{"id":20849,"date":"2013-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T16:04:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T16:04:22","slug":"does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/blog\/explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/web-maze-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11179\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11179 alignright\" alt=\"image, maze with arrow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/web-maze.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a>Today&#8217;s Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: &#8220;Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels of centralisation.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article asks an interesting question: does the explicit articulating strategy to organizational members improve performance? It also considers whether this differs depending on the level of centralization of the organization. To a business person it seems as though clarity of communication of strategy would always be a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>The article has some surprising findings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Strategy articulation does help in decentralised organizations; and in decentralized organizations, it is not so necessary for coordination, so it makes little difference.<\/li>\n<li>It also identifies a curvilinear relationship where very high and very low expressiveness do correlate with high performance, but moderate expressiveness is linked to lower performance. This is true for both centralized and decentralized organizations. It seems that a moderate amount of clarity on strategy may not give people sufficient information to be able to manage coordination effectively, particularly in decentralized organizations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Previous studies have been torn between the belief that being too clear and explicit about strategy can lead to organizational inertia and a lack of initiative (the control view), and the alternative view that communication of strategy is essential to effective implementation because it provides an environment for cooperation and coordination (the coordination view). Other studies consider the articulation strategy is something which is motivation for middle managers who understand the context of the strategy as well as the need to implement it (the communication view).<\/p>\n<p>This study was based on 95 US manufacturing firms which have a tendency towards centralized and mechanical instruction, so the authors speculate as to whether this would be the same in less centralized professional services and other organizations where knowledge work was more prevalent. In this case they believed that a higher level of strategy articulation will be necessary to help people coordinate more complex, less routine tasks.<\/p>\n<p>What was most interesting to me was to establish clarity on why you are articulating strategy: to control, to empower people to coordinate their activity continuously, or as a way of building commitment and a sense of ownership through communication?<\/p>\n<p>In today&#8217;s organizations, a certain level of control is helpful &#8211; a clear strategy can be useful in telling us when to say &#8216;no&#8217;. \u00a0Strategy tells us what we shouldn&#8217;t be doing as well as we should be doing. But in the large, complex, matrixed, virtual and global organizations that we (at Global integration) work with, building a sense of ownership and an understanding of strategy in the middle of the organization is essential. \u00a0\u201cMatrix middle\u201d managers are the people who manage the complex trade-offs and dilemmas that are normal in large businesses.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source:\u00a0<b><a title=\"Explicitly articulated strategy\" href=\"https:\/\/jom.sagepub.com\/content\/28\/5\/611.full.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels of centralisation<\/a>,<\/b>\u00a0by Love, Priem and Lumpkin. Journal of Management,\u00a0October 2002\u00a028:611-627.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"title title--h4 title--purple\">Why not&#8230;..?<\/h3>\n<p>Find out more about management in:<br \/>\n&#8211; <a title=\"matrix management\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/matrix-management-training\/\">a matrixed environment<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a title=\"global leadership\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/global-working\/global-leadership\/\">a global organization<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a title=\"virtual leaders\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/virtual-team-leadership\/\">a virtual environment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: &#8220;Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","type-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance? - Global Integration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today&#039;s Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: &quot;Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today&#039;s Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: &quot;Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Global Integration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevan Hall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\"},\"headline\":\"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/web-maze.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/\",\"name\":\"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance? - Global Integration\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/04\\\/web-maze.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Today's Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: \\\"Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"www.global-integration.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Global Integration\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/GI_logo_hero.webp\",\"width\":312,\"height\":271,\"caption\":\"Global Integration\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/global-integration\"],\"description\":\"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally\",\"email\":\"kevan@global-integation.com\",\"foundingDate\":\"1994-04-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a\",\"name\":\"Kevan Hall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevan Hall\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.global-integration.com\\\/insights\\\/author\\\/kevan-hall\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance? - Global Integration","description":"Today's Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: \"Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?","og_description":"Today's Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: \"Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels","og_url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/","og_site_name":"Global Integration","article_published_time":"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00","author":"Kevan Hall","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevan Hall","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevan Hall","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a"},"headline":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?","datePublished":"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/"},"wordCount":502,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/web-maze.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/","name":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance? - Global Integration","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/web-maze.jpg","datePublished":"2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-08T16:04:22+00:00","description":"Today's Matrix Monday post looks at an article by\u00a0Love, Priem and Lumpkin: \"Explicitly articulated strategy and firm performance under alternative levels","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/does-explicitly-articulating-strategy-improve-performance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does explicitly articulating strategy improve performance?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","name":"www.global-integration.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#organization","name":"Global Integration","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GI_logo_hero.webp","width":312,"height":271,"caption":"Global Integration"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/global-integration"],"description":"Global Integration are a leading global training provider specializing in matrix management, cross-functional teams, remote, virtual and hybrid working. They provide highly interactive face-to-face, virtual and online learning delivered globally","email":"kevan@global-integation.com","foundingDate":"1994-04-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3ad6577af9c33612e410fbcdc3ff2a9a","name":"Kevan Hall","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevan Hall"},"url":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/author\/kevan-hall\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}