Week 5 – Assignment: Improve Limitations on Public Organizations
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Strategicmanagementandperformanceinpublicorganizations.pdf
Title:
Strategic Management and Performance in Public Organizations: Findings from the Miles and Snow
Framework
Authors:
Walker, Richard M.
Source:
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW; SEP 2013, 73 5, p675-p685, 11p.
Publisher Copyright:
WILEY-BLACKWELL
ISSN:
00333352
15406210
DOI:
10.1111/puar.12073
Document Type:
Journal
Language:
English
Accession Number:
000324390400005
Copyright:
Copyright (c) Clarivate Analytics Web of Science
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Organizations: Findings from the Miles and Snow Framework</A>
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Strategic Management and Performance in Public Organizations: Findings from the Miles and Snow
Framework.
This article integrates the research evidence that applies Miles and Snow's strategic management
framework to the performance of public agencies. Miles and Snow developed several strategy types,
arguing that prospectors (searching for new approaches) and defenders (sticking with the existing
pattern of services) are aligned with processes, structures, and the environment in ways that lead them
to outperform reactors (awaiting for instructions from the environment), which have no consistent
strategy or alignment. Six key lessons for the practice of strategic management in public organizations
are provided based on a critical review. Findings point toward the importance of employing a mix of
strategies in public organizations, contrary to Miles and Snow—a strong evidence base for the
association between prospecting and defending and performance and for relationships between
strategy types and processes and structures. However, no empirical evidence is provided for alignment
across strategy, structure, process, and the environment. The findings, largely derived from the United
Kingdom and United States, suggest that the most successful strategy recipe depends on the
ingredients, and thus managers must pay attention to the connections between the outlined
contingencies to generate the best results using the adopted strategy.
Strategic management is an area of academic inquiry and organizational practice that examines the
relationships between strategic aims, processes, and content, typically using a contingency framework,
which posits that successful organizations adapt to their environment in the pursuit of higher
performance (Donaldson [ 32] ; Thompson [ 68] ). A body of theoretical and empirical work has now
been undertaken on strategic management in public organizations to examine questions of aims (Moore
[ 48] ; Poister and Streib [ 54] ), strategic processes (Berry [ 13] ; Bryson [ 20] ; Moore [ 48] ), strategy
content (Boyne and Walker [ 16] ; Joldersma and Winter [ 40] ), and relationships with internal
management practices and the external environment (Boschken [ 14] ; Greenwood [ 36] ; Lane and
Wallis [ 41] ). However, studies examining the consequences of strategy for performance are more
recent (Johansen [ 39] ; Naranjo‐Gil [ 49] ).
Strategic management has become more important in public organizations because increased emphasis
has been placed on attaining higher levels of performance (Poister, Pitts, and Edwards [ 53] ). A focus on
goals, planning processes, and innovation sits at the heart of the reforms associated with the New Public
Management, while citizen expectations of public services continue to grow, requiring more strategic
responses to meet those needs (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2012; Walker, Boyne and Brewer 2010). The
literature offers a number of theoretical strategic management frameworks (see, e.g., Mintzberg,
Ahlstrand, and Lampel [ 47] ). This review integrates the quantitative research evidence that applies
Miles and Snow's ([ 45] ) strategic management typologies to public agencies.[ 1] Miles and Snow's
framework is examined because it is both comprehensive—examining aims, strategy content, processes,
structure, context, and their relationship to organizational performance—and generic. This article
identifies six key lessons gathered from the research on the practice of strategic management in public
organizations, based on the effectiveness of strategy choices and the alignment of strategy with
environmental conditions and internal processes and structures.
This article identifies six key lessons gathered from the research on the practice of strategic
management in public organizations, based on the effectiveness of strategy choices and the alignment
of strategy with environmental conditions and internal processes and structures.
Strategic Management and Public Organizations
A number of strategic management frameworks have been developed for public organizations (e.g.,
Stevens and McGowen [ 66] ; Wechsler and Backoff [ 73] ). Boyne and Walker ([ 16] ) argue that many of
these conflate aspects of strategy—aims, processes, and content (e.g., Nutt and Backoff [ 50] ; Rubin [
61] )—suggesting that the generic framework offered by Miles and Snow is suited, with some
adaptation, to public organizations. Specifically, it is important to distinguish between aims, strategy
content, and strategy processes, not least so that the theoretical and empirical connections between
them can be explored.
Miles and Snow's generic typology was developed from detailed case study work in a number of
business sectors, including nonprofit hospitals. The majority of the empirical tests used to assess this
widely examined framework have been conducted in private firms (Ramos‐Rodríguez and Ruíz‐Navarro [
58] ; Zahra and Pearce 1990). While political authority extends across private organizations, political
institutions and oversight bodies set the goals and objectives of public organizations much more directly
(Bozeman [ 18] ; Rainey [ 57] ). This is an important characteristic of public sector strategic management
because it determines the powers and responsibilities of public organizations. The nature of public
organizations’ aims is largely exogenous, as they are typically determined by legislation and by the
desires of the political priorities of the government of the day. Any assessment of the influence of
strategy content and processes must take account of this.[ 2]
Miles and Snow
The strategic archetypes of defender, prospector, analyzer, and reactor are perhaps the best‐known
aspects of the Miles and Snow framework. These strategy types are a summary or shorthand of the
ways in which organizations coalign with their environments and respond to the three major adaptive
cycle problems and solutions: entrepreneurial, engineering, and administrative (see table [NaN] ).
