Getting to the Root of Things: The Role of Epistemic Motivation and Construal Levels in Strategic Problem Formulation

References

• Acar OA (2019) Why crowdsourcing often leads to bad ideas. Harvard Bus. Rev. (December 13), https://hbr.org/2019/12/why-crowdsourcing-often-leads-to-bad-ideas.Google Scholar
• Amit A, Sagiv L (2013) The role of epistemic motivation in individuals’ response to decision complexity. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes 121(1):104–117.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Atuahene-Gima K, Li H (2004) Strategic decision comprehensiveness and new product development outcomes in new technology ventures. Acad. Management J. 47(4):583–597.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Axelrod R (1976) The Structure of Decision: The Cognitive Maps of Political Elites (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ).Google Scholar
• Baer M, Dirks KT, Nickerson JA (2013) Microfoundations of strategic problem formulation. Strategic Management J. 34(2):197–214.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Bhardwaj G, Crocker A, Sims J, Wang RD (2018) Alleviating the plunging-in bias, elevating strategic problem-solving. Acad. Management Learning Ed. 17(3):279–301.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Boyang G, Weidong L, Dunford M (2014) State land policy, land markets and geographies of manufacturing: The case of Beijing, China. Land Use Policy 36:1–12.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Burgoon EM, Henderson MD, Markman AB (2013) There are many ways to see the forest for the trees: A tour guide for abstraction. Perspect. Psych. Sci. 8(5):501–520.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Cacioppo JT, Petty RE, Kao CF (1984) The efficient assessment of need for cognition. J. Personality Assessment 48(3):306–307.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Camillus J (2008) Strategy as a wicked problem. Harvard Bus. Rev. 86(5):98–106.Google Scholar
• Camuffo A, Cordova A, Gambardella A, Spina C (2020) A scientific approach to entrepreneurial decision making: Evidence from a randomized control trial. Management Sci. 66(2):564–586.Link, Google Scholar
• Csaszar FA, Levinthal DA (2016) Mental representation and the discovery of new strategies. Strategic Management J. 37(10):2031–2049.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Cyert RM, March JG (1963) A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ).Google Scholar
• Dane E (2010) Reconsidering the trade-off between expertise and flexibility: A cognitive entrenchment perspective. Acad. Management Rev. 35(4):579–603.Crossref, Google Scholar
• De Dreu CK, van Knippenberg D (2005) The possessive self as a barrier to conflict resolution: Effects of mere ownership, process accountability, and self-concept clarity on competitive cognitions and behavior. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 89(3):345–357.Crossref, Google Scholar
• De Dreu CK, Koole SL, Steinel W (2000) Unfixing the fixed pie: A motivated information-processing approach to integrative negotiation. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 79(6):975–987.Crossref, Google Scholar
• De Dreu CK, Beersma B, Stroebe K, Euwema MC (2006) Motivated information processing, strategic choice, and the quality of negotiated agreement. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 90(6):927–943.Crossref, Google Scholar
• De Grada E, Kruglanski AW, Mannetti L, Pierro A (1999) Motivated cognition and group interaction: Need for closure affects the contents and processes of collective negotiations. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 35(4):346–365.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Dörner D (1980) On the difficulties people have in dealing with complexity. Simulation Gaming 11(1):87–106.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Dörner D, Kimber R (1996) The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations (Basic Books, New York).Google Scholar
• Drucker P (2018) The Effective Executive (Routledge, London).Crossref, Google Scholar
• Federico CM, Ekstrom P, Tagar MR, Williams AL (2016) Epistemic motivation and the structure of moral intuition: Dispositional need for closure as a predictor of individualizing and binding morality. Eur. J. Personality 30(3):227–239.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Felin T, Zenger TR (2009) Entrepreneurs as theorists: On the origins of collective beliefs and novel strategies. Strategic Entrepreneurship J. 3(2):127–146.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Felin T, Foss NJ, Ployhart RE (2015) The microfoundations movement in strategy and organization theory. Acad. Management Ann. 9(1):575–632.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fernandes R, Simon HA (1999) A study of how individuals solve complex and ill-structured problems. Policy Sci. 32(3):225–245.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fredrickson JW (1984) The comprehensiveness of strategic decision processes: Extension, observations, future directions. Acad. Management J. 27(3):445–466.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fredrickson JW, Mitchell TR (1984) Strategic decision processes: Comprehensiveness and performance in an industry with an unstable environment. Acad. Management J. 27(2):399–423.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Freitas AL, Gollwitzer P, Trope Y (2004) The influence of abstract and concrete mindsets on anticipating and guiding others’ self-regulatory efforts. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 40(6):739–752.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Fujita K, Trope Y, Liberman N, Levin-Sagi M (2006) Construal levels and self-control. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 90(3):351–367.Google Scholar
