Perspectives in Strategy: Mintzberg on the Influence of Ansoff

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.