Solutions to the entrepreneurial problems—definition of the service domain—and the engineering
problems—technological and processes to resolve entrepreneurial problems—constitute an
organization's strategy content, that is, the ways in which the organization seeks to achieve the
objectives that have been selected (or selected for it). Solutions to the administrative problems
(organizational structure, policy, and process) are complex; they require managers to establish
structures and processes that rationalize the strategic decisions that have already been made (lagging)
while considering how such processes and structures may affect the future capacity to adapt to
changing circumstances (leading). Mature organizations address and resolve these problems
simultaneously, although table [NaN] organizes them sequentially for ease of presentation.
Miles and Snow note that the typology “specifies relationships among strategy, structure, and process to
the point where entire organizations can be portrayed as integrated wholes in dynamic interaction with
their environments” (1978, 30). Effective organizations resolve the entrepreneurial, engineering, and
administrative problems and achieve successful alignment, or strategic fit, of strategy, structure,
process, and environment (see table [NaN] in for defenders, prospectors, and reactors). However, not
every strategy type is associated with effectiveness. Miles and Snow propose that alignment is achieved
successfully for defenders, prospectors, and analyzers, whereas reactors lack alignment and
consequently exhibit poorer performance. The relationships between strategy, structure, process, and
environment reflect those sketched out in contingency theory (Lawrence and Lorsch 1967; Scott [ 63] ;
Thompson [ 68] ).
Strategy content, or strategic stance, relates to a series of questions about how an organization
responds to the problems and solutions (entrepreneurial) generated by its domain and services and by
the technologies and processes that it uses (engineering). Does an organization actively seek new
opportunities to apply innovations to existing services and opportunities? Does it respond to changing
organizational contexts? Is it proactive and future orientated? Miles and Snow describe this type of
organization as a prospector. Does an organization concentrate its efforts on procedures rather than
products, seeking to maintain a stable portfolio of services that are delivered reliably and at low cost?
Does it adopt tried and tested innovations? Is it focused on core business and efficiency? Miles and
Snow characterize such organizations as defenders. Does an organization watch others for new ideas?
Does it try to quickly adopt practices that appear to be the most hopeful? Is it seeking risk‐adjusted
efficiency? This type is referred to as an analyzer, a hybrid strategy between a defender and a
prospector. Does an organization see change and uncertainty in the environment but does not have a
consistent and coherent strategy? Is action only taken when instructed by powerful actors in its
environment, such as higher levels of government or regulatory agencies? Miles and Snow describe such
organizations as reactors.
Miles and Snow sketch the relationships between strategy, process, and structure, arguing that
organizations adopt the strategy that is best suited to their circumstances. Prospectors adopt “logical
incremental” approaches (Quinn [ 56] ) to strategy formulation, implementation, and decentralized
structures, which permit quick responses to changing environmental conditions. The preferred strategy
process of a prospector comprises hunches, intuition, and a reliance on the push and pull of
organizational politics (Elbanna [ 33] ; Quinn [ 56] ). Defenders use “rational” processes (Elbanna [ 33] )
and centralized structures to achieve higher performance. Defenders undertake a lot of formal planning,
collecting and analyzing large amounts of data on service needs, evaluating the options for meeting
those needs, and using sophisticated techniques to weigh the costs and benefits of each option (Bryson,
Berry, and Yang [ 21] ; Elbanna [ 33] ; Mintzberg [ 46] ). They adopt a centralized structure to maintain
control over efficient services that focus on core business or service goals. Analyzers adopt intermediate
structures and processes that depend on the emphasis on proactive or conservative strategy. Reacting is
characterized by an absence of strategy, along with inconsistent structures and processes. The inability
to solve the entrepreneurial and engineering problems leads to the misalignment of administrative
problems and solutions, which results in poor performance.
Regarding responses to the environment, Miles and Snow build on contingency theory, claiming that an
organic structure is required in an uncertain environment, whereas a mechanistic structure is preferable
in a predictable and stable environment (Burns and Stalker [ 22] ; Lawrence and Lorsch [ 42] ). This
implies that a prospecting strategy should work best in an uncertain environment. Defending, by
contrast, should be an especially effective strategy in the presence of environmental certainty. Miles
and Snow's arguments suggest that reacting is not consistently linked to any specific set of external
circumstances. However, while reactors “do not possess a set of mechanisms that allows them to
respond consistently to their environments over time” (Miles and Snow [ 45] , 93), a dynamic and
unpredictable environment may lead such organizations to seek cues from other external actors about
the best way to respond to these circumstances.
Integrating Empirical Evidence of Strategy and Performance
The empirical literature on Miles and Snow was located using Google Scholar. The search terms used
included “Miles and Snow” AND “performance,” “effectiveness,” “efficiency,” “consequences,” AND
“public” (and derivatives thereof). The search terms were kept broad so as not to omit studies. Peer‐
reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters were selected as the unit of analysis because they
have been subject to review prior to publication and therefore should meet the basic requirements of
theoretical and methodological rigor. Once publications were identified using these terms, they were
examined in further detail, and only studies that included public organizations as the unit of analysis,
Miles and Snow, and organizational performance were included. Publications were excluded if, for
example, they were not empirical, performance was not the dependent variable, they contained partial
statistical data, case studies were presented, or they were conceptual pieces. Careful reading of the
articles led to a final sample of 25 empirical studies that contained full tables of statistical results.[ 3]
Miles and Snow sketch the relationships between strategy, process, and structure, arguing that
organizations adopt the strategy that is best suited to their circumstances.
