When organisations face a raft of different and conflicting demands on their strategising and organising practices, their situation can become increasingly uncomfortable.

These demands may arise from different internal elements (professional vs managerial, tying to operate single systems across different business and market cultures), and result in multiple organising processes, or from the legitimate demands of outside stakeholders (industry regulators, quality standards, funders’ imperatives) and lead to multiple strategic goals and objectives. Either way, such pluralistic contexts will inevitably lead to tensions, and in extreme combinations, can push the organisation to breaking point.

The authors point out that pluralism and the consequent complexity of the strategising and organising processes are increasingly becoming the norm for many organisations. Illustrating their argument with five case-exhibits, they analyse the varying effects of internal and external sources of tension and reflect on their consequences for managerial practice.

They note three possible modes of association – interdependent, imbalanced and destructive – between strategising and organising in pluralistic contexts. The first is the ‘ideal’, and probably unattainable, as a steady state – even striving to get there requires ongoing managerial attention.

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