Opening up emotionally: How top managers use peripheral actors' emotional expressions during inclusive strategy formulation

Abstract

In this paper, we build theory concerning how top managers can capture and use the emotional expressions of peripheral actors—actors who are not typically involved in strategy—to help them formulate strategy, using a real-time case. We show how the existence of emotional tumult amongst peripheral actors can force top managers to reassess strategy and engage in ‘emotion processing.’ Through three inter-related processes—canvassing, harnessing, and integrating—top managers are able to solicit emotional expressions from peripheral actors and understand them in such a way that they provide top managers with information regarding the appropriateness of their strategic decisions and directions, as they formulate strategy inclusively. Top managers consider the ‘emotional volume’ of issues that are raised by peripheral actors, in terms of how frequently and emotionally they are expressed, allowing them to determine which issues demand attention and action. When peripheral actors express positive emotions, it signals approval of and support for strategy, whereas expressions of negative emotion can indicate the existence of problems and a need for top managers to adjust the contents of strategy. This study has important implications for the literature on strategy formulation and emotion, elucidating how emotional expressions of those outside the organizational upper echelons can be used as an informational resource during strategy formulation.