• Gavetti G, Levinthal DA (2000) Looking forward and looking backward: Cognitive and experiential search. Admin. Sci. Quart. 45(1):113–137.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gavetti G, Levinthal DA, Rivkin JW (2005) Strategy making in novel and complex worlds: The power of analogy. Strategic Management J. 26(8):691–712.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gavetti G, Greve HR, Levinthal DA, Ocasio W (2012) The behavioral theory of the firm: Assessment and prospects. Acad. Management Ann. 6(1):1–40.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Grant AM, Schwartz B (2011) Too much of a good thing: The challenge and opportunity of the inverted U. Perspect. Psych. Sci. 6(1):61–76.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hugtenburg JG, Timmers L, Elders PJ, Vervloet M, van Dijk L (2013) Definitions, variants, and causes of nonadherence with medication: A challenge for tailored interventions. Patient Preference Adherence 7:675–682.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Jia L, Hirt ER, Karpen SC (2009) Lessons from a faraway land: The effect of spatial distance on creative cognition. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 45(5):1127–1131.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Johnson-Grey KM, Boghrati R, Wakslak CJ, Dehghani M (2020) Measuring abstract mind-sets through syntax: Automating the linguistic category model. Soc. Psych. Personality Sci. 11(2):217–225.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kruglanski AW (1989) The psychology of being “right”: The problem of accuracy in social perception and cognition. Psych. Bull. 106(3):395–409.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kruglanski AW, Webster DM (1996) Motivated closing of the mind: “Seizing” and “freezing.” Psych. Rev. 103(2):263–283.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lerner JS, Tetlock PE (1999) Accounting for the effects of accountability. Psych. Bull. 125(2):255–275.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Levinthal DA (1997) Adaptation on rugged landscapes. Management Sci. 43(7):934–950.Link, Google Scholar
• Li H, Atuahene-Gima K (2001) Product innovation strategy and the performance of new technology ventures in China. Acad. Management J. 44(6):1123–1134.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Liberman N, Trope Y (2014) Traversing psychological distance. Trends Cognitive Sci. 18(7):364–369.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Liberman N, Trope Y, McCrea SM, Sherman SJ (2007) The effect of level of construal on the temporal distance of activity enactment. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 43(1):143–149.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Livi S, Kruglanski AW, Pierro A, Mannetti L, Kenny DA (2015) Epistemic motivation and perpetuation of group culture: Effects of need for cognitive closure on trans-generational norm transmission. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes 129:105–112.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Long H (2014) Land consolidation: An indispensable way of spatial restructuring in rural China. J. Geographical Sci. 24(2):211–225.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lyles MA (1981) Formulating strategic problems: Empirical analysis and model development. Strategic Management J. 2(1):61–75.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Lyles MA, Mitroff II (1980) Organizational problem formulation: An empirical study. Admin. Sci. Quart. 25(1):102–119.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mannucci PV, Yong K (2018) The differential impact of knowledge depth and knowledge breadth on creativity over individual careers. Acad. Management J. 61(5):1741–1763.Crossref, Google Scholar
• March JG, Olsen JP (1975) The uncertainty of the past: Organizational learning under ambiguity. Eur. J. Political Res. 3(2):147–171.Google Scholar
• March JG, Simon HA (1958) Organizations (Wiley, New York).Google Scholar
• Marcum ZA, Sevick MA, Handler SM (2013) Medication nonadherence: A diagnosable and treatable medical condition. J. Amer. Medical Assoc. 309(20):2105–2106.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mayseless O, Kruglanski AW (1987) What makes you so sure? Effects of epistemic motivations on judgmental confidence. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes 39(2):162–183.Crossref, Google Scholar
• McCrea SM, Wieber F, Myers AL (2012) Construal level mind-sets moderate self-and social stereotyping. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 102(1):51–68.Crossref, Google Scholar
• McGrath JE (1981) Dilemmatics: The study of research choices and dilemmas. Amer. Behav. Scientist 25(2):179–210.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mintzberg H, Raisinghani D, Theoret A (1976) The structure of “unstructured” decision processes. Admin. Sci. Quart. 21(2):246–275.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mitroff II, Featheringham TR (1974) On systemic problem solving and the errors of the third kind. Behav. Sci. 19(6):383–393.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mueller JS, Wakslak CJ, Krishnan V (2014) Construing creativity: The how and why of recognizing creative ideas. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 51:81–87.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Mussel P, Ulrich N, Allen JJ, Osinsky R, Hewig J (2016) Patterns of theta oscillation reflect the neural basis of individual differences in epistemic motivation. Sci. Rep. 6(1):1–10.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Namkoong JE, Henderson MD (2019) Responding to causal uncertainty through abstract thinking. Current Directions Psych. Sci. 28(6):547–551.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Nickerson JA, Argyres N (2018) Strategizing before strategic decision making. Strategy Sci. 3(4):592–605.Link, Google Scholar
• Nickerson JA, Zenger TR (2004) A knowledge-based theory of the firm—The problem-solving perspective. Organ. Sci. 15(6):617–632.Link, Google Scholar
