Introduction and Research Motivation

Strategy tools are frequently used in organizational strategy activities. Tools like The Boston Consulting Group’s growth-share model, McKinsey’s Strategic Gameboard, Michael Porter’s Five Forces or SWOT analysis have been prominently featured over the years in helping managers with strategic decision-making. Indeed, as reported by the international strategy consulting firm Bain & Co., top executives have ever since used a wide variety of management tools in coping with their every day work. Their relevance for managerial practice is unquestionable. Developed partly by practitioners and in part by academics (sometimes in collaborative endeavors), strategy tools have diffused into practice through business media, management gurus, research articles, consultants or business school curricula.