The support score method was used to integrate the results of the empirical evidence because the
majority of studies reported multiple regression techniques rather than correlations (Boyne [ 15] ;
Damanpour [ 27] ).[ 4] The support score method is based on the percentage of statistical tests that
support the hypothesis, which states that strategy content and alignment on other variables results in
higher levels of performance. To count as support, results must be in the direction predicted by Miles
and Snow (prospectors and defenders are positively associated with performance, whereas reactors
have no performance effect),[ 5] and the results must be statistically significant, that is, greater than
would be likely to arise by chance alone (p < .05). If these criteria are applied to all of the tests in a single
study, then a support score can be calculated as a percentage of all of the tests reported in the study
(which ranged from 1 to 66 in the publications reviewed).
An aggregate support score can be calculated across all of the studies in at least two ways (Boyne [ 15] ;
Rosenthal [ 60] ). First, the support score for each study can be treated equally, regardless of whether it
contains 1 or 300 tests. Second, each study can be weighted (multiplied) by the number of tests in that
study so that an equal weight is attached to each test rather than to each study. The weighted mean has
the advantage: studies that report only a small number of tests do not have a disproportionate influence
on the analysis. The advantage of the unweighted mean is that studies that conduct a large number of
tests on the same data set are not given undue importance. The real level of support probably lies
somewhere between the unweighted and weighted figures. As a result, the following decision rule was
implemented: to determine strong support, both support scores should be greater than 50 percent,
partial support is signaled when either the weighted or unweighted score is more than 50 percent, and
no support is offered when the scores fall below 50 percent (Boyne [ 15] ; Damanpour [ 27] ).
Characteristics of the Studies
Table [NaN] presents the characteristics of the Miles and Snow studies in public settings. The studies
were all conducted over a 25‐year period; only one study was published in the 1980s, three in the 1990s
15 in the 2000s, and six between 2010 and 2012. The United States (12 studies) and United Kingdom (11
studies) dominate the sample, with one study each from China and Spain. Non‐U.S. studies reported
much higher support scores (73 percent and 76 percent weighted and unweighted, respectively) than
studies based in the United States (43 percent and 50 percent weighted and unweighted, respectively).
The studies captured a range of public services: 11 studies examined local governments (all in the United
Kingdom), while four U.S. school districts were examined, along with seven hospitals and nursing
facilities, leaving one study each based in higher education and state‐owned enterprises.
Characteristics of Studies and Support Scores
Study Sample Unit of Analysis Country M&S IV DV Analysis Data Support Scores
No tests + Ns –
Zahra (75) 68 H U.S. SC P p χ2 CS 28 39 14
46
Young, Beekun, and Ginn (74) 370 H U.S. SC & ST P a β CS 4
50 0 50
Brock (19) 95 HE U.S. SC & P S‐C p χ2 CS 2 0 100
0
Abernethy and Brownell (1) 63 H U.S. SC & P P p β CS 1
100 0 0
Davies et al. (28) 308 N U.S. SC, SC & ST S p β CS 3
67 33 0
Cunningham (25) 172 Uni U.S. SC P a M CS 9 56
0 44
Short, Palmer, and Ketchen (64) 85 H U.S. SC S a β L 6
33 50 17
Tan (67) 56 SOE China SC S p β CS 3 100 0
0
Castle (23) 416 N U.S. SC P a β CS 20 85 15
0
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2005) 80 LG U.K. SC S a/p β
L 9 67 33 0
Andrews, Boyne, and Walker (12) 119 LG U.K. SC S a/p β L
3 67 33 0
Johansen (39) 3,657 SD U.S. SC, SC & P S a β P 6 67
33 0
Meier et al. 44 3,041 SD U.S. SC S a β P 30 20 57
13
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2008) 51 LG U.K. SC, SC & EN S a
β L 12 75 25 0
Enticott and Walker (34) 72 LG U.K. SC S a/p β CS & L 6
67 33 0
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2009a) 47 LG U.K. SC, SC & ST S a
β L 6 83 17 0
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2009b) 90 LG U.K. SC & P S a β
L 3 100 0 0
Naranjo‐Gil (49) 112 H Spain SC & P P‐S a β CS 4 50 50
0
Walker and Brewer (72) 135 LG U.K. SC & ST S a/p β CS & L 6 100
0 0
Meier et al. (43) 3,041 SD U.S. SC, SC & EN, SC & ST S a β P 66
39 29 32
Walker et al. (2010) 101 LG U.K. SC S a/p β L 12 50
0 50
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2011) 40 LG U.K. SC, SC & P S a
β L 3 100 0 0
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2012) 58 LG U.K. SC, SC & P, SC & EN S
a β L 12 50 42 8
Andrews, Boyne, Meier et al. (2012) 178 LG U.K. SC S a/p β P
30 80 0 20
Owens and Kukla‐Acevedo (51) 2,490 SD U.S. SC & EN S a β P 13
38 62 0
Total number of studies 25
Total number of tests 297
Unweighted support score 63 25 11
Weighted support score 54 27 20
1 Notes:
2 Unit of analysis: H = hospital, HE = higher education, LG = local government, N = nursing homes,
SD = school district, SOE = state‐owned enterprise, U = university.
3 M&S: SC = strategy content, ST = structure, P = processes, EN = environment.
4 IV, independent variable: P = paragraph, S‐C = scale converted to categorical data, S = scale, P‐
S = paragraph with scale.
