Perspectives in Strategy: Mintzberg on the Influence of Ansoff Richard W. Puyt, Peter H. Antoniou Strategic Change, 2026 Highlights Ansoff's book Corporate Strategy shaped Mintzberg's early intellectual direction. In the early 1970s, Ansoff catalyzed the field by connecting European strategy scholars. His institutional groundwork culminated in the Strategic Management Society (1980). Mintzberg never engaged with Ansoff's holistic school; in interviews he seemed puzzled and never revised his own strategy schools framework. Beyond debate, Mintzberg remembered Ansoff with respect and affection.
From Taylor to TikTok: the historical evolution of management gurus Dag Øivind Madsen, Richard W. Puyt, Kåre Slåtten Journal of Management History, 2026 Purpose For more than a century, management gurus have played a visible role in shaping managerial discourse and popularizing new managerial ideas. This paper aims to examine the historical evolution of the management guru phenomenon by situating platform-era gurus within a century-long lineage of management fashions. It shows how successive communication technologies – from pamphlets and broadcast media to social media and algorithmic platforms – have reshaped the diffusion, legitimacy and visibility of managerial ideas. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a historically informed, interpretive approach that integrates research on management fashions and guruism, the sociology of charisma, media history and digital platforms. It is based on secondary materials and qualitative observations of how management advice circulates across books, conferences and digital media. The analysis traces five historical eras of management guruism. Findings The paper identifies five eras of management guruism – industrial origins, managerial professionalization, the multimedia era, the early digital era and the platform era – each characterized by distinct diffusion infrastructures and authority logics. The platform era is interpreted as a phase of algorithmic amplification and fragmented authority in which visibility metrics increasingly structure managerial legitimacy and the performance of charisma. Originality/value This paper updates the study of management gurus for the digital and algorithmic age. By situating today’s influencers within a broader media and institutional history, it shows that platform-based guruism represents both continuity and mutation in the management fashion arena. More broadly, the framework clarifies how charisma, communication technologies and institutional authority coevolve in shaping who becomes authorized to speak for management and how managerial ideas diffuse across successive technological epochs.
The Evolution of Corporate Planning H. Igor Ansoff, Robert F. Stewart, Richard W. Puyt Strategic Change, 2026 This report, originally issued in September 1967 by the Long Range Planning Service (LRPS) of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and reproduced here as a historical document, traces the evolution of formal management and planning in US firms amid rising complexity, size, and technological change. Four stages emerge: (1) Implementation Cycle—directing and monitoring actions in stable settings; (2) Control Cycle—adding objective measurement against historical standards; (3) Extrapolative Planning—introducing forecasting, action programs, budgeting, and feasibility checks; (4) Entrepreneurial Planning—the advanced phase, with environmental scanning, strengths‐weaknesses analysis, objective setting, gap analysis, opportunity search, and strategic commitments. Each stage builds on the prior, shifting from reactive control to proactive, organized entrepreneurship. Advanced planning simulates the entrepreneurial genius by marshaling nine key talents: motivation (drive and energy), exposure (broad curiosity), sensitivity (insight into patterns), creativity (generating options), analysis (understanding consequences), judgment (wise selection amid uncertainty), leadership (inspiring followership), marshaling ability (organizing resources), and administrative ability (efficient organization and communication).
