Abstract:
The notion of temporality has been researched by various scholars in the disciplines of
philosophy and sociology. However, there is a paucity of research on temporality in
management studies and strategic change, it has instead been relegated to an objective
view of time rather than sense-making of the past, present and future (temporality). This
research explored the role of temporality in strategic decision-makin.
To fulfil the objectives of this research, eighteen semi-structured interviews were
conducted with the senior managers involved in strategic decision-making in South
African banks. The research found that senior managers are constantly and iteratively
reinterpreting the past and renegotiating the future to make strategic decisions in the
present. Albeit, prior studies have acknowledged the importance of consideration of all
three dimensions of temporality for strategic decision-making, there are various factors
that act as constraints such as temporal orientations and motives of strategic decisionmakers
and the context of the South African banking sector’s competitive landscape
among others. It was also found that temporality influences the perception of risk in the
banking sector of South Africa.
This research contributes to the existing literature by providing an understanding of the
role of temporality in strategic decision-making in the South African banking sector by
providing practical implications for consideration by senior managers on how to approach
temporality when making strategic decisions.
