Strategy practice in a small icelandic high tech company

Abstract

The paper informs about strategy development in a small Icelandic high tech company, Valka, with reference to theories and research on Strategy as Practice. The research which is explorative and descriptive is designed as a case study and based on primary data from interviews and secondary data from the company that is studied. The aim of the paper is to reveal the development of strategy in Valka from the start of the company to the present day of the study. The main focus is on how the strategy has developed, who have been involved, through what means and practices this has happened. In light of the Strategy as Practice perspective the focus has been on the practitioners of strategy, the practices and the praxis of strategy in Valka. This study is designed as a pilot study and the results are put forward with the help of a model that has emerged in the research process. The development of Valka‘s strategy is illustrated, first, through an assessment of who have been involved and with what effort, second, a discussion of how diverse and formal the practices used have been, and third, how the activities of the firm have developed in terms of scope and relations to customers. As a pilot study this work is aimed to be the first of several empirical studies on Strategy as Practice in both private and public organizations in Iceland.