′Given the book is the first to deal with ′strategy-as-practice′ in depth, it becomes vital to set the contours of the field and lay the path for future research, both achieved in an admirable fashion. More importantly, it also raises several questions and forces the reader to embark on an invigorating thought process -the hallmark of an interesting book for the serious reader.′ Srinivas Gunta IIMB Management Review Reviews for Higher education Market: ′This volume will appeal to researchers, students and those engaged in strategic management in higher education. The case study material provides a detailed portrait of the ways in which senior managers engage in strategic development. Overall, the volume provides rich insights on strategic management in higher education′ -Professor Bob Burgess, Vice-Chancellor, University of Leicester ′This is a completely original account of three contrasting universities′ approach to creating and managing strategy in modern conditions. The problem of multiple strategies which interact with one another will be recognised by every practitioner but have not been described in this way before." Strategy as Practice" represents an important contribution to higher education literature because it theorises decisions and strategies which are for the most part instinctive responses to external realities′ - Professor Michael Shattock was Registrar of the University of Warwick before taking up his Visiting Professorship at the Institute of Education, University of London, where he is Director of the MBA in Higher Education Management. Overall, I found this book insightful and intriguing. As an interested outsider, I appreciated the aim of the activity-based framework and its key concepts. While I believe that many scholars will similarly recognize the significance of the theoretical apparatus developed, the real value of the book lies in the fact that it raises more questions than it answers. This is especially helpful in emerging areas of research, and in this case, Jarzabkowski has astutely signaled an agenda for future scholarship that will no doubt fuel the continued growth of this subfield. Jarzabkowski’s book is a welcome contribution and introduction to the emerging strategy-as-practice research community. Jarzabkowski has astutely signaled an agenda for future scholarship that will no doubt fuel the continued growth of this subfield.
Michael Lounsbury
Organization Studies