The Practical Relevance of Strategy Education: Evidence from the Lived Experiences of Business School Alumni

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Y

16

Foreign Countries; Theory Practice Relationship; Alumni; Business Administration Education; College Graduates; Masters Degrees; Strategic Planning; Knowledge Level; Job Skills; Competence; Educational Quality; Relevance (Education); Context Effect

10.1177/09504222221135444

0950-4222
2043-6858

This paper presents the findings from a study on the dynamic and nuanced relationship between strategy theory and strategy practice in a South African context. Grounded in a strategy-as-practice perspective and based on an abductive analysis of sixteen semi-structured interviews, the empirical findings deepen our conceptual understanding of how the relationship between strategy theory and strategy practice is constituted. The findings further reveal how practice environments influence the effective use of academic knowledge and skills by graduates in the workplace. Primarily, strategy theory is foundational to effective strategy practice. We theorise that strategy practitioners construct the relevance of strategy theory through adaptation and bricolage to suit complex and eclectic practice contexts. The study findings confirm that strategy theory plays a critical role in shaping and guiding strategy practitioners' praxis. As the ontic sites of knowledge and skills application, practice contexts are important for testing and validating academic knowledge and skills. In this relationship, strategy practitioners are the primary actors who transpose knowledge and skills from academe to business. What they become after completing a qualification is critical.

As Provided

2023

EJ1387416