From SOFT approach to SWOT analysis, a historical reconstruction Richard W. Puyt, Finn Birger Lie, Dag Øivind Madsen Journal of Management History, 2025 Purpose The purpose of this study is to revisit the conventional wisdom about a key contribution [i.e. strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis] in the field of strategic management. The societal context and the role of academics, consultants and executives is taken into account in the emergence of SWOT analysis during the 1960–1980 period as a pivotal development within the broader context of the satisfactory, opportunities, faults, threats (SOFT) approach. The authors report on both the content and the approach, so that other scholars seeking to invigorate indigenous theories and/or underreported strategy practices will thrive. Design/methodology/approach Applying a historiographic approach, the authors introduce an evidence-based methodology for interpreting historical sources. This methodology incorporates source criticism, triangulation and hermeneutical interpretation, drawing upon insights from robust evidence through three iterative stages. Findings The underreporting of the SOFT approach/SWOT analysis can be attributed to several factors, including strategy tools being integrated into planning frameworks rather than being published as standalone materials; restricted circulation of crucial long-range planning service/theory and practice of planning reports due to copyright limitations; restricted access to the Stanford Research Institute Planning Library in California; and the enduring popularity of SOFT and SWOT variations, driven in part by their memorable acronyms. Originality In the spirit of a renaissance in strategic planning research, the authors unveil novel theoretical and social connections in the emergence of SWOT analysis by combining evidence from both theory and practice and delving into previously unexplored areas. Research implications Caution is advised for scholars who examine the discrete time frame of 1960–1980 through mere bibliometric techniques. This study underscores the risks associated with gathering incomplete and/or inaccurate data, emphasizing the importance of triangulating evidence beyond scholarly databases. The paradigm shift of strategic management research due to the advent of large language models poses new challenges and the risk of conserving and perpetuating academic urban legends, myths and lies if training data is not adequately curated.
Setting the Record Straight: The Intellectual Legacy of H. Igor Ansoff (1918–2002) Richard W. Puyt Strategic Change, 2025 This study presents a comprehensive annotated bibliography of H. Igor Ansoff's intellectual contributions, addressing significant gaps in existing citation databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, which capture only 9 to 15 percent of his work. Leveraging the Ansoff Archive, this review systematically compiled and verified 165 unique publications, including 56 newly identified works, 29 missing or lost items, and 16 strategic consultancy tools. Through meticulous archival research, cross referencing, and international collaboration, metadata inaccuracies were corrected and Ansoff's global impact was documented, encompassing publications in sixteen languages and extensive consultancy work. The bibliography is organized chronologically and thematically, with detailed codes for corrections, missing works, and verifications. This resource enhances understanding of Ansoff's foundational role in strategic management, highlighting his concepts of strategic surprise and environmental turbulence, and provides avenues for future research on his influence on contemporary strategic frameworks and the broader historiography of management scholarship.
The Ansoff archive: Revisiting Ansoff's legacy and the holistic approach to strategic management Richard W. Puyt, Peter H. Antoniou, Andrea Caputo Strategic Change, 2024 This paper explores the profound influence and legacy of H. Igor Ansoff in the field of strategic management. Ansoff, a Russian‐American mathematician known as the father of strategic management, introduced groundbreaking concepts such as the Ansoff matrix and long‐range planning. The Ansoff Institute's recent initiative to establish the Ansoff Archives at the University of Twente underscores his enduring impact on strategic management research. This archive aims to preserve his intellectual contributions and support future scholarship. The paper reviews Ansoff's seminal works, including his influential publication Corporate Strategy (1965) and discusses his holistic approach to strategic change, which remains relevant in today's dynamic organizational environments. By commemorating Ansoff's contributions, the paper highlights the importance of his strategic frameworks in guiding contemporary issue management amidst unprecedented levels of uncertainty and change.
Evaluating ChatGPT-4’s historical accuracy: a case study on the origins of SWOT analysis Richard W. Puyt, Dag Øivind Madsen Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 2024 In this study we test ChatGPT-4’s ability to provide accurate information about the origins and evolution of SWOT analysis, perhaps the most widely used strategy tool in practice worldwide. ChatGPT-4 is tested for historical accuracy and hallucinations. The API is prompted using a Python script with a series of structured questions from an Excel file and the results are recorded in another Excel file and rated on a binary scale. Our findings present a nuanced view of ChatGPT-4’s capabilities. We observe that while ChatGPT-4 demonstrates a high level of proficiency in describing and outlining the general concept of SWOT analysis, there are notable discrepancies when it comes to detailing its origins and evolution. These inaccuracies range from minor factual errors to more serious hallucinations that deviate from evidence in scholarly publications. However, we also find that ChatGPT-4 comes up with spontaneous historically accurate facts. Our interpretation of the result is that ChatGPT is largely trained on easily available websites and to a very limited extent has been trained on scholarly publications on SWOT analysis, especially when these are behind a paywall. We conclude with four propositions for future research.
Origins of swot analysis Richard Puyt, Finn Birger Lie, Frank Jan De Graaf, Celeste P.M. Wilderom Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2020
