Resumen
The literature on strategy formation is democratic, since various shapes are recognized and accepted (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand & Lampel, 2009). Qualitative studies help to understand what motivates either strategy formation mode. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the process of strategy formation and the role of the management level in the process. qualitative methodology, the case study method followed. The data collection techniques were semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis. The case in point it is a beauty salon Midsize city of Florianópolis / SC. Among the main results, points out that the strategies are formed in integrated manner (deliberate and emergent), which characterizes the middle-up-down style (Nonaka, 1988), it identified yet, according to the integrative framework Hart (1992), three modes that show the formation of the integrated approach: the command, in which the strategy directed by the leader or by a small team from the top; transactional, that sometimes the manager and team members work together in shaping the strategy, driven by internal processes and in agreement; and the generic, and in this case, the strategy is driven by the action of the members of the team and the manager only supports the decision. On the roles of managers, it was found that the administrative manager acts to synthesize for top managers the information collected with the operational level employees, and financial manager acts as implementer of deliberate strategy.