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Strategy is an important tool for competitive success and how firms formulate and implement strategy is widely discussed in both the academic and practitioner literature. Historically, there has been a divide between strategy formulation and execution. Strategy formulation has largely been associated with top management teams, while implementation was assigned to middle and lower-level managers. Organizations can benefit from broadening the strategy formulation process to include a range of both external and internal stakeholders. In this article, we explore the promise and risks associated with open strategy and offer some suggestions for overcoming associated dysfunctions.

Strategic alliances have become an important means for developing and improving a firm's level of competitiveness. Although attractive, alliances are risky and difficult to manage. One crucial mechanism in managing and reducing alliance risk is reliance on personal relationships between managers in partnering firms. Personal ties are beneficial in that they can form the basis for developing trust between partners and aid joint decision-making and information sharing, thereby reducing some of the risks inherent in alliances. Despite their usefulness, however, personal relationships may have drawbacks. For example, strong interpersonal ties in alliances can sometimes prevent dissolution of faltering arrangements, as feelings may prevent the making of difficult, yet prudent, termination decisions. In order to combat this possibility, firms can reduce the downside of personal relationships by carefully managing the role of performance managers across the life of the relationship.