamental
intrinsic values and a sense of purpose that
matters deeply to the people in the
organisation.
Evidence for the importance of a clear
vision has been provided by Collins and
Porras (1998). Their research showed that
visionary companies outperformed non-
visionary companies significantly. One
dollar invested in a general market stock
fund on January 1, 1926 would have grown to
415 dollars by December 31, 1990, while the
same dollar invested in a visionary company
stock fund would have grown to 6,356 dollars,
a difference of over 1500 percent.
According to Collins and Porras (1998), the
visionary companies did not attain this
extraordinary long-term performance
because they wrote one of the elegant vision
or mission statements that have become
popular in recent years. They pointed out
that ``Just because a company has a `vision
statement' (or something like it) in no way
guarantees that it will become a visionary
company!'' (p. 201, italics in original). Instead,
leaders in visionary companies place strong
emphasis on building an organisation that
has a deep understanding of its reason for
existence and of its core values, those
fundamental and enduring principles that
guide and inspire people throughout the
organisation and bind them together around
a common identity. Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
(1963), former IBM chief executive, made this
point very clear:
I firmly believe that any organization, in
order to survive and achieve success, must
have a sound set of beliefs on which it
premises all its policies and actions (p. 5).
These beliefs ``must always come before
policies, practices, and goals. The latter must
always be altered if they are seen to violate
fundamental beliefs'' (pp. 72-73).
Collins and Porras (1998) found that it was
not the content of the vision (or beliefs as
Watson has called it), but its authenticity as
well as the consistency with which it was
translated into everything that the
organisation does, its objectives, strategies,
policies, systems, structures and underlying
processes. In the words of Collins and Porras
(1998):
It's not what you believe that sets you apart as
much as that you believe in something, that
you believe in it deeply, that you preserve it
over time, and that you bring it to life with
consistent alignment (p. 229, italics in
original).
Developing a genuine vision and building it
into the very fabric of the organisation must
be a central element of the daily work of
strategic thinkers. A vision that is shared
throughout the organisation fosters
commitment rather than compliance and
creates a sense of commonality that
permeates the whole organisation. It inspires
people's imagination and provides a focus
that allows individuals to contribute in ways
that make the most of their expertise and
talents. Ultimately, as Collins and Porras
have shown, a genuine vision helps to
achieve superior performance in the long-
term.
Strategic thinking at the
organisational level
The organisational level provides the context
in which individual strategic thinking can
occur. Organisations need to create the
structures, processes and systems that:
1 foster ongoing strategic dialogue among
the top team; and
2 take advantage of the ingenuity and
creativity of every individual employee.
Strategic dialogue
Strategic thinking requires time for
reflection and exploration. As Hanford (1995)
has noted:
At the strategic level . . . speed can be the
surest way of not being strategic, e.g.
scheduling time slots that are ridiculously
short for thinking through a key issue or
opportunity; or for learning something new;
or to change and clarify key organizational
roles. All these strategic challenges take time.
Time urgency here would be counter
productive (p. 166).
Eliminating the widespread ``we just don't
have the time'' syndrome, is an important
prerequisite for strategic thinking.
Organisations must create the time and space
for senior managers to engage in dialogue
about strategic issues, insights and ideas on a
regular basis. Strategic thinking requires
senior management teams to learn how to
explore complex and conflictual issues
together. Collective strategic dialogue ± if it
is done in a constructive way ± takes
advantage of the synergistic potential of
several minds to be more insightful than a
single mind. It goes beyond one individual's
understanding and enables team members to
gain a richer grasp of the organisational
complexity, leading to new clarity and
insight that could not be achieved
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
individually. As Eisenhardt et al. (1997) have
argued:
Such contact forces executives to develop and
articulate arguments more effectively and
clearly so that they can be conveyed to others.
In turn, executives not only learn and shape
their own view through this process, but they
also come to learn those of others . . . In this
way, interaction creates a process of social
discovery in which continued communication
builds an increasingly complex and realistic
understanding of key information and
preferences (p. 52).
