Definition and Schools

Strategy and Performance Management

Andy Weeger

Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences

July 22, 2025

Learning objectives

After this section, you should have a solid understanding of

  • the concept of value-based strategy illustrated by the value stick,
  • the difference between value and profit,
  • main value drivers and how they can be implemented,
  • the different perspectives on strategy, the related schools and their impact on strategic management;
  • the phases, outcomes, challenges, and interrelations of the strategic management process;
  • and the difference between strategies and tactics.

You are able to apply the knowledge gained to real-life scenarios to describe and provide explanations for strategic decisions made by firms.

Value-based strategy

In a nutshell

Strategy?
A plan to create value.

It may not be quite that simple, but it’s almost.

Exercise

What is strategy?

In small groups of three or four, discuss what business strategy is and how to recognise a successful business. Identify a company that you can use to illustrate your findings.

What is stratgegy?

Exercise

Get back to your groups, and apply the value stick concept to the company you have used as an illustration in the last exercise and work on the following questions:

  • To what extent do customers demonstrate a willingness to pay for the company’s offerings?
  • What pricing strategy does the company employ?
  • How does the pricing strategy compare to that of competitors?
  • What are the primary costs and how does the company manage these?
  • What factors motivate suppliers or employees to work with the company?
  • How does the company create value for its customers, employees, and suppliers?
  • How does the company capture value (i.e., generate profit) from its operations?

Prepare to present what you found.

What is value-based strategy?

A value-based strategy focuses on creating and capturing value for all stakeholders through willingness to pay, pricing strategy, cost management, and willingness to sell.

Value vs. profit

Value creation is about increasing the total value available to all stakeholders, while value capture is about how much of that value the company retains as profit.

Perspectives on strategy

5 Ps for strategy

Strategy as plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective.

Interrelating the Ps

Some Possible Relationships Between Strategy as Plan, Pattern, Position, Perspective (Mintzberg 1987, 18)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Schools of strategy

Overview

Design, positioning, planning, entrepreneurial, cognitive, learning, power, cultural, environmental & configurational schools

Strategic management

Definition

Strategic management is a process that encompasses the formulation, implementation, and adaptation of cross-functional decisions to achieve organizational objectives (Mintzberg 2014).

Strategic management is process-oriented, deliberate and emergent, and influenced by cognition, politics, and culture.

Phases of strategic management

Phases of strategic management based on (Mintzberg 1987, 70)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategies vs. tactics

Strategies are about what needs to be done, while tactics are about how it will be done.

Competitive advantage

A set of unique attributes or capabilities that enable an organization to outperform its competitors in the marketplace.

Operational effectiveness

Executing similar day-to-day activities better than rivals perform them.

M. Porter (1996) argues that operational efficiency is important, but it cannot be a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Do you agree?

Key takeaways

  • Value-based strategy provides a simple yet comprehensive framework for understanding strategy as value creation and capture
  • Multiple perspectives on strategy (5 Ps) offer different but complementary lenses for understanding strategic management
  • Ten schools provide rich variety of approaches to strategy formation, each with unique insights and limitations
  • Strategic management is a comprehensive process involving formulation, implementation, and evaluation with feedback loops
  • Strategy vs. tactics distinction helps clarify different levels of organizational decision-making
  • Competitive advantage requires more than operational effectiveness - it demands unique positioning and value creation

Review and consolidation

The following questions are designed to review and consolidate what you have learned and are a good starting point for preparing for the exam.

Value-based strategy

Read Felix Oberholzer-Gee’s article about eliminating strategic overload to enhance your understanding of his strategy concept and work on the following questions.

  1. What is a value-based strategy?
  2. According to Oberholzer-Gee, what are the key components of a value-based strategy?
  3. How does creating value for customers, employees, and suppliers contribute to a company’s long-term success?
  4. What is the difference between value and profit?
  5. Describe the main ways a company can create value under a value-based strategy. Through what can these be implemented?
  6. Provide an example of a company that has successfully implemented a value-based strategy. What specific actions did they take?
  7. What advises does Obehrolzer-Gee give with regard to the selection and implementation of strategic initiatives?
  8. What is the difference between value creation and value capturing (e.g., with regards to focus, process, and outcome)?
  9. What are the potential challenges and limitations of implementing a value-based strategy in an organization?
  10. Compare the value-based strategy approach with another strategic management theory you have studied / you will study. What are the key similarities and differences?

General questions

  1. Discuss relationships among strategy as a pattern, plan, and perspective. What do these perspectives imply for strategic management? Give examples.
  2. Edward Deming, a famous businessman, once said, “In God we trust. All others bring data.” What did Deming mean in terms of formulating a strategy? To which school does that attitude belong?
  3. Why are objectives are essential for organizational success?
  4. What role do policies play in the strategic management process? Give examples.
  5. Why is strategy implementation often considered the most difficult stage in the strategic-management process?
  6. Give an example of a recent political development that changed the overall strategy of an organization.

Q&A

Literature

Mintzberg, Henry. 1987. “The Strategy Concept i: Five Ps for Strategy.” California Management Review 30 (1): 11–24.
———. 2014. The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases. Pearson education.
Porter, ME. 1996. “What Is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review 74: 61–78.
Porter, Michael E. 1986. Competition in Global Industries. Harvard Business Press.
Prahalad, Coimbatore K, and Gary Hamel. 2009. “The Core Competence of the Corporation.” In Knowledge and Strategy, 41–59. Routledge.

Footnotes

  1. Goals (or objectives) state what is to be achieved, and by when.

  2. Policies are rules or guidelines that express the limits within which action should occur.

  3. Programs specify the step-by-step sequence of actions necessary to achieve major objectives, i.e. how objectives will be achieved within the limits set by policy.