Martin Blom

Universitetslektor, Internationella relationer Ekonomihögskolan

Textual objects and strategizing : The influence of documents as active objects on strategic recursiveness

Författare

Martin Blom
Mikael Lundgren

Summary, in English

In this paper, we explore the role of documents as influential objects
in strategizing, especially in terms of how they influence strategic
recursiveness. We do not restrict our study to explicitly strategyrelated
documents (e.g. strategic plans and vision or mission
statements), but include all documents that generally address a
company’s long-term direction. By applying the notions of
authoritative text and epistemic and technical objects, we argue
that documents contribute to strategic recursiveness by
legitimating certain courses of action, as well as delimiting future
action and possibilities of strategic change, including for their
original authors. Over time, this effect becomes self-enhancing as
the text at hand is reproduced in new documents and thereby
further diffused within and outside the organization. We thereby
contribute both to current understandings of strategic
recursiveness and to literature addressing sociomateriality and
strategy.

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