From Long Range to Strategic Planners – A Review of Research on Corporate Strategists

Corporate strategists first emerged after World War II in the role of the long range planner who later – after several popularity cycles – transformed into today’s strategic planners and Chief Strategy Officers. Due to corporate strategists’ prominent position in headquarters, several scholars analyzed their roles, backgrounds, organizational setups, and relationships ever since the 1960s. However, due to the changing responsibilities and name of strategists, these research articles seldom built on each other and repeatedly studied similar issues while neglecting others. In this review, we aim to trace the development of corporate strategists over the years to distinguish between the core characteristics that remained stable and the aspects of the role that evolved. Furthermore, we identify promising areas for future research to increase the understanding of this prominent group of strategy practitioners.