• Nickerson JA, Silverman BS, Zenger TR (2007) The problem of creating and capturing value. Strategic Organ. 5(3):211–225.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Nijstad BA, Oltmanns J (2012) Motivated information processing and group decision refusal. Group Processes Intergroup Relations 15(5):637–651.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Porter LW, Lawler EE (1968) Managerial Attitudes and Performance (R. D. Irwin, Homewood, IL).Google Scholar
• Posen HE, Keil T, Kim S, Meissner FD (2018) Renewing research on problemistic search—A review and research agenda. Acad. Management Ann. 12(1):208–251.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Powell TC, Lovallo D, Fox CR (2011) Behavioral strategy. Strategic Management J. 32(13):1369–1386.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rahmandad H, Denrell J, Prelec D (2021) What makes dynamic strategic problems difficult? Evidence from an experimental study. Strategic Management J. 42(5):865–897.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Reyt JN, Wiesenfeld BM (2015) Seeing the forest for the trees: Exploratory learning, mobile technology, and knowledge workers’ role integration behaviors. Acad. Management J. 58(3):739–762.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rim S, Hansen J, Trope Y (2013) What happens why? Psychological distance and focusing on causes vs. consequences of events. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 104(3):457–472.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rittel HW, Webber MM (1973) Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci. 4(2):155–169.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Rivkin JW, Siggelkow N (2003) Balancing search and stability: Interdependencies among elements of organizational design. Management Sci. 49(3):290–311.Link, Google Scholar
• Rumelt R (2011) Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters (Currency, New York).Google Scholar
• Ryan RM, Deci EL (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Ed. Psych. 25(1):54–67.Google Scholar
• Scarlett W, Young S (2016) Medical noncompliance: The most ignored national epidemic. J. Osteopathic Medicine 116(8):554–555.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Scholten L, van Knippenberg D, Nijstad BA, De Dreu CK (2007) Motivated information processing and group decision-making: Effects of process accountability on information processing and decision quality. J. Experiment. Soc. Psych. 43(4):539–552.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Sedikides C, Herbst KC, Hardin DP, Dardis GJ (2002) Accountability as a deterrent to self-enhancement: The search for mechanisms. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 83(3):592–605.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Semin GR, Fiedler K (1991) The linguistic category model, its bases, applications and range. Eur. Rev. Soc. Psych. 2(1):1–30.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Shadish WR, Cook TD, Campbell DT (2002) Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference (Houghton Mifflin, Boston).Google Scholar
• Siggelkow N, Rivkin JW (2005) Speed and search: Designing organizations for turbulence and complexity. Organ. Sci. 16(2):101–122.Link, Google Scholar
• Simon HA (1955) A behavioral model of rational choice. Quart. J. Econom. 69(1):99–118.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Simon HA (1972) Theories of bounded rationality. McGuire CB, Radner R, eds. Decision and Organization (North-Holland, Amsterdam), 161–176.Google Scholar
• Simon HA (1991) The architecture of complexity. George K, ed. Facets of Systems Science (Springer, Boston), 457–476.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Sparkman DJ, Blanchar JC (2017) Examining relationships among epistemic motivation, perspective taking, and prejudice: A test of two explanatory models. Personality Individual Differences 114:48–56.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Ten Velden FS, Beersma B, De Dreu CK (2010) It takes one to tango: The effects of dyads’ epistemic motivation composition in negotiation. Personality Soc. Psych. Bull. 36(11):1454–1466.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Thompson MM, Naccarato ME, Parker KC, Moskowitz GB (2013) The personal need for structure and personal fear of invalidity measures: Historical perspectives, current applications, and future directions. Moskowitz GB, eds. Cognitive Social Psychology (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ), 25–45.Google Scholar
• Trope Y, Liberman N (2010) Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psych. Rev. 117(2):440–463.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Unger J (2016) The Transformation of Rural China (Routledge, New York).Crossref, Google Scholar
• Van der Schalk J, Beersma B, Van Kleef GA, De Dreu CK (2010) The more (complex), the better? The influence of epistemic motivation on integrative bargaining in complex negotiation. Eur. J. Soc. Psych. 40(2):355–365.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Van Hiel A, Mervielde I (2002) Effects of ambiguity and need for closure on the acquisition of information. Soc. Cognition 20(5):380–408.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Van Kleef GA, Homan AC, Beersma B, Van Knippenberg D, Van Knippenberg B, Damen F (2009) Searing sentiment or cold calculation? The effects of leader emotional displays on team performance depend on follower epistemic motivation. Acad. Management J. 52(3):562–580.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Volkema RJ (1983) Problem formulation in planning and design. Management Sci. 29(6):639–652.Link, Google Scholar
• Webster DM, Kruglanski AW (1994) Individual differences in need for cognitive closure. J. Personality Soc. Psych. 67(6):1049–1062.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Wiesenfeld BM, Reyt JN, Brockner J, Trope Y (2017) Construal level theory in organizational research. Annual Rev. Organ. Psych. Organ. Behav. 4:367–400.Crossref, Google Scholar