This paper investigates the process whereby a new idea or practice is turned into strategy within an organization. We rely on the concept of institutional work and the strategy-as-practice perspective to theorize 'strategizing' as a double-faced process consisting in 'making something strategic' (institutional view) while 'crafting strategy' (practice view). We use the case of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to investigate empirically the relationships between these two facets of strategizing as they occur within an organization. A longitudinal study within a UK utility highlights how practitioners have mobilized the discourse of strategy to facilitate the acceptance of CSR and, in so doing, have reshaped organizational strategy. Our findings uncover the repertoire of micro-practices that are mobilized in the cultural, political and technical institutional work that support CSR strategizing. They show the dynamic articulation of institutional and practice forms of strategizing.
