Table 6 Variants of internal openness... | Emerald Publishing

Table 6

Variants of internal openness

Variant of internal openness	Number of MDs in this study (%)	Characteristics	Example citations
Individual governance/autocracy	24 (40)	The MD does not involve any employees, either in decisions or consultations	“When I stop and think, that's when I get the inspiration. When I take a walk outside by the sea or just sit down at home.” (4) “I guess I'm pretty lonely when it comes to such questions.” (9) “When I think to myself.” (20) “I have a side of me that likes to be by myself and think about strategic goals … can long for those moments where you get to sit in your own room.” (29) “You go and figure things out by yourself … a little by yourself.” (37) “A lot of people say things … but I don't really listen to it … a lot comes from my own head.” (44) “Now we even have a small management team, but I'm still the dictator of it, and I intend to continue to be.” (45) “Much of the strategic thinking has been inside my head … I haven't had close colleagues.” (46) “So when it came to decision points, I listened to them, then I made the decision I had made before anyway … I didn't anchor the decisions anywhere …” (46)
Partial dialogue	13 (22)	A few employees are consulted before decisions are made	“I want to hear other people's input … to challenge my thoughts.” (1) “I always want to be one step ahead of the management team. But I'm the one who makes the decisions. They are advisors to me.” (5) “It has been important to our firm that we have been very tight, Ola and I … it is not lonely … we have a good climate for discussing things.” (11) “We may have a discussion in the group. But I'm the one who decides …” (22) “I'm happy to bring it up with XX and XX … Let them come with thoughts and wishes, what they want, what changes they want to make.” (26) “We brought it up at an information meeting, then we had an activity … we had some beer, etc. and then they got to give feedback on what they thought …” (31) “… but we talk to some internal specialists depending on what we are working with.” (36) “We have some employees who are very creative and who have a lot of ideas.” (40) “All proposals and all work that is done connected to strategy, it is done by the management team …” (43) “All strategy work is done almost entirely by the management team … it has become natural to only work with the management team.” (47) “The management group is really everything, we have a very flat structure; therefore, I basically discuss all questions with the management group …” (49)
Partial delegation	16 (27)	Specific employees are allowed to participate in decision-making	“We have Fabian who is somewhat in charge of development, so when it comes to product strategy issues, we talk a lot with Fabian and discuss with him … The strategic decisions we have made are usually product-related. So he has been involved a lot in that development.” (30) “Yes, we [CEO and one employee] try to be a bit strategic and think a bit ahead. The last time we had such a meeting was just before the holiday; we went to his summerhouse … we know roughly what the company is on its way to, so it's probably more to think of what we need to do, what the organization should look like …” (30) “On Wednesdays, we eat lunch together, and not with the others. And there we can make quick decisions.” (58)
Broad dialogue	3 (5)	All employees are invited to participate in conversations that influence the MD before decisions are made	“Then we used two methods. One was to run a big workshop internally … and talk about the path we've taken, this is what we've come up with … try to break it down.” (19) “We have involved staff in a great deal, in everything really … Everyone must have insight into what is being done, everyone must be able to influence what is being done … involve staff in different ways.” (25) “But since we've tried to work like that, … what do you want to do, we try to work with everyone's thoughts and ideas, like visions. And we are probably doing that to an even greater extent now, I think.” (25) “We have a meeting structure … we gather the entire company once a month. We have a product group, we have a marketing group … when we have strategy discussions, ideas are supposed to come from this marketing group into strategy discussions.” (33) “I can point with my whole hand … but if I do it that way, we'll never get there. It's really about getting everyone to walk in the same direction. I allow quite a lot of discussion so that everyone has the same image in mind.” (33) “A key word for me in this company is involvement. That everyone at this company should feel seen, feel appreciated, feel that they are contributing.” (33)
Broad delegation	4 (7)	All employees are invited to participate in decision-making	“We have a lot of very talented people here who are good at taking initiative. Very little of what we do that is good comes from me. But the most important thing is everyone's drive to find possible things to do and to do good things, to act.” (18) “I don't want to make too many decisions by myself. I want to hear other people's opinions, try to form an understanding, and then we go for it. But if it involves a lot of money, or is strategically important, we want as many people as possible to be involved in the decision.” (50) “I am a humble person who is keen to get my employees involved in what we decide so that … that we agree that this is the right way to go … but I want them [employees] to feel that they have been involved and made these decisions.” (54)

