WHAT DO THE BEST STRATEGIC THINKERS DO?

Abstract: This thesis studies the cognitive elements in strategic thinking and aims to contribute to the assessment of a tool that is developed to measure this ability. Strategic thinking is an area in strategy research that has received little emphasis. There is a lack of understanding of the cognitive elements behind the ability to think strategically. Therefore, this research aims to gain a deeper insight into the cognitive elements in strategic thinking and evaluate the validity of the Cognitive Process Profiling (CPP). The multi-method analysis showed that there is no clear connection between the perceived strategic thinking ability and the CPP assessment scores. Further, the comparison of the test group and the normative group revealed that the test group scored significantly lower than the normative group in some areas of the CPP assessment of strategic thinking. The results from CPP and the 360-survey were similar when assessing some of the most and least strategic styles and elements in strategic thinking. These results, according to the discussion of this thesis, can emerge from multiple different reasons. For example, people’s perception of strong strategic thinking ability might be influenced by position and personal relations. Further, different industries might need different levels of strategy, and therefore in some companies the overall level of strategic thinking ability might be lower.