Collaborative learning and psychological safety supporting the implementation of organizational strategy: a mixed-method study of knowledge-based work

Modern working life demands active development, change management and strategic renewal – especially from specialist organizations. Growing instability emphasizes the importance of successful strategy implementation for organizational success, employee well-being and the sustainability of working life. However, research shows that strategy implementation fails with unsustainable frequency. Previous research has identified the challenges of strategy implementation as lack of clarity of strategy, weak commitment to strategy, and problems with interaction and communication. Successful strategy implementation requires the involvement of all staff in strategy-related interaction processes, where strategy designers and implementers meet and make sense of strategy content, so that the whole organization is brought together to work towards a common goal. Therefore, this dissertation approaches strategy implementation from the perspective of a collaborative learning process, specifically exploring the role of organizational participatory practices and psychological safety in strategy implementation.

The collaborative learning process as a perspective for strategy implementation is novel and the research between learning and strategy implementation, as well as psychological safety and strategy implementation, is lacking. This dissertation addresses this research gap and utilizes and develops the concepts of strategic change, collaborative learning and psychological safety using a socio-cultural and constructivist learning theory framework, focusing on collaborative learning and interaction and the organizational change process in a Finnish expert organization.