Materializing Strategy: The Blurry Line between Strategy Formulation and Strategy Implementation

Abstract

In order to materialize strategy – to bring it into existence both theoretically and practically – strategy makers must have an appreciation for the material through which their strategy will be implemented. In this paper, I argue that a lens that focuses on the materiality of strategy making helps scholars to understand that strategy formulation and strategy implementation are not two distinct sets of activities that occur in sequence. Instead, effective strategies can only be made if executives and other strategy makers begin to think about the kinds of technologies that will enable workers to implement their strategy. I illustrate the importance of this line of thinking through a brief case of an attempt to develop new strategy at a mid‐sized US‐based plumbing fixture company.

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