Strategic Management Dilemma: Its Necessity in a World of Diversity and Change

In a world of diversity and change management has to cope with challenges such as hyper-linking, hyper-competition, and hyper-turbulence. These lead to a higher level of complexity and dynamic management has to accomplish. Furthermore, conditions and aims of a specific social system are more and more contradictious. Modern social systems fulfil manifold incoherent functions for their stakeholders – and no longer only one particular purpose. In consequence management faces a dilemmatic situation. Rational decisions for a single strategic alternative cannot be logically substantiated. Therefore, the dominating paradigm “strategic fit” – which postulates consistency and strict goal-mean-hierarchies in order to minimise inefficiency and frictions – does not fulfil management’s needs perfectly anymore. Management’s success depends on its ability to achieve a system’s functions and to secure a system’s continued existence simultaneously. In order to accomplish the resulting dilemmas of rational choice and management’s success a dilemma-management is needed in times of diversity and change.