Choosing the Right Control System for Organizational Strategies

In this book we focus on three organizational strategies, the innovators, the defenders and the prospectors. Given the multifaceted character of the concept of strategy, a number of different definitions have been developed in the literature, each on a particular basis. One of such definitions focus on the 'rate of change of products or markets' (Miles et al., 1978), whereas some other on 'product innovation' (Miller and Roth, 1994). This study is thus, based on a mixed strategic typology combining the innovators of Miller and Roth (1994) and the defenders and prospectors of Miles et al. (1978). Innovators put most importance to their capacity to change products or services quickly according to the need of the market. Whereas, the defenders are most suitable for a stable market and its management is not concerned about the changes in its environment and restrict the entry of others in its domain. The prospectors on the other hand, perform in an environment that is more dynamic than the defenders. The background research for this book underline the critical differences of various management practices in the above mentioned three types of organizational strategies.