Individual team members must truly want
the benefits of strategic dialogue and be
prepared to listen seriously to one another.
They must be willing to explore their own
mental models and tacit assumptions and put
them up for examination. Such an
exploration of thinking patterns that
underlie prevailing views and decisions
requires an atmosphere that is open, honest
and positive. Senge (1990) argued that
dialogue can only occur when people regard
each other as colleagues:
Seeing each other as colleagues is critical to
establish a positive tone and to offset the
vulnerability that dialogue brings . . .
Treating each other as colleagues
acknowledges the mutual risk and establishes
the sense of safety in facing the risk (p. 245).
To obtain new input into the strategic
dialogue among senior managers, I suggest
organisations establish a Strategic Thinking
Forum. Such a forum should comprise
managers from different disciplines and
different levels of the organisation who meet
regularly for an appropriate period of time.
Their selection should be based upon their
successful track records as line managers,
their innovative ideas and their
outspokenness. The activities of the Strategic
Thinking Forum should focus on exploring
issues that will be of strategic importance for
the organisation within the next five to ten
years. The members of the Strategic
Thinking Forum could, for example, develop
scenarios on the organisation's future
customers, discuss issues such as
restructuring and transformation, or
investigate the implications of the latest
thinking in strategic management for their
organisation.
The ideas or proposals developed by the
members of the Strategic Thinking Forum
should then be presented to senior
management during a management retreat.
The aim of this retreat is to provide senior
managers with new ideas, help them to view
strategic issues from a different perspective
and challenge mental models that prevail
throughout the organisation.
Over time, the suggestions from the
members of the Strategic Thinking Forum
and the subsequent discussions during the
retreats will help to raise corporate
awareness and act as a catalyst for collective
learning. Strategic dialogue among senior
managers will become truly strategic and not
be predominated by crises and short-term
``fixes''. Strategies developed through this
process will not be based on shallow
compromises, but on thorough reflection and
insight and on a shared understanding of the
organisational challenges. Consequently, the
implementation of strategies and action
plans will occur in a more coherent and
coordinated way. Senior managers as well as
the members of the Strategic Thinking
Forum will feel a greater commitment to the
organisation, which in turn will facilitate
strategy implementation.
An example of an organisation that has
established a group similar to the Strategic
Thinking Forum is Xerox. In the early 1990s,
Paul Allaire, the CEO at that time, appointed
a group of six young middle managers to
examine Xerox's current structures and
practices and to develop a proposal for a new
organisational design that would help Xerox
to be successful in the future. The group,
which was known as the ``Futuretecture
team'', underwent a 15-month design process
that involved more than 75 managers from
throughout the organisation. They came up
with four possible design approaches and
presented them to senior management. After
intensive discussions, the senior managers
decided to implement proposal four and
Allaire set up a committee consisting of
members from the Futuretecture team and
senior managers to work out the details of
the proposal. According to Allaire, this group
became:
far more important than any of us could have
imagined. These people hammered out these
principles without knowing where they
would end up in the new organization they
were creating. Through that process, they
internalized those principles to a remarkable
degree. We in the corporate office often found
ourselves behind them (Howard, 1992, p. 111).
A more recent example of an organisation
with a group similar to the Strategic
Thinking Forum is KPMG. In 1998 Colin
Sharman, the global chairman of KPMG,
formed a group of younger people from
different regions of the world. He asked them
to take a year off normal work and to
examine the forces that would shape KPMG
in the future. The group developed four
different scenarios about the main influences
on KPMG's global business and its customers
in the year 2010. They met with all the senior
[ 67 ]
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
[ 68 ]
partners of KMPG global operations in
Melbourne, Australia, to present their
results in 1999. According to Sharman, many
of the global leaders were shocked because
some of the scenarios were contrary to
anything they had imagined. He argued that
the key to KPMG's future success will not be
to pick the ``correct'' scenario, but to prepare
KPMG so they could adapt to any one of the
four (Gottliebsen, 1999).
