Materiality in strategy workshops: the role of strategy tools as objects and their impact on the effectiveness of workshops

The use of strategy tools is an ever-present practice that spans across various contexts and industries. Similarly, strategy workshops have been found to be a pervasive practice in organizations. Using a sociomaterial perspective, this exploratory study is focused on the role of strategy tools as objects and the implications of these roles within the social practice of ?workshopping?. In particular we seek to determine if and how the tool impacts on the effectiveness of workshops. We combine the literature on the role of objects, strategy tools and strategy workshops with an empirical case study of a financial institution. The preliminary findings suggest that the object exhibits multiple roles concurrently, one of which is acting as a double-edged sword initiating conflict and enabling the resolution of the conflict.