Strategy work: the impact of participation from top management, middle management, or workforce on financial performance

Purpose This paper investigates how participation of internal actors influences financial performance. We analyze how various combinations of strategic activities shape financial performance when involving respectively top management, middle management, and the whole workforce. Design/methodology/approach We develop a theoretical model using a combinatorial view of the strategy process and practices as entities to examine how specific strategic activities influence financial performance. We have completed a quantitative study with more than 2,100 respondents from private companies located in Denmark. We asked top managers, middle managers and employees about strategy work and financial performance of their companies. Findings The findings show that combining top management, middle management and workforce participation driven approaches to strategy work have a positive effect on financial performance. The effect grows the more the internal strategy actors participate – just a little when middle managers participate but a lot when also the employees participate in the strategy work. Participation is embedded within the three strategy activities: (1) communicating the strategy across all organizational levels, (2) translating the strategy into action plans at each level, and (3) allocating resources in alignment with strategic priorities. Originality/value The study goes beyond the traditional strategy entity or process approach, and uses a combinatory approach of process and practice on strategy work combined with an entity approach. Normally, questionnaires are distributed to top managers when investigating strategy. We included middle managers and employees as respondents, meaning that the questionnaire encompasses all types of actors (strategy champions) that can be part of or influence the strategic work of the organization.