Taking advantage of the ingenuity and
creativity of employees
In addition to fostering strategic dialogue
among the top team, organisations must
create an environment in which all
employees are encouraged to participate in
the development of innovative ideas and
strategies. Collins and Porras' (1998) research
has shown that visionary companies had a
stronger organisational orientation than the
comparison companies. Senior managers in
visionary companies placed great emphasis
on designing organisational structures,
processes and mechanisms that stimulated
improvements and change. They built their
``own unique drive for progress into the very
fabric of the organization ± into goals,
strategies, tactics, policies, processes,
cultural practices, management behaviors,
building layouts, pay systems, accounting
systems, job design ± into everything that the
company does'' (p. 201, italics in original).
In other words, executives in visionary
companies designed the context within
which employees could contribute to the
overall vision of the organisation and they
created a culture that was conducive to
creativity and innovation. Kilmann et al.
(1986) described organisational culture as the
``social energy that drives ± or fails to drive ±
the organization'' (p. 92). Wilson (1994)
argued that organisational culture is the
``internal equivalent of the customer-
orientation'' and ``a recognition that the
values, motivation and behaviour of the
organization's members are critical
determinants of corporate performance ± and
so the success or failure in implementing
strategy'' (pp. 23-24).
The challenge for senior managers is to
design and establish a work environment
where everyone is encouraged to explore new
ideas and to come up with improvements and
innovations. Senior managers who instill a
belief in the importance of creativity
throughout the organisation, ensure that
creativity becomes part of the organisation's
personality, the cornerstone of how it
operates. As Thomas J. Watson, Jr (1963),
former IBM chief executive, has argued:
I believe the real difference between success
and failure in a corporation can very often be
traced to the question of how well the
organization brings out the great energies
and talents of its people (p. 4).
Tapping the energies and talents of people
requires an understanding of the factors that
foster innovation and creativity. Amabile
(1998) argued that managers can enhance
creativity by stimulating the intrinsic
motivation of their employees:
people will be most creative when they feel
motivated primarily by the interest,
satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself
and not by external pressures (p. 79).
She suggested to use the following
managerial practices to promote intrinsic
motivation:
1 match employees with assignments that
make use of their expertise and abilities;
2 give employees autonomy in how they
approach their work;
3 provide the necessary resources;
4 establish supportive work-teams;
5 encourage recognition by supervisors;
and
6 create a climate where the whole
organisation supports creative efforts.
The importance of intrinsic motivation has
also been emphasised by Robinson and Stern
(1997). Their research suggested that an
employee's creativity strongly depends on
``the desire to work on something for its own
sake'' (p. 59). They recommend that
organisations take special care ``to nurture
the intrinsic motivation that gives employees
the desire to be creative'' (p. 58).
Besides fostering the intrinsic motivation
of employees, senior managers need to
provide time and space for creativity and
innovation to occur. Consider for example
the ``15 percent rule'' at 3M which encourages
technical employees to spend up to 15 percent
of their time on projects which they have
chosen on their own initiative. Such a rule
stimulates experimentation and creates
pockets of organisational space in which
unexpected innovation can emerge.
Communication is an essential medium of
a creative culture. Senior managers need to
send the constant and consistent message
that they value creativity in their
organisation. They need to design programs
for training and development that raise the
general level of creative ability and that
foster creative thinking and innovation.
Shell for example encourages
communication by organising collaborative
training programs where managers from all
over the world meet in intensive joint
problem-solving exercises at regular
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
intervals. According to de Geus (1997), these
programs encourage innovation to spread
rapidly through Shell and create a powerful
vehicle for organisational learning.
Establishing an organisational culture that
values the ingenuity and creativity of its
people will result in employees taking more
initiative and having a greater sense of
responsibility in their work. They will be
more satisfied in their jobs and develop a
greater commitment to the organisation.
Ultimately, they will be more effective and
productive.
