Cutting the Strategy Diamond in High-Technology Ventures

We present the "strategy diamond," which extends received strategic management theory by integrating the positional view and the resource-based view, the formulation and implementation of strategy, and the firm's internal selection environment into one relatively simple novel conceptual framework of dynamic forces driving firm evolution. We suggest that this framework can be helpful in stimulating further research to drive towards a dynamic theory of strategy. We show how the strategy diamond facilitates examining the dynamic interplays between strategy logic and strategy execution, and suggest that the jargon-free "natural language form" of the framework may facilitate strategic conversations and help inculcate a strategic mentality into organizations. We provide preliminary evidence that the framework has been useful for senior executives in two major corporations, and present systematic analysis of four case studies to highlight how the framework may help instill strategic discipline in high-technology ventures operating in extremely dynamic environments and seeking to achieve their minimum winning games.