Managing open strategy paradoxes in the public sector

Abstract

The open strategy approach advocates the inclusion of external agents, partners, and employees working at different levels in the strategy construction process. This movement toward openness and inclusion has also advanced in the public sector through collaborative governance. This development is due to changes in understanding the state’s role as a promoter of interaction between public and private actors. The central argument of this essay is that there are paradoxes inherent in the use of open strategy in the public sector that need to be managed in order to avoid or minimize damaging tensions between those involved. The essay adopts a reflexive and inductive approach based on the theoretical perspectives of both open strategy and collaborative governance. As a result, it contributes to the field of public management studies and presents theoretical and practical propositions that indicate ways of managing open strategy.

Keywords:
paradoxes; tensions; collaborative governance; open strategy; public management; management of paradoxes; strategic management