Research Talk with Dr. Violetta Splitter (University of Zurich)

Research Talk with Dr. Violetta Splitter (University of Zurich)

Open Strategy: When lower-level employees participate in strategy making

Mo 29.10.18, 16:30 - 18:00, room C40.152 (Leuphana University of Lüneburg)

Open strategy refers to a process where a larger range of actors (and sometimes even the wider public) becomes involved in the strategy making process of an organizaion. This recent trend is especially fostered by digital technologies that facilitate such inclusion. Some open strategy approaches in particular aim for the inclusion of lower-level employees. Yet, such participation is challenging as lower-level employees typically lack the competences for participation, such as convincingly communicating strategic issues. Drawing on a narrative approach to strategy and data from a longitudinal, ethnographic case study of a participative strategy process in a large insurance company, we examine the dynamics of participation based on employees’ discursive competences. In particular, we identify  a recursive relation between participation and the development of discursive competences. With this finding we contribute to the understanding of participation over time, extending existing research on the discursive elements needed for participation in open strategy processes.

Violetta Splitter is an assistant professor (Oberassistentin) at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Her research interest include participation and power relations in strategy making as well as digital strategy making. She mainly draws on practice theories to examine these topics. Recently, she completed a large-scale ethnography in a global insurance company examining participation in strategy making. She furthermore serves as the Membership Chair of the Strategy as Practice (SAP) Interest Group of the Academy of Management and as a member of the SAP leadership team at EGOS. Until September 2018, she has been a visiting scholar at Saïd Business School in Oxford.

If you like to take part in this event, please send Annette Schimming (schimmin@leuphana.de) a short notice by Oct. 22 at the latest. 

This event is sponsored through a research collaboration with BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo on the „Future ways of working in the digital economy“, funded by the Research Council of Norway.