Methodological Challenges and Advances in Managerial and Organizational Cognition (original) (raw)

The managerial cognition construct has been used in strategic management literature to illustrate various organisational phenomena related to organisational capabilities building and strategic outcomes. This article reviews the relevant literature to determine key dimensions of this construct and offer a reconceptualisation of managerial cognition. Based on the dynamic theory and managerial cognition perspective, this article distinguishes between cognition of environment and cognition of resources as two subsets of managerial cognition. This article then advances that cognition of the environment and cognition of resources can differentially and complementarily influence the creation of capabilities of an organisation and its competitive advantage.

This paper provides a framework for organizing research and theory on cognition as discussed in the managerial/organizational literature. Cognition is herein considered to be a property of systems and thereby independent of a specific level of analysis. Research on cognition can be classified on the basis of whether the main concern is with the structure or process of cognition and whether it attends to differences in cognitive style. Cognition is discussed across the individual, group and organizational levels of analysis. The theoretical and methodological issues which emerge are then explored. Future research directions are suggested. 1The increasing interest in the cognitive approach to organization analysis is based on the assumption that organizational behaviors are manifestations of cognitive phenomena. But beyond this assumption, researchers differ widely in their preferred level of analysis and methodological approach. Many insist that "organizations don't think o...

This article explores the linkages between cognitive science and strategic management research. It begins by noting that Schendel and Hofer, in their classic work Strategic Management: A New View of Business Policy and Planning, implicitly assumed a cognitive basis for much of the strategy-making process but did little to systematize a cognitive approach. Next, the article examines the foundations of modern cognitive science. Several areas of recent research that are particularly relevant to strategic thinking are reviewed. The article concludes with a call for a more explicit cognitive emphasis in strategic management.

This chapter is concerned with exploring the ontology of organisational cognition (OC) through conceptual mapping in order to recognise and understand what OC really is about. The objective is not to provide a comprehensive literature review of this area, but that of mapping the concept of OC so that the meaning of the terms can be defined and its field better determined. In so doing, the article considers several perspectives under which the domain of " organisation " interacts with or relate to " cognition " (or it does not do so). A table that summarises similarities and differences among approaches is then presented. This table is then used as a tool to demonstrate possible overlaps, gaps, and define possible directions for future research in the field.

This article analyzes organizational functioning from the perspective of social cognitive theory, which explains psychosocial functioning in terms of triadic reciprocal causation. In this causal structure, behavior, cognitive, and other personal factors and environmental events operate as interacting determinants that influence each other bidirectionally. The application of the theory is illustrated in a series of experiments of complex managerial decision making, using a simulated organization. The interactional causal structure is tested in conjunction with experimentally varied organizational properties and belief systems that can enhance or undermine the operation of the self-regulatory determinants. Induced beliefs about the controllability of organizations and the conception of managerial ability strongly affect both managers' self-regulatory processes and their organizational attainments. Organizational complexity and assigned performance standards also serve as contributing influences. Path analyses reveal that perceived managerial self-efficacy influences managers' organizational attainments both directly and through its effects on their goal setting and analytic thinking. Personal goals, in turn, enhance organizational attainments directly and via the mediation of analytic strategies. As managers begin to form a self-schema of their efficacy through further experience, the performance system is regulated more strongly and intricately through their self-conceptions of managerial efficacy. Although the relative strength of the constituent influences changes with increasing experience, these influences operate together as a triadic reciprocal control system.

In this review, intersections of cognitive science and management/organization sciences as research fields are introduced; studies on managerial cognition, cognitive biases in managerial decision making, entrepreneurial cognition and organizational cognition are surveyed in the form of literature review and discussed respectively. Intersection of these fields and collaboration of researchers from various fields are evaluated to be fruitful and promising to formulate and address the research questions with a novel point of view. Nesta revisão, interseções de ciência cognitiva e ciências de gestão / organização como campos de pesquisa são introduzidas; estudos sobre cognição gerencial, vieses cognitivos na tomada de decisões gerenciais, cognição empreendedora e cognição organizacional são pesquisados na forma de revisão da literatura e discutidos respectivamente. A interseção desses campos e a colaboração de pesquisadores de várias áreas são considerados frutíferos e promissores para formular e abordar as questões de pesquisa com um novo ponto de vista..