Abstract Literature on strategic management has largely concentrated on strategy formulation, or, the analysis of strategic content, whereas limited attention has been given to the implementation of strategy, or the analysis of the strategic process. This study represents process research and approaches strategy as practice. The aim of this study is to increase both empirical and theoretical understanding of the nature of the processes or generative mechanisms through which the strategies are formed in small software companies – i.e., to open up the ‘black box’ of strategy formation. The field of strategic management studies is mapped with the help of reviews and meta-theoretical analyses conducted by other researchers, shedding light on the content aspect of strategy. To understand the process and context of strategy, the network perspective and the research of change are reviewed. Based on the literature review and data analysis, an a priori model is developed. The empirical research is based on the analysis of the development process of three entrepreneur-led software companies located in Kajaani, Finland, and the research is conducted as a process research using the method of a multiple case study. Based on the data analysis and the a priori model, the generative mechanisms inside the process of strategy formation in the case companies are identified: situational and transformational mechanisms, formed by the interplay of Network Visioning and Organising, and action-formation mechanism, formed by the interplay of Strategising and Organising. By opening up the ‘black box’ of strategy formation, this study increases the understanding of the reality of small software companies and the effect of the context of software business on the development of the companies. Recognising the different elements affecting strategy formation may help the companies to be aware of the mechanism affecting their development and to guide the development in the direction deemed appropriate.

In the last decades there has been a growing interest in studying processes in improvement work. A particular interest has been the improvement process that the organisation undergoes and why events evolve in the way they do. By better understanding improvement processes and identifying supporting and hindering forces, the possibilities successfully to plan and implement improvement work in a systematic way increases. The focus of this thesis is organisation processes in schools and the relations that hold between planned and emergent improvement, when using a research-based strategy. The aim of the study is to describe and understand how processes are initiated, developed and completed when using a strategy called ‘Scope for Action Model’(frirumsstrategin). The empirical material of the study was organised and analysed according to Van de Ven’s and Poole’s four ideal types for process studies. Within each type, motors have been identified, which contain generative mechanisms that are a key to how actions, events and activities emerge and are driven forward. The results of the study show that the emergent initiatives are more frequent than the planned ones and that they are more likely to generate an improvement – in the study defined as something new in the organisation. However, on several occasions the planned improvement work inspires emergent initiatives for improvement and in some cases seems to be a fundamental condition for their existence. The different motors, which in the analysis are seen as driving forces, support or challenge each other, making the process develop and produce a result. The study shows that the participants reshape the strategy to make it fit into the organisation of the school. The results also show that teachers and principals have to be well-informed of how to work with a strategy in a practical and constructive way. They have to be able to translate crucial moments in the strategy to stimulate the participants to creative actions. The strategy for school improvement is not shown to be a solution which itself can create improvement, but in combination with the participant’s creative goal settings it can be a contributory factor. / Denna avhandling riktar intresset mot skolförbättring och de processer som uppstår när en planerad förändring genomförs på skolor med stöd av en forskningsbaserad strategi. Syftet med avhandlingen är att beskriva och förstå hur dessa processer - i arbetet med frirumsstrategin - initieras, fortlöper och avslutas. Studien visar att det finns relationer mellan planerade och framväxande processer. De framväxande processerna är mest frekventa och har sin grund i deltagarnas egna målformuleringar. De förmår skapa utveckling i skolverksamheterna, något de planerade processerna inte lyckas med. Det planerade förbättringsarbetet tycks bidra genom att vara en inspirationskälla eller i vissa fall en förutsättning för de framväxande initiativ som tas av deltagare från olika delar av organisationen. Studien pekar på att en strategi kan vara igångsättare av förbättringsarbete och utgöra en grund för skolor att utgå från. Av resultatet framgår att det är viktigt att rektorer och lärare har goda kunskaper om förbättringsarbetets processer för att kunna använda strategin på ett konstruktivt sätt. Genom att ha insikt i vilka mekanismer som påverkar processer kan ett förbättringsarbete ledas medvetet samt tillåtas innehålla både de konflikter och den samstämmighet som kan bidra till att utveckling sker.