Poet Management Scholar : Jasmine Kang

With our Safari hats we embark
To find the Elephant in this park, 
In the management jungle we explore, 
We hear the Lords of strategy roar,

In schools of strategy we search, 
Where do management theories lurch, 
The familiar jargons in business seasons, 
Their origin, purpose and reasons. 

Dynamic capabilities, transaction cost theory
In multi national world what is their story, 
In bounded rationality we learn to decide,
In bounded reliability our boundaries defined. 

The reasons why some firms succeed, 
The ailing ones priceless lessons indeed, 
Purpose shaping strategy at firms, 
Strategy reshaping purpose in turn. 

Where our work fits in big picture, 
Our drop in vast ocean we structure, 
Many moments in this safari we smile,  
As we learn from each other's styles. 

Nuances our individual experiences provide, 
The Micro-foundations are our guide, 
Enriched, encouraged we emerge, 
Our thoughts, ideas, learnings converge. 

Our course on strategy was quite different from previous courses. This felt more connected with the business language we are used to. We discussed different strategy schools and the tools that have been traditionally used. The content felt more familiar as we all in the practitioner world have worked on strategy at some level. The case studies of multi national firms were helpful to understand how certain strategies had been successful whereas some had failed.

This history lesson about the strategy theories how they have evolved over the years was also very insightful. It was interesting to learn how one model had build on the other bringing newer elements. Unlike other courses which were focussed on how to do academic writing, this was a deep dive into strategic management tools.

The other element which was helpful in this course was each of us presenting different sections. It allowed us to bring our industry knowledge and background in the conversation which made the discussion richer. The strategy Safari as one of the books we read for this course had illustrated, we all look at strategy from our own lens. It is like a group of blind men touching different parts of an elephant and describing what an elephant looks like. This course helped us zoom out and see the whole elephant to best of our abilities.