The Influential Factors of Strategic Thinking at the Organizational Level

Abstract

Competition was previously defined based on time, space and resources, but it is increasingly determined as the quality of strategic thinking in terms of opportunities, core competencies and capabilities. Strategic thinking can be used in any organization seeking to gain a competitive edge.  With a focus on improvement, often through creativity and innovation, strategic thinking builds a vision for an organization’s future prior to the linear process of developing a strategic plan. This research was conducted to identify the factors that influence strategic thinking at the organizational level. Vital data were gathered through questionnaire by the sample of 150 respondent from the population of 270 top and mid-level managers of Shiraz municipality. Questionnaire validity was achieved by factor analysis and professor’s opinion and it’s reliability that counted by way of alpha cronbakh was evaluated 0.71. The results of empirical analysis provide evidence that the attitude of firm’s management toward risk taking,the CEO's emphasis on strategic thinking, interdepartmental teams in the organization,reward systems and marketing and technological competency foster strategic thinking, in contrast, formalization and centralization in the organizational structure impede it. The results also show that market and technological turbulence foster strategic thinking at the organizational level.

Keywords: Strategic thinking , Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Competencies , Market turbulence