The Cognitive Perspective in Strategy: An Integrative Review

Abstract

This article integrates the literature on strategic cognition (SC) within a framework that links the antecedents, structure, and process of SC with outcomes. Reviewing the literature from 1993 (two years prior to Walsh’s review of managerial and organizational cognition) until 2007, this article identifies three elements of SC structure (organizational identity, strategy frames, and organizational routines) and four SC processes (strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategic change, and organizational learning). The literature portrays strategy formulation as a complex activity consisting of scanning, sensemaking, and decision making. Strategy implementation is composed of sensegiving, sensemaking, and issue selling. This review identifies five streams of empirical research with three well-developed themes (the antecedents and outcomes of strategy frames, determinants and consequences of strategy formulation, and cognitive construction of competitive/industry dynamics) and two emerging themes (the determinants and consequences of strategy implementation and the antecedents and outcomes of organizational identity). This review identifies several opportunities to extend the literature and outlines key methodological implications. Finally, the review addresses the need to build linkages to the ongoing theoretical conversations within strategic management literature.

Social, Behavioral, and Cognitive Influences on Upper Echelons During Strategy Process

“…Consistent with previous literature (e.g., Thomas, Clark, & Gioia, 1993; also see Narayanan et al, 2011, for a review of a related topic, strategic cognition), recent studies in this area find that cognitive influences on CEOs, whether examined in terms of their perceptions, attention, amount of information processed, or metacognitive experience, significantly influence a variety of firm outcomes including firm performance, flexibility, corporate entrepreneurship, and decision making (e.g., Kaplan, 2008;Mitchell et al, 2011). These studies examine firms in a variety of industries and use multiple techniques such as surveys, archival data, and field experiments, increasing our confidence in the validity and generalizability of the results.…”

Knowing Me, Knowing You: Inventor Mobility and the Formation of Technology-oriented Alliances

“…Second, there is uncertainty about a partner's behavior once an alliance has been formed. Executives will infer such behavior from a competitor's reputation in the industry, which is also part of the organizational frame (Narayanan et al, 2011). Third, prior studies on corporate entrepreneurship have shown the importance of organizational frames for strategic decision-making.…”

“…This includes points of view about industry cause-and-effect relationships, the nature of competition, and the status of competitors (Corner et al, 1994;Gilbert, 2006;Narayanan, Zane, & Kemmerer, 2011).…”

The impact of mood on decision-making process

“…The 'strategy-as-practice' perspective presented in Chia & Mackay, (2007) offers theoretical insights. Hodgkinson & Clarke (2007) proffer a model to aid the profiling of the cognitive characteristics of strategists, and Narayanan et al (2011) have reviewed the associated concept of 'strategic cognition'.…”