5 DV, dependent variable: p = perceptual (survey), a = archival (secondary data).
6 Analysis: M = MANOVA, χ2 = non parametric, r = correlation, β = regression.
7 Data: CS = cross‐section, P = panel, L = lagged.
The average sample size is 598; however, a small number of studies with large samples right‐skewed the
distribution. The median sample size is 101, which would appear to have limited influence on the
results. Those with a sample below the median offer a weighted support score of 58 percent (68 percent
unweighted), whereas those with a sample above the median offer a 52 percent weighted support score
(59 percent unweighted). The studies employed a mix of research designs, but the effect of this on the
resultant support scores is not particularly marked. The cross‐sectional and lagged or panel studies
reported weighted support scores of 60 percent and 52 percent, respectively, and unweighted scores of
65 percent.
Sample size and data structure do not appear to unduly influence the support score. However, there are
a number of other research design issues that need to be borne in mind when interpreting the findings
presented here. Many of the designs do not address questions about the ways in which performance
affects strategy. The possibility for reverse causality is only examined in a small number of studies that
use a prior‐performance variable to control for the impact of performance over time (see, e.g., Andrews,
Boyne, Meier et al. 2012; Walker et al. 2010). Relatedly, none of the studies controls for the
characteristics of organizations that might influence strategy content (i.e., do the aims given to some
public organizations make them tend toward a particular strategy?). Finally, the focus of the studies is
predominantly on two countries, the United Kingdom and United States, raising concerns about
generalization.
Support for Miles and Snow?
The support score for the studies examining Miles and Snow's influence on the performance of public
service organizations is reported in table [NaN] , covering the range of permutations for the Miles and
Snow model implemented in these publications; the overall support score is strong, with weighted and
unweighted scores greater than 50 percent (54 percent and 63 percent, respectively). These positive
scores from a range of studies in varying settings indicate that the framework has veracity in public
organizations.
While the overall support score is strong, table [NaN] indicates somewhat uneven coverage of the Miles
and Snow framework. A fully specified model testing the archetypes would simultaneously examine the
relationships among strategy, structure, process, environment, and performance. An examination of
these connections would require a four‐way interaction in a regression model or the use of alternative
estimation techniques such as structural equation models. One study moved toward modeling the
framework by examining strategy, structure, and environment and their performance consequences in a
large data set of Texas school districts (Meier et al. [ 43] ). Twelve studies examined the bivariate
associations between strategy and internal variables, and four others explored such associations
between strategy and the environment. However, the largest number of studies, 17, analyzed the direct
relationships between strategy content and performance.
Strategy Content and Performance
Finding 1: A mix of strategies matters
Miles and Snow propose that organizations adopt a single strategic archetype as prospectors, defenders,
analyzers, or reactors. This produces categorical measurement—an organization can only be a defender
or a prospector. A “paragraphing” approach that described the strategic archetype was widely used for
measurement in early work (e.g., Snow and Hambrick [ 65] ; Greenwood [ 36] in the public sector). This
was later adapted to scales with decision rules to identify a single approach (Conant, Mokwa, and
Varadarajan [ 24] ; DeSarbo et al. [ 30] ). Table [NaN] suggests a somewhat different approach in public
sector studies, with five studies adopting categorical measurement and the balance using scales that
allow strategies to vary within organizations. Table [NaN] provides illustrations of these differing
approaches to measurement, with examples from defenders and prospectors.
Illustrations of Approaches to Measurement
The paragraphing or categorical approach
Respondents are asked select one of four descriptions strategy type descriptions. The following are
taken from Greenwood (36, 310–11):
TYPE A. This type of local authority prefers stability to experimentation and innovation. It concentrates
resources upon statutorily prescribed services and makes a deliberate effort to provide stability in their
provision. Established and understood ways of working are preferred. A central concern is to make the
local authority more efficient. (D)
TYPE C. This type of local authority actively seeks new opportunities and challenges. New kinds of
services and new ways of working are vigorously sought and implemented. The local authority values
being “first in” on service developments and ways of working, even though some experiments will be
unsuccessful. Continual innovation and experimentation are preferred to stability. (P)
Multi‐item scales used to create categories
Multi‐item scales are used that capture the four strategy types within the entrepreneurial, engineering,
and administrative problems. The following is an example of questions from the administrative problem
from Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990, 381–82); respondents choose one option.
In comparison to other HMOs, the structure of my organization is:
Functional in nature (i.e. organized by department—marketing, accounting, personnel etc.) (D)
Service or market orientated (i.e., departments like pediatrics or Ob/Gyn have marketing or
accountability responsibilities). (P)
Primarily functional (departmental) in nature; however, a service‐ or market‐orientated structure does
exist in newer or larger services offering areas. (A)
Continually changing to enable us to meet opportunities and solve problems as they arise. (R)
Scales allowing strategy to vary
Multi‐item scales are used to capture the three strategy types and respondents reply on Likert scales
(questions from Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2012, 62).
We continually redefine our service priorities. (P)
We seek to be first to identify new modes of delivery. (P)
Search for new opportunities is a major part of our overall strategy. (P)
We seek to maintain stable service priorities. (D)
The service emphasizes efficiency of provision. (D)
We focus on our core activities. (D)
8 Key: (A) = analyzer, (D) = defender, (P) = prospector, (R) = reactor.
Boyne and Walker argue the case for mixed strategies, as outlined in the lower third of table [NaN] .
