Open strategy as institutional work

Purpose This article positions institutional work as a central construct in open strategy research. While open strategy is widely celebrated for fostering transparency and inclusion, its potential as a mechanism for field-level institutional change remains underexplored. The study examines how managed openness enabled UK universities to perform institutional work that reshaped research culture and institutional logics in response to evolving field expectations around equality, diversity, and transparency. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 17 in-depth interviews with senior leaders and 25 documentary sources from the N8 group of UK research-intensive universities, the study applies the Gioia methodology and critical discourse analysis to trace how open strategy practices were mobilized to enact institutional work. The analysis identifies three interrelated processes – motivating, signaling, and enacting – through which openness was purposefully managed to facilitate cultural and institutional transformation. Findings Open strategy practices operated as discursive, symbolic, and material mechanisms of institutional work. By framing change imperatives, demonstrating commitment, and empowering participation, leaders used managed openness to align organizational practices with emergent field-level logics. These processes culminated in research culture action plans that institutionalized new norms of transparency and inclusion across the N8 universities. Originality/value The article advances open strategy theory by establishing institutional work as a powerful lens for understanding how openness extends beyond organizational boundaries to orchestrate field-level change. It also introduces institutional critique as a precursor to institutional work, highlighting the role of elite actors and discursive legitimation in shaping openness as a strategic and institutional practice.