STRATEGISING IN AND THROUGH MICRO-PRACTICES AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS : A STRUCTURATIONIST PERSPECTIVE

AND SOCIAL CONTEXTS: A STRUCTURATIONIST PERSPECTIVE Linda Rouleau HEC-Montréal The structurationist perspective offers a pertinent avenue of reflection for renewing knowledge in strategy. By considering strategy as a structure of social activity, the structurationist perspective provides an understanding of how strategy, through the use of rules and resources, is produced and reproduced in the interactions of knowledgeable and reflexive agents. To illustrate this point of view, I present two episodes that demonstrate how ties with clientele are transformed in daily life in a top-of-theline clothing company undergoing reorganisation. Analysis of these episodes highlights three micro-practices of structuration of strategy: translating the orientation, disciplining the client, and justifying the change. The analysis also demonstrates that strategic activity is, by overcoding, embedded in contexts such as industry and society. The paper ends by outlining the elements of a structurationist perspective of strategising.