They suggest that organizations pursue a range of strategies because they are not “a ‘cat,’ a ‘fish’ or a
‘dog’ … strategies are not like species of animals because they can be mixed and combined” (2004, 235).
Analyzers share characteristics with prospectors and defenders, and they are rarely “first movers,” but
rather “watch their competitors closely for new ideas, and … rapidly adopt those which appear to be
most promising” (Miles and Snow [ 45] , 29). The analyzer category is recognized as a hybrid between
defending and prospecting (Miles and Snow [ 45] ; Tan [ 67] ). If organizations adopt a single strategic
stance, then it is necessary to include the analyzer category. However, if strategy is seen to vary,
organizations that display both prospecting and defending characteristics possess the features of an
analyzer (Naranjo‐Gil [ 49] ; Walker and Ruekert [ 69] ). To capture the notion that strategy varies,
measurement needs to move away from the use of descriptions that capture all features of the strategic
stance in one paragraph and toward scales. The evidence on measurement in table [NaN] shows that
the majority of public sector scholars implicitly assume that strategy varies across an organization by
using scales that capture the defender and prospector strategy types and the features of an analyzer.
In arguing that strategy varies and adopting associated measurement, the analyzer type becomes
redundant because it is an intermediate between the somewhat opposite strategies of defending and
prospecting.[ 6] Amendments have been made to the generic Miles and Snow framework when it is
applied to other industries. For example, Ghobadian et al. ([ 35] ) suggest a cautious prospector in the
recently privatized electricity distribution and supply industries in the United Kingdom.
To capture the notion that strategy varies, measurement needs to move away from the use of
descriptions that capture all features of the strategic stance in one paragraph and toward scales.
Being able to pursue a range of strategies is particularly important in the multipurpose and complex
organizations that often typify the public sector landscape (Rainey [ 57] ). In the majority of the public
sector studies conducted, the three strategies were included together in the statistical models. The
results reported show the effects of prospecting, defending, and reacting when the other two strategies
are held constant. This evidence points toward the importance of adopting a mix of strategies. The
support scores for studies that adopted paragraphing measurement were 56 percent and 46 percent for
weighted and unweighted, and for scale studies 53 percent and 68 weighted and unweighted,
respectively. Thus, the paragraphing approach offers partial support, whereas the support score for the
studies using scales is greater than 50 percent in both cases, showing strong support. The higher support
for scale studies would imply that organizations can display characteristics of both defending and
prospecting and that adding some innovation to a focus on core services is as valuable as adding extra
weight to efficiency in the search for new markets and products. Although it has been argued that
strategy is enduring (Miles and Snow [ 45] ), organizations that develop capabilities in the pursuit of a
number of strategies are more capable of changing their strategy to suit the environment (Abernethy
and Brownell [ 1] ; Zajac and Shortell [ 77] ). This departure from the Miles and Snow framework is
important because a key characteristic of the public sector is frequent changes in political authority that
affect the strategies of public agencies (Rainey [ 57] ).
Public managers must typically trade off different performance outcomes in the management of their
organizations (Rainey [ 57] ; Walker, Boyne, and Brewer 2010). Adopting a single strategic stance may
compromise these trade‐offs. Studies using a number of performance dimensions offer some support
for this argument. In studies of school districts, defending is the approach most suited to achieving high
student pass rates (Johansen [ 39] ; Meier et al. [ 44] ; Meier et al. [ 43] ), while prospecting and reacting
can assist college‐bound students but detract from the equity objectives associated with the attainment
of black students (Meier et al. [ 44] ).[ 7] Prospecting trumps defending in the athletic achievements of
university sporting programs (Cunningham [ 25] ), while prospecting is associated with the achievement
of growth, and reacting is tied to hospital market shares (Zahra [ 75] ).
Finding 2. Prospectors and defenders outperform reactors
Prospecting and defending strategies result in better organizational performance than reacting
strategies. Prospecting and defending are deliberate strategies selected by the organization. Reacting,
by contrast—while emanating from decisions made by organizational leaders—is not fully owned
because it comes from responding to instructions from organizations and constraints in the external
environment. Boyne and Walker ([ 16] ) argue that a reacting strategic stance might be beneficial in the
public sector based on the need for and demands of citizens.
The public sector studies examining the relationship between strategy content and performance are
consistent with Miles and Snow's propositions—that is, prospecting and defending outperform reacting
(Boyne and Walker 2010). A subanalysis of the studies examining the bivariate relationship between
strategy content and performance reports 55 percent weighted and 66 percent unweighted support
scores (full results available upon request). The strategies related to prospecting, such as exploring new
markets and services, and those related to defending, such as sticking with the existing pattern of
services while trying to enhance their efficiency, have been shown to link positively with performance
(Johansen [ 39] ; Meier et al. [ 44] ; Naranjo‐Gil [ 49] ). The extensive examination conducted by
Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2012) of the effectiveness of Miles and Snow's framework in Welsh
local governments reveals these strategies’ relative contributions to performance to be roughly equal.
Defending has been proven successful on a number of occasions in single‐purpose organizations (most
notably in Texas school districts by Johansen [ 39] ; Meier et al. [ 44] ; and in state‐owned enterprises by
Tan [ 67] ).