Conclusion
This paper has identified lack of strategic
thinking as a major shortcoming in
organisations. To remedy this situation, I
have suggested that organisations address
strategic thinking at two different levels, the
individual level and the organisational level.
My analysis has shown that individual
members, particularly senior managers,
should have a holistic understanding of the
organisation and its environment, they
should be creative, and they should have a
vision for the future of the organisation. This
raises two major questions:
(1) Should organisations select for strategic
thinking, in particular when recruiting
senior managers?
(2) Can training enhance the strategic
thinking ability of senior managers?
The answer to the first question is a clear
``yes''. Organisations should design a
selection and assessment process that focuses
more on the applicant's strategic thinking
ability and his or her adaptability to change
and less on traditional selection criteria such
as past performance. As Warren Bennis has
noted:
With the galloping changes that are taking
place demographic, geopolitical, global ± if
you think you can run the business in the
next 10 years the way you did in the last 10
years, you are crazy (Cascio, 1998, p. 234).
The question whether training can enhance
the strategic thinking ability of senior
managers is difficult to answer due to the
lack of research in this area. Clearly, more
research is needed in the ``underrated study
of strategic thinking'' (Garratt, 1995b, p. 2).
This statement is supported by a recent
discussion among a panel of experts in the US
who identified research on strategic thinking
as one of the ten most critical and important
issues for future management research
(Zahra and O'Neill, 1998). One of the research
questions that should be addressed in future
research is the one posed above.
Simply selecting individuals with high
strategic thinking ability or providing
training in this area is not enough to ensure
that strategic thinking manifests itself in the
organisation. As outlined before,
organisations need to create the structures,
processes and systems that foster ongoing
strategic dialogue among the top team and
that take advantage of the ingenuity and
creativity of every employee.
This requires corporate commitment to
innovation and change and the willingness to
involve people throughout the organisation
in the strategy development process. As
discussed above, the Strategic Thinking
Forum is one means to obtain new input from
organisational members. The challenge for
senior managers is to integrate the
information and ideas provided by the
Strategic Thinking Forum in their own
strategic thinking processes and to use it in
their strategic decision making.
Recognising that strategic thinking should
be addressed at both the individual and the
organisational level will enable senior
executives to draw on a wider range of
possible strategies for improving strategic
thinking in their organisation than if they
regard it solely as a matter of individual
thinking styles. Organisations that succeed in
addressing strategic thinking at the two levels
will create a core competency that facilitates
interaction and organisational learning across
Strategic Business Units and functional areas.
This core competency will be difficult for
competitors to imitate, make the organisation
more flexible and adaptable to change, and
help it survive and prosper in the turbulent
environment of the twenty-first century.
Suggestions for further research
There are a number of areas that further
research on strategic thinking should
address. First, there is a need to develop tools
for testing the strategic thinking ability of
senior managers. Although there are a
number of tests available that look at aspects
of strategic thinking, e.g. creativity (Hovecar
and Bachelor, 1989) or divergent thinking
(Torrance, 1974), more comprehensive testing
measures need to be developed. Such
research should lead to the identification of
selection criteria which best predict long-
term strategic thinking ability.
Second, the question whether training can
enhance the strategic thinking ability of
senior managers needs further research as
discussed in the previous section. Finally,
the conceptual framework presented in this
article should be validated by empirical
[ 69 ]
 Ingrid Bonn
Developing strategic thinking
as a core competency
Management Decision
39/1 [2001] 63±70
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)
[ 70 ]
research. Such research should be of
qualitative nature and consist of in-depth
case studies contrasting Strategic Thinking
Companies with a control group of
Comparison Companies.
References
Amabile, T.M. (1998), ``How to kill creativity'',
Harvard Business Review, September/
October, pp. 77-87.
Bonn, I. and Christodoulou, C. (1996), ``From
strategic planning to strategic management'',
Long Range Planning, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 543-51.
Cascio, W.F. (1998), Managing Human Resources
(5th ed.), Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA.
