Mission
The mission of the Strategy as Practice Study Group (GéPS) is to facilitate the development of collaborative research on the general theme of “Strategy as Practice” notably by building on the expertise and interests of several researchers located at or linked with HEC Montréal.

What is “Strategy as Practice”?
Within the broader strategic management field, the “Strategy as Practice” perspective  is an approach that considers strategy as an activity – as something that people do, rather than as something that a firm has. As such, it focuses on the concrete activities carried out by strategy practitioners such as the way in which they mobilize the tools of practice or the skills and roles they adopt when engaging in strategic activity whether they be formal leaders, middle managers, consultants, or professionals). Also of interest is the performance of different strategic practices, the routines, interactions and conversations that lead to the definition and enactment of strategy, as well as the linkages between these practices and their organizational and institutional contexts. From this perspectice, strategy concerns individuals at all levels of an organization, and as such is not viewed as a practice that is necessarily the exclusive domain of top managers.

The strategy as practice perspective draws inspiration from the practice turn in social theory, and in particular, theories of social practice such as structuration theory, actor-network theory, sensemaking theory, situated learning theory, and conventionalist theory. In line with this, its research methods are often, though not exclusively qualitative and include ethnography, interviewing and discourse analysis.

Objectives
The objectives of the group are:

  1. To undertake research in the area of strategy as practice and related topics;
  2. To serve as a centre for exchange among researchers, students and practitioners interested in strategic practices both locally and internationally;
  3. To encourage new research collaborations;
  4. To showcase the expertise of researchers at or associated with HEC Montréal in this field.