Reacting has proven a strategic “lemon” on many occasions, and it is typically a poor performer
(Andrews, Boyne, and Walker [ 12] ; Castle [ 23] ; Johansen [ 39] ). Such poor performance is attributable
to a lack of consistency in orientation toward the environment that results in information gathering
being causal and random (Daft and Weick [ 26] ). Therefore, public agencies are more likely to reach
higher levels of organizational performance when they are given some freedom to determine the
correct mix of prospecting and defending that suits their circumstances. Public organizations that
primarily take instruction from major stakeholders’ demands and organizations in the environment are
likely to drift toward a reactor strategic stance and will likely see a decline in their performance.
Public agencies are more likely to reach higher levels of organizational performance when they are given
some freedom to determine the correct mix of prospecting and defending that suits their circumstances.
Internal Alignment and Strategy
While pursuing a number of strategies in a complementary fashion is a route to greater organizational
achievement, it is also likely that one stance will predominate as internal and external circumstances
dictate, given that changes in strategic stances do not happen rapidly (Abernethy and Brownell [ 1] ;
Zajac and Shortell [ 77] ). This will drive relationships among strategies, processes, structures, outcomes,
and the external environment.
Public sector scholars have built on the Miles and Snow framework to include the notion of strategy
“absence,” which is associated with reacting (Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2011, 2012). They have
developed Inkpen and Choudhury's ([ 38] ) work on strategy, which demonstrates that strategy
processes can be lacking. Absence has been typified as having no discernible process; it can arise from
large‐scale change or because a deliberate choice has been made to not have a coherent strategy. While
Miles and Snow argue that reactors have an inconsistent strategy, research on public sector
organizations has drawn the notion of an absence of strategy processes into the framework. Empirical
evidence on the absence of process has been shown to be associated with reactors and poorer
performance (see Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2009b, 2012).
The studies reviewed point toward the legitimacy of some combinations of strategy, strategy processes,
and structure for the achievement of a higher level of organizational performance suggested by Miles
and Snow. Thirteen studies examined the relationship between internal alignment, strategy, and
performance, reporting a strong support score of 65 percent (weighted and unweighted). The evidence
related to strategy processes and structure is now elaborated for prospectors and defenders.
Finding 3: Prospecting and incremental strategy processes offer a route to organizational ...
A match between prospecting and incremental strategy formulation produces a strong performance
effect, as suggested by Miles and Snow ([ 45] ). This suggests that a strategy of innovation can be
supported by negotiation with key stakeholders inside and outside the organization that permits flexible
responses to circumstances as they arise (Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2011, 2012). The findings
are stronger for strategy implementation than for strategy processes and in keeping with the
expectations across strategic stances, as outlined in table [NaN] (Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker
2012). This is because incrementalism implies adapting to new circumstances and is associated with
innovation. The findings on the role of incrementalism in a strategy of prospecting are reflected in other
studies. For example, a prospecting strategy has been shown to overcome rigidity in relation to the
problems related to rules, rules gone wrong, and delays generated by red tape (Walker and Brewer [ 72]
). In a similar vein, Johansen ([ 39] ) shows how organizations led by female managers that are
associated with incremental organizational characteristics, such as participation and shared decision
making, pursue prospecting to achieve superior performance.
The evidence from the Welsh U.K. studies examining process indicates that implementation leads to
more statistically significant relationships than strategy formulation processes (Andrews, Boyne, Law,
and Walker 2011, 2012). Findings from these studies suggest that as long as an organization has a
deliberate strategic stance (i.e., defending or prospecting), it does not matter which formulation process
is adopted. However, a good strategy requires appropriate implementation. A prospector must
consistently match its strategic stance with incrementalism in the formulation and implementation
phases. Teasing out these findings points toward the importance of implementation style and implies
that less attention can be paid to formulation.
Finding 4: Defending, rational processes, and centralized structures lead to higher ...
Miles and Snow ([ 45] ) argue that centralized organizations provide the most fruitful approach for a
defender, offering tight control over internal operations. A prospector would be better suited to
decentralization, which would permit organizational subunits to respond in innovative ways to new
circumstances and opportunities. Public sector studies (Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2009a, 2012)
have followed the organizational sociology literature in interpreting structures as the patterns or rules,
roles, and relationships between organizational actors (Dawson [ 29] ). More precisely, they have
focused on the extent to which strategic decisions are made by the chief executive and senior
management team (Hage and Aiken [ 37] ). Decision making at the apex of the organization is indicative
of a strong hierarchy and centralization, whereas decentralization is characterized by the involvement
and participation of all or most of the staff in the strategy process.
The merits of combining strategy with decision‐making and strategy processes are clear for defenders
(Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2009a, 2012). Defenders’ rational formulation and implementation
processes are more likely to be successful in hierarchical organizations that engage in centralized
decision making by providing the top management team with a planned and coordinated approach to
the development and implementation of strategies (Meier et al. [ 43] ). These findings are consistent
with the arguments of Burns and Stalker (1967) and Miles and Snow ([ 45] ) on the effectiveness of
mechanistic organizations in which power and processes are tightly controlled in pursuit of a fixed
strategy of stability and efficiency.
External Alignment and Strategy
The social and economic conditions facing organizations have long been shown to influence
effectiveness (Thompson [ 68] ), explaining up to one‐third of the performance of public agencies
(Andrews [ 2] ; Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2005). Dess and Beard's ([ 31] ) long‐standing and
widely validated framework focuses on three aspects of the environment: resource munificence,
complexity of service needs, and the rate of change or dynamism—thereby usefully extending Miles and
Snow. Munificent, simple, and unchanged environments produce successful performance outcomes,
whereas resource‐scarce, dynamic, and complex environments harm performance. A limited number of
studies have examined evidence on the external environment in relation to the Miles and Snow
typologies. The five studies reported in table [NaN] offer partial support—the unweighted support score
is 54 percent, but the weighted is 42 percent. While these results offer only limited support, the
evidence points toward some preliminary findings in public organizations.
