Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

How Legal Professionals and Law Students Understand Strategic Thinking

Beck, Vincent LU and Varenkamp, Janneke LU (2018) MGTN59 20181
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Aim: ​This research aims to discover how strategic thinking is understood by legal professionals and law students.

Purpose: ​The purpose of this research is to advance the understanding of strategic thinking. A clear understanding of strategic thinking in the legal field has yet to be fully explored. It is relevant for students, professionals, and educational institutions to discover how strategic thinking is understood and therefore what it is, so that it can be developed.

Method: ​In order to reach our aim, law students and legal professionals were asked to write a text on strategic thinking by answering an open question. Afterwards, interviews were conducted. The texts were analysed by using the computerised text-analysis tool... (More)
Aim: ​This research aims to discover how strategic thinking is understood by legal professionals and law students.

Purpose: ​The purpose of this research is to advance the understanding of strategic thinking. A clear understanding of strategic thinking in the legal field has yet to be fully explored. It is relevant for students, professionals, and educational institutions to discover how strategic thinking is understood and therefore what it is, so that it can be developed.

Method: ​In order to reach our aim, law students and legal professionals were asked to write a text on strategic thinking by answering an open question. Afterwards, interviews were conducted. The texts were analysed by using the computerised text-analysis tool Pertex, and the interviews by content analysis.

Findings: ​Legal professionals and law students start their strategic thinking process by trying to reach a bigger picture of the situation, while doing so the students focus more on gathering the facts than professionals. The professionals also concentrate on the role of the client and counterparty. Both respondents value the assessment of possible outcomes. Legal professionals believe experience and patience are valuable to strategic thinking as well.

Limitations: ​The study is conducted in a qualitative manner, so the results are not statistically generalisable. The research also has geographical limitations in Sweden and within Sweden's legal jurisdiction. Qualitative content analysis can be affected by the researcher's interpretations. Lastly, Pertex is an automated text-analysis process, but sometimes involvement of the researcher is needed which could lead to the results being biased. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Beck, Vincent LU and Varenkamp, Janneke LU
supervisor
organization
course
MGTN59 20181
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Strategic thinking, strategic, strategy, legal professionals, law students, text analysis
language
English
id
8954449
date added to LUP
2018-07-05 13:20:13
date last changed
2018-07-05 13:20:13
@misc{8954449,
  abstract     = {{Aim: ​This research aims to discover how strategic thinking is understood by legal professionals and law students. 
 
Purpose: ​The purpose of this research is to advance the understanding of strategic thinking. A clear understanding of strategic thinking in the legal field has yet to be fully explored. It is relevant for students, professionals, and educational institutions to discover how strategic thinking is understood and therefore what it is, so that it can be developed. 
 
Method: ​In order to reach our aim, law students and legal professionals were asked to write a text on strategic thinking by answering an open question. Afterwards, interviews were conducted. The texts were analysed by using the computerised text-analysis tool Pertex, and the interviews by content analysis. 
 
Findings: ​Legal professionals and law students start their strategic thinking process by trying to reach a bigger picture of the situation, while doing so the students focus more on gathering the facts than professionals. The professionals also concentrate on the role of the client and counterparty. Both respondents value the assessment of possible outcomes. Legal professionals believe experience and patience are valuable to strategic thinking as well. 
 
Limitations: ​The study is conducted in a qualitative manner, so the results are not statistically generalisable. The research also has geographical limitations in Sweden and within Sweden's legal jurisdiction. Qualitative content analysis can be affected by the researcher's interpretations. Lastly, Pertex is an automated text-analysis process, but sometimes involvement of the researcher is needed which could lead to the results being biased.}},
  author       = {{Beck, Vincent and Varenkamp, Janneke}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{How Legal Professionals and Law Students Understand Strategic Thinking}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}