Collaborative open strategic planning: a method and case study

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to show how collaborative information technology tools and a crowdsourcing model can be leveraged for the purpose of strategic planning. To achieve this objective, a formal method of Open Strategic Planning (OSP) is proposed.Design: Based on a review of literature a set of activities, stakeholders, and governing rules are identified in the form of an OSP method. The proposed planning method is implemented in a case study of strategic planning in an Australian university. Observations by the research team, and archival records were used to ascertain the relevance of the used method.Findings: A method for OSP is presented and assessed. The method contains four phases: preplanning, idea submission, idea refinement, and plan development. These phases cover the activities required from conceptualization to preparing and publishing the strategic plan. The findings clarify how the principles of OSP helped the organization to include more stakeholders and provided the opportunity to make the planning process transparent through use of a collaborative IT tool.Practical implications: The study provides managers and planning consultants with detailed guidelines to implement the concept of open strategy.Originality/value: This study is among the few to propose a method for open strategic planning based on empirical research. The study also shows how collaborative IT tools can be used for high-level organizational tasks such as strategic planning.

Strategic Planning: Developing a Model for Senior High Schools

“…In order to simplify the strategic planning and to help the managers, some previous researchers proposed a number of tools such as futurology, [18] integration of three main tools of SWOT, balanced scorecard, and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), [19] using the help of external resources in conducting environmental analysis such as scanning committee or assigning an institutional research or implementing collaborative planning processes to enrich information in environmental scanning, [20] action planning software tools (TAPS) that help managers to structure and analyze problem situation in determining action plan, [21] open strategic planning (OSP) as collaborative strategic planning based on crowdsourcing model, [22], and meta SWOT analysis that derived from resource based view (RBV). [23] This developing model applies the issuebased model as the most comprehensive and widely accepted model to deliver value to organizations.…”

Between IT and societal shift: Preconditions of open strategizing

“…A brief analysis of the cases demonstrated that open strategizing was applied by various organizations, for example corporations such as IBM [Bjelland, Wood 2008], small firms or new ventures [Gegenhuber, Dobusch 2017], financial institutions [Tavakoli et al 2017], public institutions, such as universities [Amrollahi, Rowlands 2017], research centres [Malhotra et al 2017], the army [Aten, Thomas 2016], or third sector organizations such as charities [Heracleous et al 2018]. The extension of size, sectors, and geographic areas indicates that open strategy is a universal concept, however not all organizations are keen to introduce more open strategic processes.…”

“…Australian university -staff competences [Amrollahi, Rowlands 2017] The relatively flat organizational hierarchy and presence of well-educated and literate employees were factors which could facilitate the use of the crowdsourcing approach for strategic planning (p. 839). Landcare Research, Inc. (LCR) -competences in communication with stakeholders due to fundraising experience [Malhotra et al 2017] LCR sets rolling five-year strategies to prioritize proposal-writing to its various funding agencies (foundations, government agencies, international agencies, social movements such as Predator Free New Zealand, and trusts) … The diversity of funding sources led to an increasing recognition by Landcare managers of the need to involve external stakeholders in all aspects of strategizing.…”

Managing Organizational Legitimacy through Modes of Open Strategizing

“…A central purpose for opening strategy is that organizations can gather critical insights and knowledge from key stakeholders, and understand their expectations, apprehensions and demands in a constructive way (Whittington, Cailluet & Yakis-Douglas, 2011;Amrollahi & Rowlands, 2017;Tavakoli, Schlagwein & Schoder, 2017). Beyond cycles of ideation, it has been recognized that notable outcomes of OS exist; both tangible (e.g.…”