Finding 5: Strategies work best in stable environments
When strategy content is included alongside the external environment, several conclusions can be
suggested. Complex conditions in the external environment reduce the effectiveness of all types of
strategy content, and performance falls for organizations engaged in prospecting, defending, and
reacting (Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2012; Owens and Kukla‐Acevedo [ 51] ). This suggests that
strategies work better when the technical environment is simple. This offers support for Miles and
Snow's argument that defending operates better in a straightforward environment. However, it
contradicts their argument that prospecting works best in complex and dynamic environments. The
model presented by Meier et al. ([ 43] ) includes overall examination passes and pass rates for high‐
achieving students, indicating that prospecting is the preferred strategy for college‐bound students,
whereas defending is best for overall pass rates, irrespective of the level of turbulence.
The research findings offer further evidence of the futility of reacting. Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker
(2012) indicate that a reactor's performance falls further when the environment is dynamic, perhaps
because in such an environment managers are not able to read or respond to rapid change or keep
apace of the shifting strategic priorities emanating from the external environment.
Finding 6: Incremental implementation styles overcome complex and dynamic environments
Incremental strategic implementation processes work better in complex and dynamic environments
(Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker 2012), probably because of the adaptive and flexible nature of the
incremental processes that are needed to deal with the challenges that emerge from these types of
environments. In the face of resource scarcity and complex and dynamic environments, an absence of
strategic implementation processes worsens performance outcomes, making this an ineffective
implementation style. Again, this evidence points toward the importance of examining strategy
implementation, indicating the need for more systematic information on this facet of strategic
management.
In the face of resource scarcity and complex and dynamic environments, an absence of strategic
implementation processes worsens performance outcomes, making this an ineffective implementation
style.
Discussion
Strategic management is concerned with the means and ends of service delivery and with organizational
behavior, action, and performance. These themes have become increasingly prevalent among public
organizations in response to changes brought about by reform agendas and citizen demands. In this
article, six key findings on strategic management and performance were derived from a critical review
studies making use of the Miles and Snow ([ 45] ) typology in public organizations. The integration of
these research findings in the literature generally supports the framework. The evidence, however, was
not evenly distributed across the alignment of strategy, process, structure, and environment. The
strongest support for Miles and Snow was for the relationship between strategy content and
performance and, for bivariate relationships, between strategy content and processes or structures.
However, the more the question of alignment across strategy, process, structure, and environment was
placed under the empirical microscope, the fewer studies were uncovered, leading to less
comprehensive findings. Theoretical implications are now discussed, followed by methods and practice.
Theory
The Miles and Snow framework covers the three main options that are open to a public organization
seeking to meet the expectations of its external stakeholders: search for something new (prospect), stick
with the existing pattern of services (defend), or await instructions (react). The notion of alignment is
central to these strategic archetypes. Alignment remains pertinent to the management of public
organizations, even several decades after Miles and Snow penned their theory. As would be expected,
empirical testing has moved the field forward, and scholars have suggested two important changes.
First, it has been argued that organizations display multiple strategies. Strategies are not categorical,
and defenders and prospectors are considered opposites. Organizations that possess facets of both
defending and prospecting display the characteristics of analyzers. Second, the reactor strategic stance
has been also associated with strategy absence, which moves beyond typifying them as not having well‐
defined or consistent strategies to include processes.
Miles and Snow propose that their strategy archetypes are generic. The evidence reviewed here offers
support for parts of this theory. There has been some attempt to test the full theory in public
organizations (Meier et al. [ 43] ), but further research is required. Empirical tests of the full framework
are also required. While this is demanding of data, it should be possible to test facets that have received
less attention along the way, most notably, the studies that examine the relationships between strategy
content and the environment. In testing the validity of the full framework, attention must be directed to
questions of endogeneity to tease out whether high‐performing organizations adopt alignment across
strategies, processes, structures, and environment and whether high performance is led by this
alignment. If problems of endogeneity remain, public management scholars may wish to develop
strategic management frameworks built out of public service organizations rather then looking to
applying generic management theories to public organizations.
There have been a number of theoretical extensions relevant to the Miles and Snow framework that can
be integrated into the model. Institutional environments (Scott [ 62] ) are one such area that have only
received fleeting attention. Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2008) show how regulatory regimes can
disrupt the association between strategy content and performance, while a supportive institutional
environment reinforces. The institutional environment, specifically responding to norms and rules, is
particularly important in the public sector and worthy of additional attention.
Methods
A comprehensive examination of Miles and Snow that can tease out the complex questions of alignment
will necessitate large data sets that capture strategy, structure, process, environment, and performance.
Such a data set would need to cover large numbers of organizations in different settings. It would also
need to be sufficiently robust for multidirectional interactions to be performed in multiple regression
equations to test alignment or run structural equation models. Good measurement is also required.
Many propositions have been developed and implemented regarding new ways to operationalize Miles
and Snow's strategic archetypes. However, no systematic tests have been undertaken to examine
whether these alternative measurement techniques result in different associations with performance.
Studies could, for example, examine the reliability and validity of paragraph and scale measurement
approaches.
Practice
The evidence generated by this review implies the following road map for public organizations.
