Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. The Poverty of Strategy
  • Cited by 4
      • Robin Holt, University of Bristol Business School, Mike Zundel, University of Liverpool Management School
      Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      July 2023
      June 2023
      ISBN:
      9781316577141
      9781107150324
      9781316604717
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316577141
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.7kg, 390 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.57kg, 390 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Strategic Management, Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy, Management
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Strategic Management, Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy, Management
    Information

    Book description

    At least since the ancient Greeks, strategists have sought to direct and distinguish organized activity through planned, rational decision-making, through the imaginative creation of vision, or through the assertion of will. In all cases, argue Holt and Zundel, strategy impoverishes, not because it only ever offers limited view of organized life, but because it is dedicated to concealing these limits behind grand generalities. The situation is exacerbated when machines and algorithms, not humans, organize. Holt and Zundel draw on philosophy, literature, media theory, art, mathematics, computing and military thinking in an attempt to rescue strategy by isolating what, they argue, remains its essence: strategy is a continual organizational struggle towards authenticity. This, too, is a condition of poverty, but one that sets in place an unhomely condition of questionability as opposed to one of distinctive settlement. It is, argue Holt and Zundel, the sole gift of strategy to thoughtfully refuse rather than impose, organizational imperatives.

    Reviews

    ‘This is a fascinating and important book, beautifully literate, very imaginative, stimulating, and challenging, especially for those under the illusion that ‘strategy’ is a straightforward term. The metaphor of the poverty of strategy, which essentially turns poverty on its head, is brilliant. For anyone who wants to see paradox enacted in practice, here is the place to look. This book is a gift to us all.’

    Jean M. Bartunek - Professor of Management and Organization, Boston College

    ‘Combining Nietzschean gaiety with the political sobriety of Hannah Arendt, The Poverty of Strategy rewrites the theory of organisational strategy as an open-ended response to Alan Turing’s implied question: Who am I? From the ruins of the ancient polis to artificial intelligence, Holt and Zundel deftly turn managerial reason inside out to discover irreverent, unfixed life lurking in the shadows of modernity’s most hermetic machines.’

    Reinhold Martin - Professor of Architecture in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents
    References

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.