ABSTRACT
Having detailed in the previous chapter the various “tools” of the strategic man - ager’s trade, we look here in detail at one of those tools, the analysis of the environment. In terms of immediacy and importance, the environment is probably the single most significant driver of strategic success. Indeed, many have argued that
conditions within the environment actually determine the appropriate strategy for the firm. This belief reflects a deterministic view of the strategic process (Bourgeois, 1984; Child, 1972). Recall from Chapter 3 that this deterministic view simply means seeing strategy as a series of known cause and effect relationships, where strategy is developed analytically in response to external forces, and where strategic success reflects the quality of that analysis and those responses.
