Towards strategy formulation in a complex environment

Abstract

The management sciences offer mainly linear solutions to an environment that is becoming increasingly complex. This is aggravated by the need for innovation outcomes. Formulating and implementing strategy is therefore far more complicated. Since developing economies face far less stable environments, businesses operating in these domains are more accustomed (even adept) to deal with complexity. This article compares the deployment of complexity in strategy to achieve innovation in either a developing or a developed economy setting. From interviews conducted with selected CEOs from both economies, it was found that the businesses in the developing economies include complexity factors in their strategies whereas those in developed economies focus on operational excellence and not on complexity. Therefore, at this point, businesses in developed economies may want to explore the strategies adopted by those in developing economies to accommodate diversity and the dynamic environment that require innovations.

Keywords

• ambidexterity
• complexity
• developed economies
• developing