A comparative analysis of open and closed strategy-making: A simulati...

OpenStrategyisanovelstrategy-makingapproachthatcon- siders the inclusion of stakeholders as one of its main principles. While it has the potential to enhance the strategy-making process, there also is a lack of studies examining its long-term effectiveness. To address this gap, we conduct a simulation study to explore the impact of stakeholders’ par- ticipation in the idea-generation phase on the performance of strategies, considering the complexity of the strategic task, the number of partici- pants, and their objectives’ alignment with the organization’s objectives. We find that Open Strategy initially outperforms closed strategy-making, but not in the long-term, particularly if the objectives of the participants differ from those of the organization. Additionally, Open Strategy leads to better performance when more participants are involved, and com- plexity is lower. Our study challenges the prevailing views about Open Strategy as a superior approach to the strategy-making process.