Pausing as an Enabling Practice: Insights From an African Bank During a Grand Challenge

Abstract

This research set out to explore pausing during the implementation phase of a change intervention in credit risk in an African bank, using the strategy-as-practice perspective, amidst a grand challenge. Understanding how the practice of pausing influences strategy during a grand challenge may offer valuable insights for practitioners and researchers. A sociological view of strategy, as opposed to mainstream economic views, provided the theoretical lens through which punctuated pausing practices could be analysed. A qualitative approach was adopted to engage practitioners about their practices during strategy implementation. From the data, pausing is first, confirmed as a practice that practitioners actually engage in. Second, pausing is confirmed as an enabling practice that positively influences strategy implementation. During times of strategic uncertainty, there is an impulse to act with reflexive urgency. Pausing generates opportunities to review the prevailing environment, reshape strategies, and enable organisational agility.