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Oxford Workshop and Special Issue of LONG RANGE PLANNING on

“OPEN STRATEGY: TRANSPARENCY AND INCLUSION IN STRATEGY PROCESSES”

DEADLINE for abstract submission to Oxford Workshop: April 14th, 2014 (Oxford workshop: June 30th –July 1st, 2014)

DEADLINE for submission of papers to the Special Issue: October 31st, 2014

Over the last few years there has been an apparent trend towards greater openness in the strategy process, for which Chesbrough & Appleyard (2007) and Doz & Kosonen (2008) coined the term “open strategy”. This new development parallels earlier ones in the area of innovation resulting in radically more open approaches to managing innovation processes (Chesbrough, 2006). Openness in strategy processes comes in many different forms such as strategy crowdsourcing, i.e. the inclusion of larger numbers of internal employees beyond the TMT by means of various jamming technologies; inter-organizational strategizing, i.e. the organization of strategy workshops between different organizations for the collaborative exploration of strategic opportunities and threats; more transparent external communication of strategy, such as through analyst and media strategy presentations and more detailed strategy reporting; or collective, participatory strategy processes of community-based or network-based organizations, making use of crowdsourcing technologies. Clearly these new developments are partly made possible by the availability of new social technologies (Haefliger et al. 2011; Stieger et al. 2012), but they are also reinforced by new organizational forms and changing managerial cultures (Whittington et al 2011).

Whittington and colleagues (2011) summarize the trend to greater strategy openness by distinguishing two dimensions: (1) greater internal and external transparency with regards to processes and outcomes; (2) greater inclusiveness of various actors in strategy-making, internal and external. Greater openness on these dimensions is clearly opposed to conventional notions of strategy which treat it as exclusive and secretive rather than inclusive and transparent. Hence openness, which extends across the private and public sector, constitutes a significant challenge to the way strategy is traditionally understood and practiced. With this special issue we want to bring together papers that explore the drivers, forms and implications of this new development in strategic management.

In order to explore this new phenomenon, we call for papers that deal with the various aspects and dynamics of open strategy – particularly where it goes beyond traditional notions of open innovation. We are interested in conceptual and empirical studies from a variety of different theoretical perspectives, such as network theory, resource-based theory, resource dependency theory, institutional theory, micro-political approaches and theories of social practice. We encourage equally quantitative and qualitative studies, and are open to work from profit and not-for-profit sectors.

To aid in the development of papers, an associated workshop will be held on 30th June and 1st July 2014 at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. Papers may be submitted directly to the Special Issue without attendance at the workshop..

Possible topics for contributions include, but are not limited to, the following issues:

• Antecedents and drivers of open strategy: What external and internal factors trigger the engagement in open strategy (chosen vs. unchosen; forced vs. voluntary)? What are organizational requirements for open strategy? What particular capabilities are needed to engage in open strategy and to change from a closed to a more open approach?
• Areas and forms of open strategy: What forms of open strategy initiatives can be found along the continuum from closed to open? What areas of the strategy process are open and which ones are closed? What actors are included in the strategy process?
• Implications of open strategy for competition and performance: What are the advantages and disadvantages of open strategy for strategy development and strategy implementation? How does openness affect the competitive position of a company? How does it influence relationships in alliances and ecosystems?
• Incentives for and barriers to participation in open strategy: What are the risks and rewards of open strategy for the different actors involved? What are their motivations and interests to engage? What are the barriers to actors’ engagement? How do existing social structures affect actors’ activities and contributions to open strategy?
• Implications of open strategy for social structure, power and politics: How are roles and power structures affected by opening the strategy process? How do power structures affect the likelihood for opening the strategy process? How does the increased social interaction associated with open strategy affect the social structure within and across organizational boundaries?
• Boundary conditions, limits and challenges of open strategy: What are the barriers to open strategy for organizations? Where is open strategy inappropriate? How are open strategy approaches sustained or eroded over time? What other organizational practices may undermine or conflict with open strategy? What are the unintended consequences of open strategy?
• Similarities and differences between open strategy, open innovation and other new organizational practices: How does the concept of open strategy compare to that of open innovation? How do the practices of open strategy and open innovation compare? To what extent are practices or technologies of open innovation appropriated for the purpose of open strategy? How does open strategy relate to other new organizational developments such as open governance?

SUBMISSION TO THE ASSOCIATED WORKSHOP AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Workshop submissions should take the form of an extended abstract in PDF form of approximately 500 words.

Based on these submissions, authors will be invited to the developmental workshop. At this workshop authors will receive feedback from the guest editors and invited discussants. Subsequent to the workshop, authors may be encouraged to develop and submit papers for the special issue taking on board the comments from the editors and workshop participants. Attendance at the Workshop is not a precondition for submitting papers to the Special Issue.

Please submit abstracts by 14th April 2014 to julia.hautz@uibk.ac.at

The Workshop will take place 30 June-1 July 2014 at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. There will be no Workshop fee, but participants will need to cover their costs of travel and accommodation. Professor Julian Birkinshaw (London Business School) will give a keynote address.

SUBMISSION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE

Papers for the special issue should be prepared according to LRP’s guidelines for authors. Participation in the workshop is not a requirement for participation in the special issue.

Submit full manuscripts to the online submission system of LRP before 31st October, 2014:

SCHEDULE AND DEADLINES

• 14 April 2014: Submission of abstract to Special Issue Workshop
• 1 May 2014: Notification to authors regarding their workshop submission
• 30 June -1 July 2014: Workshop at Said Business School, University of Oxford
• 31 October 2014: Submission of full papers to Long Range Planning
• Spring 2016: Intended publication of special issue

REFERENCES

Chesbrough, H. 2006. Open innovation: A new paradigm for understanding industrial innovation. In H. Chesbrough, W. Vanhaverbeke, & J. West (Eds.), Open innovation: Researching a new paradigm: 1-14. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chesbrough, H. W., & Appleyard, M. M. 2007. Open innovation and strategy. California Management Review, 50(1): 57-76.

Doz, Y. and Kosonen, M. 2008. Fast Strategy: How Strategic Agility Will Help You Stay Ahead of the Game. Harlow: Pearson.

Haefliger, S., Monteiro, E., Foray, D. and von Krogh, G. 2011. Social Software and Strategy. Long Range Planning 44: 297-316.

Stieger, D., Matzler, K., Chatterjee, S., & Ladstätter-Fussenegger, F. 2012. Democratizing strategy: How crowdsourcing can be used for strategy dialogues. California Management Review, 54(4): 1-26.

Whittington, R., Cailluet, L., & Yakis-Douglas, B. 2011. Opening strategy: Evolution of a precarious profession. British Journal of Management, 22(3): 531-544

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