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Chapter 12 - Actor–Network Theory and Strategy as Practice

from Part II - Theoretical Resources: Social Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2025

By
Christopher S. Chapman ,
Wai Fong Chua  and
Habib Mahama
Edited by
Damon Golsorkhi ,
Linda Rouleau ,
David Seidl  and
Eero Vaara
Damon Golsorkhi
Affiliation:
emlyon Business School
Linda Rouleau
Affiliation:
HEC Montréal
David Seidl
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Eero Vaara
Affiliation:
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
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Summary

Christopher Chapman, Wai-Fong Chua and Habib Mahama discuss the varieties of points of contact between Actor–Network theory and strategy as practice research. They review the origins of Actor–Network theory and discuss three of its foundational principles: generalized symmetry, recursivity and radical indeterminacy. The authors describe how various streams of preoccupations related to strategic decision making, planning, accounting and control have dealt with these principles over time. By showing how these principles have been drawn on in empirical studies, Chapman, Chua and Mahama elaborate on how SAP researchers can draw on Actor–Network theorizing to fruitfully advance our understanding of the dispersed, complex and non-linear trajectory of strategy-making.

Keywords

strategy as practicepractice approachActor–Network Theorygeneralized symmetryrecursivityradical indeterminacy
Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice , pp. 212 - 229
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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