Leonhard Dobusch presented on digital strategy as a practice of communication. Various studies were discussed that used different digital tools for strategy communication, including blogging, crowdsourcing, multiplayer games, wikis and videos. These tools allow for inherent identity communication that is participatory, transparent and responsive to internal and external audiences. Communicating strategy digitally can change organizational identity by opening up the process.

1. Leonhard Dobusch
University of Innsbruck
DFG Network “Digital Strategizing”
2nd (Virtual) Network Meeting
September 25, 2020, Internet
Digital Strategy between Communicating
Strategy and Strategic Communication

2. Digital Strategy as a Practice

3. Digital Strategy as a Practice
Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018)

4. ategy as a Practice
Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018) Broadcasting
Dialoguing
Including

5. ategy as a Practice
Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018)
Communicating
(about)
Strategy}

6. Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018)
Communicating
(about)
Strategy}

7. Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018)
Communicatively
Constituting
Organizational Identity}

8. Blogging (Gegenhuber & Dobusch, 2017)
Crowdsourcing (Stieger et al., 2012)
Multiplayer Game (Aten & Thomas, 2017)
Wiki (Dobusch et al. 2019)
Videos (Wenzel & Koch, 2018)
Communicatively
Constituting
Organizational Identity}

9. Revisiting Examples in the Literature

10. Strategy Keynote Videos
a staged genre of strategic
communication
“ Wenzel & Koch (2018, 639;
emphasis added)

11. Strategy Keynote Videos
relevant
Inherent identity
communication
entitled
caring
Photo: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2020/06/23/apple-shares-wwdc-2020-recap-video-and-keynote-replay-on-youtube/

12. Strategy Blogging
management tools […]. Today Buffer might be better known for how much it reveals about its own salaries, revenues, and key
metrics” (BDB#15 inc, 2014). Interestingly, most reports on the venture’s openness also include an endorsement for the
venture’s role in the marketplace by at least briefly explaining what kind of venture it is and what it does.
Figure 4 shows the development of various kinds of media endorsements (support for the venture and product versus
support for ventures’ openness) over time.
This analysis supports our interpretation that the media responds to the emphasis on broadcasting in the growth phase.
Figure 4. Comparative analysis of media endorsementSource: Gegenhuber &
Dobusch, 2017: 349
Over time: openness
became the
the story

13. Strategy Blogging
management tools […]. Today Buffer might be better known for how much it reveals about its own salaries, revenues, and key
metrics” (BDB#15 inc, 2014). Interestingly, most reports on the venture’s openness also include an endorsement for the
venture’s role in the marketplace by at least briefly explaining what kind of venture it is and what it does.
Figure 4 shows the development of various kinds of media endorsements (support for the venture and product versus
support for ventures’ openness) over time.
This analysis supports our interpretation that the media responds to the emphasis on broadcasting in the growth phase.
Figure 4. Comparative analysis of media endorsementSource: Gegenhuber &
Dobusch, 2017: 349
Inherent
identity
communicaton
transparent
responsive
digital

14. Strategy Multiplayer Game
The Navy, a highly bureaucratized
organization
…
the Massively Multiplayer Online War
Game Leveraging the Internet
(MMOWGLI) crowdsourcing website
“
Aten & Thomas (2017;
emphasis added)

15. Quelle: https://youtu.be/wKXrIWsuxnE

16. Strategy Multiplayer Game
Inherent identity
communicaton
seriously funny rule-following collaborative

17. Crowdsourcing Strategy
The platform could then be further improved by putting the impact more in the fore-
ground and allowing an effective organization of discussions by impact factor.
Introduction of the DialogTage Project
FIGURE 1. Thread Overview
Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues
Source: Stieger et al.
(2012: 54)
Dobusch et al. (2019)
INTERNAL EXTERNAL

18. Crowdsourcing Strategy
The platform could then be further improved by putting the impact more in the fore-
ground and allowing an effective organization of discussions by impact factor.
Introduction of the DialogTage Project
FIGURE 1. Thread Overview
Democratizing Strategy: How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues
Inherent
identity
communicaton
participatory
interested
exceptional
participatory
open
different

19. Communicating (about) strategy
communicates (about) identity

20. Quelle: David Lerner, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_troll.jpg, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Strategy and Strategic Communication
Digitalizing strategy
communication
>> changing
organizational identity
IIIOpenness of digital
strategy communication
>> internal and external
audiences in an image-
identity-nexus

21. CONTACT
E-mail:
Leonhard.Dobusch@uibk.ac.at
Twitter:
@leonidobusch
Websites:
bit.ly/LD-UIBK // www.dobusch.net
Research blogs:
governancexborders.com // osconjunction.net

22. References
‣ Dobusch, L., Dobusch, L., & Müller-Seitz, G. (2019). Closing for the benefit of openness? The case of
Wikimedia’s open strategy process. Organization Studies, 40(3), 343-370.
‣ Dobusch, L., Kremser, W., Seidl, D., & Werle, F. (2017). A communication perspective on open strategy
and open innovation. Managementforschung, 27(1), 5-25.
‣ Heimstädt, M. (2017). Openwashing: A decoupling perspective on organizational
transparency. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 125, 77-86.
‣ Stieger, D., Matzler, K., Chatterjee, S., & Ladstaetter-Fussenegger, F. (2012). Democratizing Strategy:
How Crowdsourcing Can Be Used for Strategy Dialogues. California Management Review, 54, 44-69.
‣ Whittington, R., Cailluet, L., & Yakis-Douglas, B. (2011). Opening Strategy: Evolution of a Precarious
Profession. British Journal of Management, 22(3), 531-544.
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