Developing an Open Strategy

In the ancient Chinese manual, The Art of War, military strategist Sun Tzu advised generals to keep their plans to themselves if they wanted to defeat their adversaries. “By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves,” he wrote, “we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.”

Most executives and managers today take such advice to heart, zealously guarding their core strategies as well as the thinking, market data, and product information that contribute to them.

But what if they’re wrong? From this webinar recording with Warwick Business School’s Christian Stadler – an expert on long-term success and long-living corporations - you will learn why companies should open up their strategy, and crucially how they can go about it.

In this webinar, Christian Stadler considers why and how to go about this. Under an obligation to deliver sustained profitable performance in a highly competitive fast-changing world, companies can not afford to be too insular in their strategic thinking. They need to listen to a wide range of diverse voices to have the best chance of success.

Did the webinar challenge your strategic thinking and help you consider your next development move? Read below to learn more about the two WBS Executive Education programs mentioned during the webinar:

Warwick Executive Diplomas

Developed with corporate input, to address the areas of development that senior executives and organisations have identified as key for growth. There are four specialisms focusing on leadership and strategy: Strategic Leadership, Digital Leadership, Strategy & Innovation, Organisational Change. Taught at The Shard by our expert senior faculty with learning embedded in practice, for senior executives seeking thought leadership and organisational innovation.

WBS Doctor of Business Administration

Webinar host Christian Stadler is Course Director for the DBA, bringing together world leading faculty, it is a unique degree programme designed to impart critical skills at the highest level. It engages leaders and entrepreneurs with the desire and ability to make change in their organisations. Equivalent in stature to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, but distinct in that candidates pursue applied research rather than theoretical knowledge.

About the speaker: Christian Stadler is an expert on long-term success. For the past decade he has devoted his energy to the investigation of long-living corporations - how they grow, adapt, and consistently beat their competitors. His work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg Business Week, Fast Company, Fortune/CNN, and the BBC, and has been translated into 11 languages.