The master thesis “Inclusion in Strategy-Making Through Open Strategy: Best-In-Class Customer Inclusion Process and Best Practices in the Energy Industry” examines how regional energy providers can incorporate customers into strategy-making processes using the Open Strategy framework, highlighting models for customer participation, their roles, and the strategic opportunities these interactions create. Here is the abstract:

The concept of Open Strategy (OS) is an approach to strategy moving along and between its two core dimensions: transparency and inclusion. Greater transparency entails sharing more strategic information or sharing information with a broader audience, while inclusion assumes inviting additional stakeholders, both internal and external, to participate in an organization’s strategic conversation. The approach stands in contrast to traditional, exclusive, top-down strategy processes, which limit the involvement of individuals beyond top management. This closed approach to strategy is prone to cognitive biases and a lack of diverse perspectives, making it harder for the firm to innovate and adapt to changes. OS aims to counteract these risks, potentially contributing to enhanced effectiveness in the strategy-making process. Looking at the inclusion of customers in particular, this research developed a customer inclusion process model for regional energy providers (REP). Considering that the energy industry is undergoing significant changes, with customers becoming more proactive, well-informed, and central actors in the market, including these stakeholders is a highly relevant topic for REP. Through the process view lens of OS, two instances of customer inclusion were identified: lower strength participation of household customers in short episodes characterized by feedback and dialogue, and stronger, deeper inclusion of managed customers in longer episodes of dialogue and co-creation, potentially leading to strategic partnerships. Those identified as most promising for inclusion are municipalities and customers from the housing industry to allow for synergy exploration and tap into new business areas. Household customers’ inclusion proves relevant for business development. Customers take an active or passive role in OS initiative emergence through direct initiation by customers or indirect initiation by REP. In the case of managed customers, initiatives may naturally emerge, pointing out the importance of key account managers. REP newness to the approach suggests an iterative approach to openness to allow for a learning organization and refine practices. Future research could further explore the implications of the dual role of customers, practices to manage customer exclusion efficiently, and the role of transparency in managing dilemmas arising from customer inclusion.