Chatman, J.A., Bell, N.E. and Staw, B.M. (1986),
``The managed thought: the role of self-
justification and impression management in
organizational settings'', in Sims, H.P. Jr and
Gioia, D.A. (Eds), The Thinking Organization,
Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 191-214.
Collins, J.C. and Porras, J.I. (1998), Built to Last,
Century Business, London.
de Bono, E. (1996), Serious Creativity,
HarperCollins Business, London.
de Geus, A. (1997), The Living Company, Nicholas
Brealey Publishing, London.
Eisenhardt, K.M., Kahwajy, J.L. and
Bourgeois, L.J. III (1997), ``Conflict and
strategic choice: how top management teams
disagree'', California Management Review,
Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 42-62.
Garratt, B. (1995a), ``Helicopters and rotting fish:
developing strategic thinking and new roles
for direction-givers'', in Garrat, B. (Ed.),
Developing Strategic Thought ± Rediscovering
the Art of Direction-Giving, McGraw-Hill,
London, pp. 242-55.
Garratt, B. (1995b), ``Introduction'', in Garratt, B.
(Ed.), Developing Strategic Thought ±
Rediscovering the Art of Direction-Giving,
McGraw-Hill, London, pp. 1-8.
Gottliebsen, R. (1999), ``KPMG's range of possible
worlds'', Business Review Weekly, April 23,
pp. 50-2.
Hanford, P. (1995), ``Developing director and
executive competencies in strategic
thinking'', in Garratt, B. (Ed.), Developing
Strategic Thought ± Rediscovering the Art of
Direction-Giving, McGraw-Hill, London,
pp. 157-86.
Heracleous, L. (1998), ``Strategic thinking or
strategic planning?'', Long Range Planning,
Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 481-7.
Application questions
1 What determines the sustainability of
strategic thinking? How can organisations
ensure that strategic thinking remains a
core competency over time?
Hovecar, D. and Bachelor, P. (1989), ``A taxonomy
and critique of measurements used in the
study of creativity'', in Glover, J.A. et al.
(Eds), Handbook of Creativity, Plenum Press,
New York, NY.
Howard, R. (1992), ``The CEO as organizational
architect: an interview with Xerox's Paul
Allaire'', Harvard Business Review,
September/October, pp. 107-21.
Kao, J. (1997), Jamming. The Art and Discipline of
Business Creativity, HarperCollins Business,
London.
Kaufman, R. (1991), Strategic Planning Plus: An
Organizational Guide, Scott Foresman,
Glenview, IL.
Kilmann, R.H., Saxton, M.J. and Sherpa, R. (1986),
``Issues in understanding and changing
culture'', California Management Review,
Vol. 2, pp. 87-94.
Mintzberg, H. (1994), ``The rise and fall of strategic
planning'', Harvard Business Review,
January/February, pp. 107-14.
Porter, M. (1987), ``The state of strategic
thinking'', The Economist, May 23, pp. 19-22.
Robinson, A.G. and Stern, S. (1997), Corporate
Creativity, Business & Professional
Publishing, Warriewood.
Senge, P.M. (1990), The Fifth Discipline, Random
House, Sydney.
Stacey, R.D. (1996), Strategic Management of
Organisational Dynamics, Pitman Publishing,
London.
Thompson, A.A. Jr and Strickland A.J. III
(1999), Strategic Management. Concepts and
Cases (11th ed.), Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston,
MA.
Torrance, E.P. (1974), The Torrance Tests of
Creative Thinking: Technical-norms
Manual, Scholastic Testing Services,
Bensenville, IL.
Viljoen, J. (1994), Strategic Management, 2nd ed.,
Longman, South Melbourne.
Watson, T.J. Jr (1963), A Business and its
Beliefs. The Ideas that Helped Build IBM,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.
Wilson, I. (1994). ``Strategic planning isn't dead ±
it changed'', Long Range Planning, Vol. 27
No. 4, pp. 12-24.
