Most studies on strategy formation have a constitutive contingency element that defines variables through which one could sort organizations into a certain order to indicate what type of strategy formation is more suitable for each (e.g. Mintzberg & McHugh, 1985). This almost prescriptive ordinance concerning the content, process and practice of strategy in organizations can lead one to the perception that it is possible to determine the pattern of strategy of formation in organizations through the simple analysis of some predetermined variables. Guided by the strategy-as-practice approach (Jarzabkowski, 2005, 2008; Whittington, 1996, 2006), this paper explores the practice of strategic planning based on an exploratory single case study in a project-based organization, through which it was possible to identify change processes that shaped different stages of the strategic planning practice over the years with distinct characteristics regarding its (in)formality. These processes were analyzed using an approach inspired on the structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), indicating that the adequate level of strategic planning formalization should be defined by the structuration of practice in its social dynamic.
strategy-as-practice; strategic planning; project-based organization; change processes; formalization
