| Reflexivity |
We also ask them for their opinion, (…) they then feel appreciated (…) they can express their opinion, and this opinion is often very interesting, because we can have some established pattern on some topic, and they can see something that we do not see;[D1]Reflexivity meaning these questions “how?”, why?”, such curiosity; [D1]We have such an atmosphere that we question, that we turn sideways, we don’t go against the flow or with the flow, we just turn sideways, we find our own solutions and implement our own ideas in full openness (…) If you have three people and each looks from a different perspective then we have a different picture of it, by combining these perspectives we see what the object actually looks like; [D1]If you search, reach out to various sources, you may come up with a better idea, I don’t want to impact you with an idea in advance. This is how non-standard approaches and non-standard solutions are created. If we look for different information and ask ourselves “how?”, “why?”, “what for?”, that is, we are curious all the time, we are scrambling. It is such a climate, and the company must be conducive to such an atmosphere, that such questions are generated. [D1] |
| Flexibility |
(…) with flexibility and with adjusting strategies to situations that happen now, that is, such flexible management; [D2](…) with a certain flexibility, with the fact that actually we today have to very often, especially if we manage such small or medium size organizations, we have to be open, we have to be cautious, we have to try to look for these market gaps. [T] |
| Freedom/autonomy of thought and speech |
But at the moment, absolutely every employee, no matter if he is a manager or director, has a total equal voice in the discussion and is not limited; [D1]with a sense that speaking openly about what one thinks will not be met with some sort of harassment, that someone will be judged on this basis. That a climate of openness in general also requires a climate of tolerance for the beliefs of everyone on the team [I] |
| Integration |
We have this climate somewhere injected and followed according to what it tells us; [D1](…) so that employees are not alienated from their work [D2] |
| Involvement |
[This climate] is the ability to raise synergy squared by maximizing diversity; [D1]Involving employees, or even (…) whole network within your work, also contractors in the processes of a common vision that is shared (…) absorptivity to new ideas and ideas coming from the bottom; [D2]When it comes to subcontractors, we even use them a little bit as a fresh perspective on projects. We ask them what they think as they are not inside. [I] |
| Sincerity/lack of double standards |
We all know our thoughts. We know a little more our personal goals too. It’s like we don’t have that sense that there are people who are doing something, but somewhere they have a hidden agenda, that they would like to do something else; [I] In our company there is such a climate of honesty and we have a policy of not sweeping it under the rug, that is, if someone cares about something, someone doesn’t like something, we say it right away and frankly to avoid the emergence of any problems or insinuations. [D1] |
| Failure-tolerant mindset |
In an open strategy, it is this approach that makes us not treat these things as failures or big stumbling blocks. Rather, we try to look at such stumbling blocks, or what fate will bring us, as opportunities and what we can really get out of them; [D1] Maybe testing some ideas that we are not sure are the best. [I] |
| Communication |
We are also very strongly oriented to receive feedback from our partners, i.e. suppliers; [D2]We all, despite the fact that we are not on equal positions, have very open communication. Maybe those are characteristics of the industry. [D2] |
| Initiative |
A climate of openness is the creation of a space for work or cooperation, in which it is possible to freely exchange ideas and concepts, create projects together; [D2][At our company] there is still an atmosphere of such fun and curiosity. The point is that we play with these topics and we also try to ask “how?”, because this creates interesting ideas. That is, we don’t block ourselves, because everyone can have an interesting example. [D1] |
| Cooperation |
We live more project-based, and I think this project-based attitude definitely fosters responsibility and building this mindset, fosters co-creation; [D1]At our company, all the time this design thinking is vivid, (…) we have a creative meeting, where we decide on some strategic things, we invite the girl who is at our administrative office, who theoretically makes coffee, but we know that she studied something there, so she has a completely different view; [D1] |
| Trust |
I see it as related to a sense of being able to talk back to any person in the organization potentially about any topic, without thinking about what the potential repercussions are. So (…) it’s related to this trust, to communication, to reflexivity; [T]The atmosphere of the rat race can also be such a demotivator here to build an atmosphere of trust, a common goal, a common vision. Maybe still lack of transparency, immoral behavior, unethical behavior towards other companies (…). It seems to me that this can somehow destroy the atmosphere of trust and feeling of having a common goal and doing something good through work, such work ethic; [D2]I think that naturally sooner or later the trust appears (…) in an open environment, there is also a greater chance for involvement, for initiative of all kinds. There is a chance to develop stronger relationships, or the current ones can intensify; [T] I think that trust is the basis, probably, both to build this climate of openness, and to sustain it afterwards [T] |
| Supportive management style |
The approach of management to all employees, whether they are able to create an atmosphere of trust towards these people towards each other, whether they are able to create confidence in these people to come talk about their ideas and concepts; [D2]It’s hard for me to separate management from employees, because the mood, the atmosphere, how they feel to a large extent, mainly depends on this management. [D2] |
| Interpersonal relationships |
I think that here at our place it is also the case that we are more like a family; [D1]Tolerance for minorities and the non-discriminatory nature of the work environment [D2] |
| Idea time |
Creating a space for people to share their ideas, willing to participate in building the strategy; without creating opportunities and spaces for this, it is impossible to do such an open strategy; [D2]Giving yourself time for ideas. This is indeed sometimes lacking. That is, simply this approach: and does anyone have ideas? No one has, then we move on. Let’s write ideas, we’ll meet tomorrow to discuss it tomorrow. [I] |
| Including stakeholders in decision making |
Every working person is important and can participate in the creation of the company. The product, the voices of each of these people are important and are taken into account. And it is not that there is a boss who has his vision and all the rest have to do what he imposes and there is no room for discussion; [D2]It’s not that people are assigned tasks, but people choose for themselves what they are going to do, so they actually make the decision themselves. Of course, despite the fact that sometimes they get these things, it’s not that everyone willingly takes the tasks, because some are easier, some are more difficult. Some, no one feels like taking at all. But that moment when an employee says “well, I’ll take care of it” is nevertheless his decision, not a decision that someone imposed on him saying “you’re the one to take care of it”. And I think even the psychological effect is quite different. [I] |
| Debates |
I personally care that all employees feel that we take their opinion into account; [T]If we want to remain effective and make decisions – on the one hand, and on the other hand – to discuss them quite extensively, it is hard to do other than in organized meetings, well organized discussions. [T] |
| Responsivenes |
It’s more about that kind of “real time response,” that kind of responsiveness; [D1]This is a broader view (of open strategy), for the reason that as we look and react to what the market is doing and try to adapt to it, to notice new opportunities, what is really our goal is to take into account these internal and external stakeholders, because after all, we are not adapting to the market, we are not looking for new customers or new markets just for ourselves. [D1] |
| Co-creation |
While designing apps, we made a decision that first we send a survey to consumers for them to make a dream app, a contest, and do the so-called co-creation with consumers; [D1]Co-creation – it is very, very important. Just the fact that the whole team feels this responsibility and gets involved, no matter what they do. Sometimes when it comes to the people who write the code, we also ask them for their opinion, we show them the marketing offer – they then feel appreciated – that’s one thing. Secondly they can express their opinion, and this opinion is often very interesting, because we may have a set pattern, and they may see something we don’t see. [D1] |
| Proactivity |
This is the kind of atmosphere in the company that fosters, constantly questioning the status quo. We are constantly reflecting on what’s going on in the world, what’s going on at our company, and we try to be proactive, we try to find solutions, not hide; [D1] This climate should be created spontaneously, because otherwise it will be so artificial. Well, on the other hand – I think that without some such active actions of managers it will not appear on its own. [T] |
