The impact of nudging as a behavioural mechanism in strategy implementation

Abstract

Strategy implementation (SI) is a noteworthy struggle for managers and organisations owing mainly to the difficulties experienced by professionals when putting strategy into action; and attaining the envisioned outcomes. To heighten this challenge, there is no integrated research field on SI which makes academic contributions arduous. This does not even consider the uncertain environment created by the COVID pandemic. The primary line of inquiry for this research paper was around the impact of nudging as a behavioural mechanism for SI, although this was explored through a more general inquiry into ‘organisational conditions’, ‘managerial agency as a component of SI’ and ‘materiality pertaining to SI’. This is important for various reasons, one of which includes the need to steadily connect traditional concepts in business and innovation. The researcher followed a qualitative approach to explore the research topic. The sample consisted of middle-level managers and higher from multinational enterprises (MNEs) who had direct experience of SI tools and practises. The data was collected by using semi-structured interviews and in turn analysed by means of frequency and thematic analysis. Interestingly, the impact of nudging as a behavioural mechanism for SI did not feature dominantly but the reasons for this are clear and linked to future research opportunities. The findings explored through the three themes above do support existing research for the most part. There was a tentative claim made around a possible contribution in regards to innovation which is believed to have altered in the past period – now a reactive approach versus a conscious choice. Future research opportunities include comparisons between small and big business environments, comparisons between developing and developed environments, resilience ratings linked to geographical location, awareness level of using behavioural mechanisms, and business life cycle considerations.