Operational Level Participation in the Development Process of Strategies<Br>Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.5585/Riae.V10i1.1707

Abstract

The prime objective of this article is to investigate, through a multi-case study of five organizations from Brazil's Federal District, the operational level participation in the formulation phase of the strategic process and integration of these professionals with other hierarchical levels in organizations. Based on the theoretical referential that the conception of strategy and the strategic process is a reality built in an interactive and contextual manner, we opted for an exploratory qualitative research to investigate and analyze the data collected from the statements of interviewees. The results of this research reveal that although higher hierarchical levels (strategic and tactic) regard the participation of operational level professionals as vitally important to formulate the strategic process, in effect, that occurs in a limited fashion. Top management in organizations involves these professionals at various stages of the process, and neglects them in others. This omission can compromise the entire cycle of the strategic process and, consequently, the results to be obtained from it. In all studied organizations, there was no power distribution to allow for active participation - the highly political and traditional structure does not permit said activity. The primary finding of this study is to demonstrate that the importance of the operational level in the strategic process is not sufficient to drive excessively hierarchical organizations to grant them true participation.