Zahra, S.A. and O'Neill, H.M. (1998), ``Charting
the landscape of global competition:
reflections on emerging organizational
challenges and their implications for senior
executives'', Academy of Management
Executive, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 13-21.
2 What type of training should
organisations provide to enhance the
strategic thinking ability of their senior
executives?
 This article has been cited by:

1. AaltolaPasi, Pasi Aaltola. 2018. Investing in strategic development. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 15:2,
206-230. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
2. DhirSanjay, Sanjay Dhir, DhirSwati, Swati Dhir, SamantaPayel, Payel Samanta. 2018. Defining and developing a scale to
measure strategic thinking. foresight 20:3, 271-288. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
3. Samuel M. Muriithi, Lynette Louw, Sarah E. Radloff. 2018. The relationship between strategic thinking and leadership
effectiveness in Kenyan indigenous banks. South African Journal of Economic and management Sciences 21:1. . [Crossref]
4. Leon Young. Applying Action Research to Strategic Thinking Modelling 259-270. [Crossref]
5. Kürşad Zorlu. Strategic Thinking and Dimensions of Effective Leadership 173-188. [Crossref]
6. Neetu Singh. Operationalizing Analytics - A Composite Application Model 756-766. [Crossref]
7. GoldmanEllen F., Ellen F. Goldman, SchlumpfKaren S., Karen S. Schlumpf, ScottAndrea Richards, Andrea Richards Scott.
2017. Combining practice and theory to assess strategic thinking. Journal of Strategy and Management 10:4, 488-504.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
8. BurcharthAna, Ana Burcharth, Præst KnudsenMette, Mette Præst Knudsen, SøndergaardHelle Alsted, Helle Alsted
Søndergaard. 2017. The role of employee autonomy for open innovation performance. Business Process Management Journal
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)

23:6, 1245-1269. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

9. Syeda Asiya Zenab Kazmi, Marja Naaranoja, Juha Kytola, Jussi Kantola. 2016. Connecting Strategic Thinking with Product
Innovativeness to Reinforce NPD Support Process. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 235, 672-684. [Crossref]
10. Timothy F O’Shannassy. 2016. Strategic intent: The literature, the construct and its role in predicting organization
performance. Journal of Management & Organization 22:05, 583-598. [Crossref]
11. Ellen Goldman, Andrea Richards Scott. 2016. Competency models for assessing strategic thinking. Journal of Strategy and
Management 9:3, 258-280. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
12. BatraSafal, Safal Batra, SharmaSunil, Sunil Sharma, DixitMukund, Mukund Dixit, VohraNeharika, Neharika Vohra. 2016.
Measuring the effectiveness of strategic planning: proposing a second order operationalization. Measuring Business Excellence
20:3, 15-25. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
13. Daniel Reyes-Guerra, John Pisapia, Annie Mick. 2016. The preparation of cognitively agile principals for turnaround schools:
a leadership preparation programme study. School Leadership & Management 36:4, 401-418. [Crossref]
14. Syeda Asiya Zenab Kazmi, Marja Naarananoja, Juha Kytola Wartsila. 2016. Integrating Strategic Thinking and
Transformational Leadership for NPD Idea Support Process. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 229, 387-397. [Crossref]
15. Koushik Dutta. 2016. Dynamic Isomorphism and Decision Maker Attributes. Systemic Practice and Action Research 29:4,
355-377. [Crossref]
16. Zuraida Hani Zulkepli, Norlena Hasnan, Shahimi Mohtar. 2015. Communication and Service Innovation in Small and
Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 211, 437-441. [Crossref]
17. Ellen F. Goldman, Andrea R. Scott, Joseph M. Follman. 2015. Organizational practices to develop strategic thinking. Journal
of Strategy and Management 8:2, 155-175. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
18. Syeda Asiya Zenab Kazmi, Marja Naaranoja. 2015. Cultivating Strategic Thinking in Organizational Leaders by Designing
Supportive Work Environment!. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 181, 43-52. [Crossref]
19. Leiser Silva, Elham Mousavidin. 2015. Strategic thinking in virtual worlds: Studying World of Warcraft. Computers in Human
Behavior 46, 168-180. [Crossref]
20. Jos Timmermans, Sander van der Heiden, Marise Ph. Born. 2014. Policy entrepreneurs in sustainability transitions: Their
personality and leadership profiles assessed. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 13, 96-108. [Crossref]
21. Juan M. Benito-Ostolaza, Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis. 2014. Training strategic thinking: Experimental evidence. Journal of
Business Research 67:5, 785-789. [Crossref]
22. Byeong-Joon Moon. 2013. Antecedents and outcomes of strategic thinking. Journal of Business Research 66:10, 1698-1708.
