Corporate strategy development and related management development: the case for the incremental approach, part 1 – the development of strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the case for the incremental development of corporate strategy and related issues of management development. Design/methodology/approach – A background in consultancy and management development in the UK and abroad is used to examine the potential dangers of radical and comprehensive innovations in corporate strategy and the potential benefits of an incremental approach. In addition, recent developments and examples are referred to as well as relevant literature. Findings – The paper finds that there are two main potential dangers with the development of a comprehensive corporate strategy. The first is that the exercise may prove to be so daunting that it is effectively abandoned. The second is that comprehensive strategy innovations are based on too narrow a consideration of the issues and may be counter‐productive. A broad based consideration of corporate strategy may create a greater emphasis on the incremental approach. Research limitations/implications – Examples partly from consultancy work have been relied on to make the case for a greater emphasis on the incremental development of corporate strategy and related academic coverage of the subject. The paper's main thesis is that if the process whereby strategy is developed is deficient, then the results may well be counter‐productive. This is especially likely if comprehensive change is planned. Originality/value – The two‐part paper is a necessary examination of the dangers of corporate strategy development that is based on too narrow a range of functions and disciplines. The same limitations can be replicated in academic coverage of the area. The paper is meant to engender a necessary scepticism about the way corporate strategy can be realistically developed. Constructive advice is also given about broad‐based strategy development and related management learning and development issues.