Opening up strategy formulation: Benefits, risks, and some suggestions

Strategy is an important tool for competitive success and how firms formulate and implement strategy is widely discussed in both the academic and practitioner literature. Historically, there has been a divide between strategy formulation and execution. Strategy formulation has largely been associated with top management teams, while implementation was assigned to middle and lowerlevel managers. Organizations can benefit from broadening the strategy formulation process to include a range of both external and internal stakeholders. In this article, we explore the promise and risks associated with open strategy and offer some suggestions for overcoming associated dysfunctions.