S/B/263. Discuss the extent to which the debate relating to deliberate and emergent strategy is helpful in understanding the practice of strategic management in organizations

The paper reports on the debate about the nature of the organisational strategy arguing whether a strategy emerges through experimentation or whether it results from rational deliberation. Porter's "five forces" model is described; the issues of strategic planning are addressed; examples of emergent and deliberate strategies used by various companies are analysed.