Strategy tools: who really uses them?

This paper reports on an investigation into how managers use tools as they undertake strategic thinking, strategic decision making and strategy implementation. Surveys such as the series undertaken by Bain & Co. suggest that business uses strategy tools extensively. Tools are also a key component in typical MBA teaching and continue to be discussed in literature aimed at practicing managers. At the same time the existence of management fads, and tool skepticism by some managers, suggests ongoing problems with tool use. This paper sheds light on the issue by painting a fuller picture than prior survey-based work of how managers are using strategy tools in context.

The paper uses the term "strategy tool" to encompass the full range of approaches, concepts, ideas and techniques that structure or influence strategy activity. Examples of strategy tools within the scope of the paper are portfolio analysis models, scenario planning, core competence and resource-based approaches, hyper-competition, business process re-engineering, competitive analysis, the balanced scorecard, and lean manufacturing. These tools do not necessarily appear in strategy textbooks, but they do exist in a developed form in strategy-related literature and discourse.

Existing studies of tool use

The most prominent work on strategy tool use is the series of surveys conducted since 1993 by Bain & Co. ([8] Rigby, 2005). These surveys focus on the trends in managers' choices and ratings of tools but do not explore what kind of use lies behind the questionnaire responses. Some of the uses reported are probably superficial. It is also likely that these results do not represent the population surveyed, given reported response rates as low as 1.8 percent. Nevertheless, the analysis in these papers is illuminating, as it begins to shift the focus from tool choice and quality to implementation quality. The surveys show that managers at successful companies were more satisfied with management tools, and some managers reported good outcomes even with tools that others rated poorly.

Academic studies paint a mixed picture of tool use by managers. Analysis tools do seem to be in widespread use, but some users think they inhibit communication. Others would like better information about using tools effectively. In strategy workshops, managers deploy tools for facilitative purposes and not for analysis ([5] Hodgkinson et al. , 2006)....