Abstract

This paper draws together the ethnographic and ethnomethodological/conversation analytic traditions to outline an innovative and multidisciplinary approach for researching strategists-at-work. Ethnography is premised upon close-up observation of naturally occuring routines over time/space dimensions and ethnomethodology/conversation analysis, upon a study of people's practices and inherent tacit ‘methods’ for doing social and political life, much of which is accomplished through talk. Through the observation and recording of strategists talk-based interactive routines and from drawing upon seminal studies within the social sciences, the paper aims to map out a number of analytical routes for a fine-grained analysis of strategists' linguistic skills and forms of knowledge for strategizing. This includes their speaking of morals and the assembly of emotion as they construct a shared definition of the future. To illustrate the approach and its scope, the paper draws upon one ethnomethodologically informed ethnography. It will specifically focus upon aspects of the relational-rhetorical basis of strategic effectiveness as constituted by one strategist who was judged, from amongst a group of six, to have influenced strategic processes.

Editors' introduction

More than any other paper presented in this book, this article gets down to the micro level of doing strategy. It first appeared in the 2003 special issue of Journal of Management Studies on micro strategy and strategizing, and it was chosen for this book both because of its clear contribution to research on the practice of strategy and because of its innovative methodological approach (i.e. conversation analysis, see chapter 3).

In substantive terms, the paper shows how strategists can shape strategic direction in interaction with their colleagues.