Developing “Complicated” Understanding in Administrators

Bartunek, Jean M.; Gordon, Judith R.; Weathersby, Rita

doi:10.5465/amr.1983.4284737

Cited by 113 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…As a study of the maps shows, respondents from firms with a lower perceived corporate sustainability performance referred to fewer dimensions (only risk and efficiency) than the runners‐up and leaders (risk, efficiency, brand building and new markets). In cognition theory this is referred to as cognitive differentiation, which Feldman and Hilterman () describe as the number of independent dimensions that a person employs when talking about different constructs (Bartunek et al ., ; Streufert and Nogami, ; Green, ).…”

Section: Discussion and Theory Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bartunek et al . () argue that a narrow cognitive framework often results in ineffective managerial behavior. They thus advise managers to aim for a more complex understanding of their information environments.…”

Section: Discussion and Theory Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bartunek et al . (), for example, find that the articulation of a leader's new vision for an organization may cause the development of cognitive models in employees. It would, for example, be interesting to see whether grand sustainability visions such as Jeff Immelt's Ecomagination strategy for GE or Philips’ Green Flagship program actually change mental models significantly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is believed that more complex mental models facilitate better decision making (Okeefe and Brady, ; Bartunek et al ., ; Streufert and Swezey, ; Hambrick and Finkelstein, ). Research on mental models differentiates between two structural attributes which together represent the cognitive complexity of a mental model (Bartunek et al ., ; Streufert and Nogami, ). Cognitive differentiation describes the number of dimensions an individual invokes when reflecting about an information environment.…”

Section: Cognition Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A Cognitive Perspective on the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability

2014

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This paper proposes that a cognitive perspective on corporate sustainability and competitiveness might allow new insights into the question of the business case. The paper explores how respondents from 12 firms make sense of their firm's investments in corporate sustainability activities by analyzing the mental models evoked. The interviews showed that a business case perspective emerged as the dominant logic. A subsequent analysis of the content of the knowledge schemas that were elicited surfaced four dimensions of corporate sustainability induced competitive advantages: risk reduction, efficiency gains, brand building and new market creation. An analysis of the structure of these knowledge schemas revealed that respondents from firms with lower perceived sustainability performance drew on less differentiated and less integrated cognitive frameworks (focusing on risk and efficiency). Respondents from firms with higher perceived performance drew on more complex mental models to represent the links between corporate sustainability and competitiveness.

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Section: Discussion and Theory Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussion and Theory Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cognition Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Cognitive Perspective on the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability

2014

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“…To be sure, cognitive complexity is not a sufficient condition for policy success, which also entails such features as ethical understanding and some finesse in action (Bartunek, Gordon, & Preszler Wethersby, 1983;Denison, Hooijberg, & Quinn, 1995). However, it seems plausible to suggest that it is a necessary one.…”

Section: Cognitively Complex Problem-solvingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards “cognitively complex” problem‐solving: Six models of public service reform

McCourt

2018

Development Policy Review

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This article proposes “cognitively complex problem‐solving” as a refinement of the recent problem‐solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing political and institutional explanations for the frequent failure of reform. It substantiates the new problem‐solving model by identifying and selectively reviewing six models of reform that have been practised in developing countries over the past half‐century: public administration, decentralization, pay and employment reform, New Public Management, integrity and corruption reforms and “bottom‐up” reforms. A short case study of Myanmar is presented to illustrate the problem‐solving approach in practice.

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Effects of Organizational Learning Mechanisms on Organizational Performance and Shared Mental Models during Planned Change

Ellis

Margalit

Segev

2012

Knowl Process Manag

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The study investigated the interrelations among use of organizational learning mechanisms, organizational mental models, and organizational outcomes. It was conducted in a bank, 10 of whose branches were soon to undergo organizational change designed to improve customer service and another 10 were to undergo the same organizational change a few months later. The results demonstrated that customer satisfaction was greater for branches that used organizational learning mechanisms intensively than for branches that used these mechanisms less intensively. The learning branches also showed richer shared knowledge (more constructs and causal links within their cognitive cause maps) and more congruent mental models (cause maps). Furthermore, the content of the learning branches' shared knowledge reflected more closely the messages delivered by organizational management in favor of the structural change. The hypothesis that the use of organizational learning mechanisms moderates the success of an organizational change program was supported by the cause maps data but only partially supported by the customer satisfaction data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Developing “Complicated” Understanding in Administrators

Cited by 113 publications

References 40 publications

A Cognitive Perspective on the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability

A Cognitive Perspective on the Business Case for Corporate Sustainability

Towards “cognitively complex” problem‐solving: Six models of public service reform

Effects of Organizational Learning Mechanisms on Organizational Performance and Shared Mental Models during Planned Change

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