Strategy for companies with headquarters in Valle de Aburrá

Abstract

Sometimes it is necessary to think in a different way, so that a wide range of trends of thought can be found which define the concept of strategy. In consequence, from what was expressed in previous centuries about the use of this term in the military context and in the war field, we have arrived, in the last four decades, to the understanding of the differences of what is known from the vision of the business administration and the business world, taking the growing importance of the literature about the study of the strategies affecting the company as a whole. The analysis of this paper is focused on the definition of ‘strategy’, proposed by Henry Mintzberg, from five points of view. This is, strategy as a: plan, action guidelines or ploy, pattern, position and perspective. However, since this is as a paper to reflect on, it allows an open possibility to revise the concept of strategy from other conceptions. This text also approaches the knowledge of the meanings of strategy found in companies located in the Aburrá Valley (Medellin, Colombia), which are finally translated into every-day practices at the different levels of implementation to a corporate and business level - differentiation, specialization, diversification, entering-business definition, among others - seeking sustainability and business growth.