Aspiration alignment: a hidden key to competitive advantage

Purpose – To highlight weaknesses in typical analytical approaches to developing strategy and suggest ways of overcoming them Design/methodology/approach – Explain some typical problems by examples; analyse their causes; describe an approach to resolve them by changing the approach to developing strategy Findings – Broadening the approach to strategy by systematically including an analysis of emotional and political forces, and recognising that ”blinkers” are an integral feature of any ”rational” model, enable the development of more effective strategies. Originality/value – A tested approach for overcoming problems of misalignment in strategy.