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Title: Coming Full Circle: On the Return of Systems Thinking to Strategic Management

Authors: Gregory Daneke

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: This conceptual overview tracks the development of the study of corporate strategy from its early beginning and its adolescence of atheoretical empiricism to its current reliance on a range of theories. It is suggested the lack of a unifying paradigm, coupled with the popularity of certain modified economic concepts, have produced a significant gap between research and practice. While extremely useful, these concepts fail to fully address the critical issues of turbulence and evolution. This discussion argues for a return to elements of systems thinking and the fashioning of new complex, non-linear dynamical characterizations of strategic choice.

Keywords: Systems thinking; strategic management; corporate strategy; unifying paradigm; non-linear dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.1994.140995

Journal of Business and Management, 1994 Vol.2 No.1, pp.8 - 44

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *