The Marketing Book 5th Edition

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The basics of marketing strategy 55

psychologists, social anthropologists and, if
they are a distinct discipline, systems theorists.
However, the key change in emphasis has
been the one from analysis to process, from
formulation to implementation. Perhaps the
single most important contributor to this
change has been Henry Mintzberg, who has
developed over the period an extensive critique
of what he calls the ‘Design School’ in Strategic
Management, culminating in his 1994 book. In
this he even challenges the notion of planning
in strategy:

Thus we arrive at the planning school’s grand

fallacy: because analysis is not synthesis, strate-

gic planning is not strategy formation. Analysis

may precede and support synthesis, by defining

the parts that can be combined into wholes.

Analysis may follow and elaborate synthesis,

by decomposing and formalising its conse-

quences. But analysis cannot substitute for

synthesis. No amount of elaboration will ever

enable formal procedures to forecast disconti-

nuities, to inform managers who are detached

from their operations, to create novel strategies.

Ultimately the term ‘strategic planning’ has

proved to be an oxymoron.

(p. 321)

Whilst his approach and indeed critique of

strategy analysis is itself rather polemical and

overstated,^2 there is little doubt that the general

emphasis in strategic management has shifted

significantly towards implementation and

away from formulation and planning.

The nature of the competitive market environment

As our analysis of marketing strategy has

developed over the last 30 years, so our

representation of the marketing context has

also changed.

As an example, Figure 4.1 is an overhead

which the author used 30 years ago in describ-

ing the nature of the marketing context. A

number of major omissions are clear. In partic-

ular, there is no recognition of competitors and

Figure 4.1 The early 1970s perspective on the marketing context

(^2) In fact, Mintzberg himself goes on to argue three roles
for ‘corporate planning’: (1) a more refined approach in
traditional contexts; (2) a focus on techniques which
emphasize the uncertain and emergent nature of strategic
phenomena; and/or (3) a more creative and intuitive form
of strategic planning (see Wensley, 1996a).