Open Strategy in a Research Organization: Joint Exploration of Research Opportunities in Logistics & IT

Abstract

This paper investigates the efforts of an independent research organization to explore future research opportunities by establishing a so-called ‘research map’. The existing organizational set-up and the existing practices of the research organization are quite unique, as it is composed of several interdisciplinary and inter-organizational units (‘research clans’), which favor participatory decision-making. The authors present a case study that primarily draws on research on ‘open strategy’, a research stream within the broader strategic management literature that puts emphasis on a high degree of involvement of the members of an organization (and other stakeholders). By observing the open strategy-making process in the research organization, we shed more light on the real-world application of open strategy concepts.