Variant of internal openness	Number of MDs in this study (%)	Characteristics	Example citations
Individual governance/autocracy	24 (40)	The MD does not involve any employees, either in decisions or consultations	“When I stop and think, that's when I get the inspiration. When I take a walk outside by the sea or just sit down at home.” (4)“I guess I'm pretty lonely when it comes to such questions.” (9)“When I think to myself.” (20)“I have a side of me that likes to be by myself and think about strategic goals … can long for those moments where you get to sit in your own room.” (29)“You go and figure things out by yourself … a little by yourself.” (37)“A lot of people say things … but I don't really listen to it … a lot comes from my own head.” (44)“Now we even have a small management team, but I'm still the dictator of it, and I intend to continue to be.” (45)“Much of the strategic thinking has been inside my head … I haven't had close colleagues.” (46)“So when it came to decision points, I listened to them, then I made the decision I had made before anyway … I didn't anchor the decisions anywhere …” (46)
Partial dialogue	13 (22)	A few employees are consulted before decisions are made	“I want to hear other people's input … to challenge my thoughts.” (1)“I always want to be one step ahead of the management team. But I'm the one who makes the decisions. They are advisors to me.” (5)“It has been important to our firm that we have been very tight, Ola and I … it is not lonely … we have a good climate for discussing things.” (11)“We may have a discussion in the group. But I'm the one who decides …” (22)“I'm happy to bring it up with XX and XX … Let them come with thoughts and wishes, what they want, what changes they want to make.” (26)“We brought it up at an information meeting, then we had an activity … we had some beer, etc. and then they got to give feedback on what they thought …” (31)“… but we talk to some internal specialists depending on what we are working with.” (36)“We have some employees who are very creative and who have a lot of ideas.” (40)“All proposals and all work that is done connected to strategy, it is done by the management team …” (43)“All strategy work is done almost entirely by the management team … it has become natural to only work with the management team.” (47)“The management group is really everything, we have a very flat structure; therefore, I basically discuss all questions with the management group …” (49)
Partial delegation	16 (27)	Specific employees are allowed to participate in decision-making	“We have Fabian who is somewhat in charge of development, so when it comes to product strategy issues, we talk a lot with Fabian and discuss with him … The strategic decisions we have made are usually product-related. So he has been involved a lot in that development.” (30)“Yes, we [CEO and one employee] try to be a bit strategic and think a bit ahead. The last time we had such a meeting was just before the holiday; we went to his summerhouse … we know roughly what the company is on its way to, so it's probably more to think of what we need to do, what the organization should look like …” (30)“On Wednesdays, we eat lunch together, and not with the others. And there we can make quick decisions.” (58)
Broad dialogue	3 (5)	All employees are invited to participate in conversations that influence the MD before decisions are made	“Then we used two methods. One was to run a big workshop internally … and talk about the path we've taken, this is what we've come up with … try to break it down.” (19)“We have involved staff in a great deal, in everything really … Everyone must have insight into what is being done, everyone must be able to influence what is being done … involve staff in different ways.” (25)“But since we've tried to work like that, … what do you want to do, we try to work with everyone's thoughts and ideas, like visions. And we are probably doing that to an even greater extent now, I think.” (25)“We have a meeting structure … we gather the entire company once a month. We have a product group, we have a marketing group … when we have strategy discussions, ideas are supposed to come from this marketing group into strategy discussions.” (33)“I can point with my whole hand … but if I do it that way, we'll never get there. It's really about getting everyone to walk in the same direction. I allow quite a lot of discussion so that everyone has the same image in mind.” (33)“A key word for me in this company is involvement. That everyone at this company should feel seen, feel appreciated, feel that they are contributing.” (33)
Broad delegation	4 (7)	All employees are invited to participate in decision-making	“We have a lot of very talented people here who are good at taking initiative. Very little of what we do that is good comes from me. But the most important thing is everyone's drive to find possible things to do and to do good things, to act.” (18)“I don't want to make too many decisions by myself. I want to hear other people's opinions, try to form an understanding, and then we go for it. But if it involves a lot of money, or is strategically important, we want as many people as possible to be involved in the decision.” (50)“I am a humble person who is keen to get my employees involved in what we decide so that … that we agree that this is the right way to go … but I want them [employees] to feel that they have been involved and made these decisions.” (54)

Source(s): Author's own creation/work