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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Concepts of strategy

Brightwater Ltd, a software firm, planned to sell only to large banks. Its sales staff began winning small retail clients through informal referrals. Over three years this segment became 60% of revenue, and management then formally adopted it as the core market. Which description best fits Brightwater's retail-focused strategy?

It is an emergent strategy. The retail focus was never intended; it arose from a pattern of consistent staff actions in response to opportunities, and management only recognised and formalised it afterwards. Later formal adoption does not turn it into a deliberate strategy, because it was not planned in advance.

  1. AEmergent strategy arising from a pattern of consistent actions that was later recognised by managementCorrect
  2. BDeliberate strategy because management formally adopted it in the end
  3. CUnrealised strategy because the original plan to target banks was abandoned
  4. DPrescriptive strategy produced by a formal planning process

Explanation

The retail focus was not intended at the start; it grew from a pattern of repeated actions by staff and was later recognised and endorsed. That is emergent strategy. Formal adoption afterwards does not make it deliberate, since it was not planned in advance. The bank-only plan was the unrealised part.

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