Turbulence-induced Initiation of Technology Strategy Development in a Volatile Business Environment

During the recent years, manufacturing companies were forced to overthink their technology strategy more frequently and outside of their formal planning and budgeting cycles as severe disruptions (e.g., the Corona pandemic, the war in Ukraine or the global semiconductor crisis) exogenously changed the rules for competition. As volatility of global markets and value creation is expected to stay or increase in our digitally hyperconnected world, turbulence-induced strategy processes need to complement the formal planning cycles. Therefore, the present paper seeks to conceptualize a turbulence-induced initiation phase, which is either left out or not emphasized in existing approaches for strategy development. For this, a model concept is elaborated based requirements derived from deficits in theory and a reference modelling for the initiation phase of strategy development. As a result, five component models are presented in a three-layer structure to guide practitioners with the turbulence-induced initiation of their technology strategy development.