What are the Modes of Management?  

The 4 modes of management, identified by Choo (1991), demonstrate the process for how managers analyze a company and the external environment. 

Back to: STRATEGY & PLANNING

These modes demonstrate the strategic analysis process:

• Undirected viewing: The manager observes the external (competitive) environment without a predisposition with the purpose of identifying any signs of change. This is an information gather stage carried out in an informal and unfocused manner. 
• Conditioned viewing: The manager observes the external environment with predisposition or conditioning cause by his or her beliefs, experience, exposure (heuristics). The information gathered in this phase tends to be focused on a particular issue. 
• Enacting: The manager observes the environment with the purpose of identifying any effects or results from an induced change in the environment (such as new technology, the introduction of a new product, or the entrance of a new competitor).  Information is gathered in a more organized (learning-by-doing) process. The manager tries to identify the cause-and-effect attributes of her actions.
• Formal search: The manager undertakes and organized and systematic approach to retrieve information about a particular issue or element of the external environment. This generally requires assembling and Information about the environment for analysis or comparison. This process is generally carried out without predisposition. 

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