Organizations should adopt a mixture of consistent and identifiable strategies that are selected based on
an organization's desired actions rather adopting a strategy based on responding to voices in the
external environment—defenders and prospectors outperform reactors in the majority of cases.
Adopting a mix of strategies also allows organizations and managers to trade off differing performance
demands. A number of key internal strategic contingencies can be traced for prospectors and defenders.
In prospecting organizations, incremental strategy processes offer a route to success, whereas for
defenders, rational processes and centralized structures are a better match. Strategies work best in
stable environments, although incremental implementation styles overcome the difficulties associated
with complex and dynamic environments.
The effectiveness of these strategies is dependent on their combination and the context in which they
are implemented. They are a road map, not a prescribed route. Managers must pay attention to the
connections between these contingencies to achieve the best outcome from whatever strategy their
organization has adopted. Given that these relationships are complex rather than simple and uniform, it
is conceivable that different strategies will be equally effective, depending on the internal and external
circumstances of public organizations. One important issue to emerge from this stream of work on
strategic management is that strategy implementation matters, but more knowledge needs developed
in this area.
This evaluation points toward six findings that are pertinent to the management of public organizations
and their strategies. They also have important policy implications—all of which are implicit in the use of
a contingency framework, indicating that routes to higher levels of achievement are dependent on
combinations of internal practices and environmental conditions. Given that organizations should
choose the strategic stance that best suits their circumstances, the findings indicate that the logic laid
out in many reform pronouncements from governments for achieving improved organizational
effectiveness is fundamentally flawed. Higher levels of government that develop reform frameworks for
lower levels must consider the circumstances they face, as organizations need latitude to adapt such
reforms to their setting and attain high performance outcomes.
Given that organizations should choose the strategic stance that best suits their circumstances, the
findings indicate that the logic laid out in many reform pronouncements from governments for
achieving improved organizational effectiveness is fundamentally flawed.
Conclusion
Research on the strategic management of public organizations has grown apace over the last two
decades. However, it is important to be cognizant that the findings and recommendations for the
practice of strategic management are drawn from limited data in only a few geographic locations (the
United Kingdom and United States) and largely local government settings. These studies did not fully
test for the effects of performance on strategy, nor did they examine the potential for unobserved
effects on strategy selection. While the extension to test the performance effects of the Miles and Snow
framework represents an important advancement in previous work, it has typically been conducted
using aggregate measures of organizational performance, yet relationships may pan out in alternative
ways if future research considers different performance dimensions. The findings offered here remain
cautionary until more systematic research is undertaken. However, evidence from other sectors points
toward the veracity of Miles and Snow's arguments, and the growing body of public sector evidence
should be extended to better inform practice and build theory.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Rhys Andrews, George A. Boyne, Jennifer Law, Kenneth J. Meier, Raymond Miles,
Laurence J. O'Toole Jr., and Charles C. Snow for their insights and assistance in the development of the
evidence presented in this article. Valuable comments were received from three anonymous reviewers
and the Theory to Practice editor. The research reported in this article was supported by a National
Research Foundation of Korea Grant (NRF‐2011‐330‐B00194), funded by the Korean government and a
City University of Hong Kong Startup Grant (#7200332). Interpretations are, of course, mine.
Footnotes
1 Miles and Snow's typology has been widely examined and shown to be of value in empirical studies of
private firms. See Conant, Mokwa, and Varadarajan (1990) and DeSarbo et al. (30) for empirical studies
and Ramos‐Rodríguez and Ruíz‐Navarro (58) and Zahra and Pearce (1990) for reviews.
2 These concerns ran deep through the early strategic management literature, prompting some to
question the notion's applicability to public organizations (Ring and Perry 59).
3 It might be expected that a literature search on strategic management in public organizations would
identify many more articles. Indeed, this is the case: a Web of Science search of article titles and
abstracts using “strateg* management” undertaken in December 2012 identified around 1,000 articles
in the Public Administration section of the Social Science Citation Index. However, relatively few
examine Miles and Snow and performance.
4 Alternative approaches can be adopted for the purpose of critical review. However, the majority of
these techniques require the reporting of correlation matrices, which are not widely included in public
administration studies. Unlike studies using correlation coefficients, the support score method reports
statistically significant associations at the p = .05 level, from regression models that control for other
variables, thereby reducing concerns about bias arising from spurious relationships (Damanpour 27).
5 Some authors have offered alternative hypotheses, and their theorization has been respected. For
example, Tan (67) theorizes that defenders would be the highest performers among Chinese state‐
owned enterprises.
6 Theoretical argument on the redundancy of analyzers has not been fully reflected in the
operationalization of strategy content. Scales have been developed for prospectors, defenders, and
reactors. Scholars have tended to focus on these three strategic stances rather than modeling the point
at which a balance of defending and prospecting equates with analyzing. However, an organization
scoring high on the defender and prospector measurement scales (typically seven‐point Likert scales)
would correspond with an analyzer. Andrews, Boyne, Law, and Walker (2009c) and Meier et al. (2007)
note positive correlations between defenders and prospectors and negative correlations between these
two stances and reacting. Further research is required here.
7 Studies of firms have similarly found different strategic stances associated with different dimensions of
performance and have noted the potential value of combining strategies (Parnell and Wright 52).
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~~~~~~~~
By Richard M. Walker
Richard M. Walker is chair professor of public management at the City University of Hong Kong and
associate dean for research and postgraduate studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
His research interests include public management, performance, and sustainable development. E‐mail:
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