Covert Tactics and Open Strategy in the Perspective of Strategy as Practice: a Theoretical Essay

Abstract

This theoretical essay aims to understand how covert tactics interrelate with Open Strategy in the perspective of strategy as practice. Covert tactics are understood as the gap between what the strategy proposes and what is actually done in the daily activities of organizations (or covert actions), resulting from the implementers to understand the organizational strategy, mainly in the context of everyday life practices. With the Open Strategy - greater inclusion of individuals and transparency of actions and information by the organization -, covert tactics tend to be minimized, since such openness tends to facilitate the interaction of organizational actors, the understanding of the objectives of the company and the collective sense, resulting in increased commitment and practices aligned with organizational strategy. Although Open Strategy represents a good alternative for covert tactics, for its adoption is necessary to consider some dilemmas: escalation, process, commitment, disclosure and empowerment, which, if not well identified and resolved can have negative effects on the organization. Such dilemmas are related to the uncertainty between level of openness and control organizational, which need to be considered before setting the levels of transparency and inclusion (openness) of the company. This theoretical reflection subsidized the development of propositions for future research. The contribution of this study is in the approach of distinct themes of strategy as practice, indicating that although the study perspective is micro-organizational, the perception that several macro-organizational processes occur simultaneously cannot be abandoned.