[Crossref]
23. Polboon Nuntamanop, Ilkka Kauranen, Barbara Igel. 2013. A new model of strategic thinking competency. Journal of Strategy
and Management 6:3, 242-264. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
24. Sibel Karğın, Rabia Aktaş. 2012. Strategic Thinking Skills of Accountants During Adoption of IFRS and the New Turkish
Commercial Code: A Survey from Turkey. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 58, 128-137. [Crossref]
25. Ellen F. Goldman. 2012. Leadership practices that encourage strategic thinking. Journal of Strategy and Management 5:1,
25-40. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
26. Malte L. Peters, Stephan Zelewski. 2011. Emergente Strategien in nachhaltig wirtschaftenden Unternehmen. uwf
UmweltWirtschaftsForum 19:1-2, 83-86. [Crossref]
 27. Abbas Monnavarian, Gita Farmani, Hajar Yajam. 2011. Strategic thinking in Benetton. Business Strategy Series 12:2, 63-72.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
28. Ellen F. Goldman, Andrea Casey. 2010. Building a Culture That Encourages Strategic Thinking. Journal of Leadership &
Organizational Studies 17:2, 119-128. [Crossref]
29. Andrea J. Casey, Ellen F. Goldman. 2010. Enhancing the ability to think strategically: A learning model. Management
Learning 41:2, 167-185. [Crossref]
30. Nicholas O'Regan, Tim Hughes, Lorna Collins, John Tucker. 2010. Strategic thinking in family businesses. Strategic Change
19:1-2, 57-76. [Crossref]
31. Ellen F. Goldman. 2008. Integrating work experiences into teaching. Journal of Strategy and Management 1:1, 93-110.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
32. Alper Celebi. Decision making typologies in strategic planning 1060-1068. [Crossref]
33. Ellen F. Goldman. 2008. The power of work experiences: Characteristics critical to developing expertise in strategic thinking.
Human Resource Development Quarterly 19:3, 217-239. [Crossref]
34. Angie Hart, Derek Blincow, Helen Thomas. 2008. Resilient Therapy: Strategic Therapeutic Engagement with Children in
Crisis. Child Care in Practice 14:2, 131-145. [Crossref]
35. Catherine Bailey, David Butcher. External Perspective — An Under-Utilised Strategic Leadership Capability 35-55. [Crossref]
Downloaded by Biblioteca Universidad Externado de Colombia At 08:13 16 September 2018 (PT)

36. William B. Edgar. 2007. Corporate Library Resource Selection: Exploring Its Support for Corporate Core Competencies.
The Library Quarterly 77:4, 385-408. [Crossref]
37. Iraj Tavakoli, Judith Lawton. 2005. Strategic thinking and knowledge management. Handbook of Business Strategy 6:1,
155-160. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
38. Ingrid Bonn. 2005. Improving strategic thinking: a multilevel approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 26:5,
336-354. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
39. Tim Mazzarol. 2005. A Proposed Framework for the Strategic Management of Small. Small Enterprise Research 13:1, 37-53.
[Crossref]
40. Süleyman Ağraş. The Role of Strategic Thinking Capability of Leaders in Solving Organizational Conflicts 131-147.
[Crossref]