Strategy and the Strategist: How It Matters Who Develops the Strategy
研究CEO制定战略与外部分析师或内部其他人制定战略的差异，发现CEO制定战略能同时改善战略质量和执行效果，且战略制定者的愿景有助于执行。
This paper addresses primarily two questions. First, when (and why) should a company’s strategy be developed by its CEO versus by some outside analyst or other insider? Second, how does strategy interact with vision (in the sense of a strong belief about the right course of action)? The paper studies these questions using a functional definition of strategy as “the smallest set of choices to optimally guide other choices.” Among other things, the paper shows that strategy formulation by the CEO leads to both better strategy and better execution, and that a strategist’s vision may improve execution. In the process, the paper also identifies criteria that make a decision strategic and derives explanations why strategies often reflect the background of the strategist. This paper was accepted by Bruno Cassiman, business strategy.