Researchers in strategic management have tried to categorize various streams of thought in this field into few groups for better assimilation. Strategy Safari: The Complete Guide Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel is one of the outstanding books in this area which coalesces strategic thinking from 1960s into ten broad schools of thought. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze this book and to delve deeper so as to gain further insights in different streams of business strategy. Further, the article also compares different streams of thought presented by different authors along with the thought process presented in the book.

Researchers in strategic management have tried to categorize various streams of thought in this field into groups for better assimilation (Porter, 1980; Christensen et al., 1982; Schwenk, 1988; and Mintzberg, 1994). Strategy Safari: The Complete Guide Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel (1998) is an outstanding work in this area which coalesces strategic thinking from 1960s into 10 broad schools of thought. Henry Mintzberg is considered as one of the premier management thinkers. He is the Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University and professor of organization at institut européen d'administration des affaires (INSEAD) in France. He is the author of several seminal books, like, Mintzberg on Management and The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. Bruce Ahlstrand is a Professor of Management at the Trent University in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of The Quest for Productivity and co-author of Human Resource Management in the Multi-Divisional Company. Joseph Lampel is the founding member of the Institute for Research on Emergent Policy Processes, and a senior Research Fellow of the International Project in Management of Engineering and Construction. He is also a Professor of Strategy at City University Business School, London.

The purpose of writing this book was two-fold: to provide a broad view of the process of strategy formation as the authors narrowly focussed themselves on a single perspective and to facilitate a guide which will help both the scholars as well as the practitioners, in understanding distinct points of view in the area of strategy formation. This book is well conceived and attempts to arrive at consolidated picture comprising all the aspects of strategy formation. According to them, a strategy is a plan, a pattern, a position, a perspective and a ploy. In this book, the authors have also justified the significance of strategic planning for any organization. According to them, setting up of direction, focussing of effort, defining the organization and providing consistency are the main contributions that strategic planning makes for an organization.

Business Strategy Journal, Strategic Management, Strategic Planning, Strategy Formation, The Design School, The Planning School, The Positioning School, Boston Consultancy Group, BCG Matrix, Generic Strategies, The Entrepreneurial School, The Cognitive School, The Learning School, The Power School, The Cultural School, The Environmental School, The Configuration School.