An evaluation of the relevance of the Miles & Snow strategic typology under present-day conditions of major environmental uncertainty: The emperor's new clothes or a paradigm shift?

Abstract

The traditional approach to strategic management is an essentially rational approach. Present-day realities, however, are characterized by great uncertainty in the environment ('chaos'), making it difficult to achieve relatively stable strategic fit or organizational alignment in the longer term. The dilemma is one of a new paradigm or, will a more contemporary approach within the traditional framework suffice? The Miles and Snow strategic typology represents a case in point for the traditional approach. A comprehensive literature analysis of this approach suggests that the originally postulated framework still applies, even given today's change and uncertainty in the external environment. An empirical analysis of an integrated, and somewhat extended model of Miles and Snow was applied to the South African situation. It confirmed the Miles and Snow requirement for internal consistency but findings with regard to external fit proved inconclusive. South African organizations were found to have an internal and thus short-term focus, making them extremely vulnerable to global competition. The article concludes that strategy today should perhaps better be seen as an extention or redirection of conventional strategy into the realm of a more dynamic, flexible and adaptive approach to strategy, rather than as a total paradigm shift.