Strategic Thinking

The central research topic of the article “Enhancing the Ability to think strategically: A learning model” (Casey and Goldman 2010) is Strategic thinking, the various methods and ways individuals and firms develop the learning of their management. The purpose of the article, based on reading the context is to address the issues in strategic thinking theories and propose a research model for strategic thinking. After a series of study on other works on strategic thinking, and based on other literature on strategy, cognition and adult learning, the authors came to this conclusion that “Strategic thinking is an individual activity undertaken to benefit organizations: we have adopted an emergent view of strategy and identified four major activities as strategic thinking in action: Scanning, questioning, conceptualizing and testing. The knowledge required to perform effective strategic thinking is factual, procedural, conceptual and self-knowledge” (Casey and Goldman, 2010).

The article is logical because it clearly implies a common point of reasoning. Although some divergent views where cited, it was only to draw the reader’s attention to the authors point of reasoning, which is that strategic thinking in action is a product of scanning patterns, questioning perspectives, conceptualising possibilities and testing performance of work experiences, organizational influences , and knowledge acquired based on individual differences (Casey & Goldman, 2010). The articles strength is that it clearly shows that the authors had done some research o the topic, the article had been peer-viewed, it is logically structured , written in the scholarly voice and all sources where cited, however the article has too many quotes and citations. A reference used that further establishes the authors view is by Mintzberg et al (1998) that “ experience is key to developing strategic thinking in the learning school”. Another is Levi’s work on Group dynamics for teams (2007) where he states “In term of team structure, member diversity and power-sharing enhance judgement and creativity in strategic thinking”.

References

Casey, A. & Goldman, E. (2010) “Enhancing the ability to think strategically: A learning model”, Management learning, 41, 167 -185. Retrieved from,
mlq.sagepub.com @ Walden University on March 23, 2011. Paul, R & Elder, L (2009) The miniature guide to Critical thinking concept and tools. The foundation for critical thinking. Levi, D (2007) Group Dynamics for Teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B and Lampel, J. (1998) Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through The Wilds Of Strategic Management. New York: Free Press.