Management Vision and Strategic Choice: Their Influence on Basic Types of Work

Abstract

This paper analyzes if the strategic choice perspective contributes to generating and describing different basic types of work, beyond the proposals stated in contingent theory. The analysis of the hypotheses formulated through a study of a quantitative nature shows that the variables that mainly explain the differences among types of work (and that characterize the strategic choice perspective) are the variables that refer to the perception of the environment, in particular those that measure its degree of complexity and dynamism. To a lesser degree, the variable entrepreneur leadership style also influences the definition of the work characteristics. The relevance of that variable has to do with the logical requirements proper to autonomous, innovative work. Under those circumstances, the entrepreneurship style will be needed not only for top management but also for the workers involved in doing complex skilled work.