MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Don't Let Your Strategy Be Hijacked

How companies can preempt and manage consumer backlash.

Our research explores the underlying causes of strategy hijacks, the changing nature of consumer-company dynamics, and resulting implications for leaders. Together, our findings suggest a fundamental shift in power dynamics in the realm of strategy stemming from technological and social developments that have changed how companies and customers interact. Thanks to the connectedness of social media, it’s becoming much easier for consumers to unite against companies — and thanks to the transparency of widely available data, it’s now also much easier for consumers to keep an eye on company behaviors.

About the Author

Carsten Lund Pedersen is an assistant professor at the Department of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, where he researches B2B digitization strategies, employee autonomy, and market strategies in times of change. Thomas Ritter (@ritterth) is a professor of market strategy and business development at the Department of Strategy and Innovation at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark, where he researches business model innovation, market strategies, and market management.

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