Designing a way-of-working to move strategic ideas from Margin to Mainstream at Royal Schiphol Group
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Abstract
Like many other organizations, Royal Schiphol Group (RSG) faces a persistent challenge of strategy myopia: urgent operational demands overshadow long‑term strategic ambitions. A clear example is RSG’s vision to become a multimodal transport hub (MTH): despite its strategic importance, it is mentioned only a handful of times in recent annual reports and has failed to gain organizational traction. This reflects a broader issue at RSG: strategic initiatives consistently lack the visibility, momentum, and broad organizational support they need.
The objective of this research was to explore the organizational dynamics that influence why some strategic initiatives at RSG successfully move from margin to mainstream and others stall.
A qualitative approach was used, combining unstructured interviews with employees (N=11) across strategic, operational, and innovation roles, and three generative design workshops mapping timelines of past change initiatives. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: (1) The duality of urgency: both necessary and unfavorable for strategic change, (2) misalignment between long‑term strategy and day‑to‑day operations and (3) the importance of clear ownership and influence of key stakeholders.
The insights showed that fragmented urgency perceptions among RSG employees prevents strategic initiatives from gaining traction. Long‑term projects often fail to align with the immediate priorities of influential decision‑makers, resulting in low urgency and minimal stakeholder involvement.
To address this challenge, this thesis introduces a way‑of‑working that:
1. Identifies and maps key internal stakeholders, distinguishing those with the greatest influence over the initiative.
2. Assesses the perceived urgency of influential stakeholders
3. Sorts all internal stakeholders into one of four actionable engagement strategies: Use commotion for promotion; limit attention; keep Involved; build urgency & gain buy‑in:
The tactical foundation of the design ensures resistance is perceived as valuable, buy-in efforts are targeted on high‑impact stakeholders first, and leverages commotion to generate broader awareness for strategic initiatives.
Usability testing showed that the decision flow is clear, structured, and easy to use. Participants quickly understood the yes/no structure. Scenario testing confirmed the tool’s practicality, relevance, and ability to bring clarity to complex internal stakeholder environments.
This research contributes to the practice of organizational change by designing a repeatable, actionable way-of-working, that enables RSG employees to systematically align stakeholder urgency with tailored engagement strategies and thereby move marginal ideas into mainstream organizational priorities.