Research Paper on:
Chaos Theory, the Analytical Positioning School, and a Hong Kong Securities Company

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
1980s different models have emerged. The different forms of strategy may all be seen as valid and not mutually exclusive, however, they are often viewed in this light. Two of  the most diametrically opposed models are those of the positioning school (Mintzberg et al, 1999) and the Beyond Learning - Chaos Theory (Pascale et al, 2001, Stacey, 1992). In a  fast moving and volatile market such as the stock exchange the validity of these models may be tested. The first stage is to consider the two models and then apply  this to a real case. . The Positioning Strategy There are many views of strategy. Mintzberg et al (1999, 1998) has divided these into ten main  schools. The more traditional views represent the views that were popular when strategy became a buzz work and looked to the way that there would need to be a strategic  fit, with an analytical approach (Booth, 1998). The positioning school, one of the three schools of thought that Mintzberg classifies as prescriptive, was one of the dominant schools of  the 1980s and looked at the way that organisations should be able to compete and respond to competition (Hodge, 1999). Following work by Hatten and Schendel Mintzberg took the analytical  school further. The formation of this school is one where there is a foundation in the traditional view of strategy. A dictionary definition of strategy reads "1. The art of  war. 2a, The management of an army or armies in a campaign..... 3, A plan of action or policy in business or politics"(Oxford Concise English Dictionary 1991:1205). It is the  later definition that applies to the commercial use of strategy, and more specifically positioning strategy, however, there are many parallels that are also appear with warfare analogies. Commentators may