Making sense of board effectiveness: a socio-cognitive perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujit Sur

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate a team dynamics based approach to assess board effectiveness, namely the interplay between boardroom decision-making processes and the board members' cognitive mental models. Design/methodology/approach – A socio-cognitive perspective is utilized for analyzing board processes and determining board effectiveness. Utilizing the concepts of team mental models and sensemaking, a theoretically grounded model of board effectiveness is developed, wherein the propositions predict the causality and effect of the socio-cognitive and sensemaking processes on board effectiveness. Findings – The proposed model is able to analyze the relationship among the different decision-making processes and members' cognitive models as determinants of board effectiveness, wherein the board's decision making process mediates the board's cognitive model – effectiveness relationship, while the board's cognitive model moderates the decision process – effectiveness relationship. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual model advances a rationale that might explain the mixed or modest findings in literature on the relationship between board demographics, dynamics and effectiveness. Practical implications – The model allows practitioners and policy makers an alternative mechanism to assess board effectiveness, that is able to not only integrate the demographic, diversity and dynamics related measures, but also enables a clear understanding of the cognitive influences on board decision making and effectiveness. Originality/value – The conceptual model encompasses most of the relevant constructs and findings of previous studies and offers a parsimonious yet holistic understanding of the boardroom mechanisms that might determine board effectiveness.

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Peschken ◽  
Paurav Shukla ◽  
John Lennon ◽  
Shirley Rate

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the internationalisation decision-making of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owner/managers. Specifically, structural alignment theory (SAT) and regulatory focus theory (RFT) are utilised to examine the concept of opportunity recognition in the context of internationalisation choices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is conceptual in nature, and an integrative cognitive model of internationalisation choice decisions is developed based on SAT and RFT, underpinned by a critical review of the international entrepreneurship (IE) literature. Findings – Scenarios are identified in which the structure of available information may affect the decision-evaluation process in terms of cognitive resource requirements. Further, the SME owner/manager’s motivational goal orientation is suggested to moderate the role of the information structure in line with IE literature. A conceptual model and propositions are presented. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual model and the propositions arising from the discussion in this paper offer new directions of research to explore SME internationalisation. Originality/value – This paper offers a cognitive perspective of SME internationalisation. This paper offers insights for policymakers, SME owner/managers, practitioners and researchers alike. For internationalisation decisions, this paper highlights the potential impact of the structure of information that is made available to SME owner/managers by industry or policy bodies; further, the moderating influence of motivational goal orientation may inform policy on how information should be presented to SME owner/managers to aid their decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Peter Balsarini ◽  
Claire Lambert ◽  
Maria M. Ryan ◽  
Martin MacCarthy

Franchising has long been a method by which organizations seek to expand and facilitate local market development. However, franchising as a growth strategy can often be hampered by lack of suitable franchisees. To mitigate this shortage, some franchisors have engaged in recruiting franchisees internally from the ranks of their employees in addition to the traditional approach of recruiting franchisees externally. Predominantly franchisees are individuals rather than corporations and thus purchasing a franchise should most commonly be characterized as a consumer acquisition. To explore the relationship between subjective knowledge, perceived risk, and information search behaviors when purchasing a franchise qualitative interviews were conducted with franchisees from the restaurant industry. Half of these respondents were externally recruited having never worked for the franchisor and half were internally recruited having previously been employees of the franchisor. The external recruits expressed a strong desire to own their own business and engaged in extensive decision-making processes with significant information search when purchasing their franchises. Contrastingly, the internal recruits expressed a strong desire to be their own boss and engaged in limited, bordering on habitual decision-making processes with negligible information search when acquiring their franchises. The results reveal that differences in subjective knowledge and perceived risk appear to significantly impact the extent of information search between these two groups. A model of the relationship between subjective knowledge, perceived risk and information search in the purchasing of a franchise is developed that reconciles these findings. The findings also have practical implications for franchisors’ franchisee recruiting efforts which are integral to their capacity to develop local markets.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 418-432
Author(s):  
Xiaoai Ren

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look at the organizational structure and service provisions of cooperative public library systems in New York State. The study also seeks to ask questions of how cooperative public library systems decide what services to provide. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and cluster analysis were applied on New York State public library systems’ 2008 annual reports to generate quantitative profiles of public library systems and their service transactions. Three cooperative public library systems displaying different service features were purposefully selected for further study of their service decision-making processes. The face-to-face and phone interviews were adopted in the study. Findings – Research findings from this study provide information on specific service variations across cooperative public library systems. The findings also provide differences of service decision-making processes in addition to the factors that might cause these differences. Originality/value – This study adds knowledge of public library systems’ management and organizational structures, therefore fills a knowledge gap on public library systems. It can also serve as the baseline for future studies using newer annual report data and therefore to study the changing roles and services of cooperative public library systems in New York State.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Lantz ◽  
Niklas Hansen ◽  
Conny Antoni

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore job design mechanisms that enhance team proactivity within a lean production system where autonomy is uttermost restricted. We propose and test a model where the team learning process of building shared meaning of work mediates the relationship between team participative decision-making, inter team relations and team proactive behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The results are based on questionnaires to 417 employees within manufacturing industry (response rate 86 per cent) and managers’ ratings of team proactivity. The research model was tested by mediation analysis on aggregated data (56 teams). Findings – Team learning mediates the relationship between participative decision-making and inter team collaboration on team proactive behaviour. Input from stakeholders in the work flow and partaking in decisions about work, rather than autonomy in carrying out the work, enhance the teams’ proactivity through learning processes. Research limitations/implications – An investigation of the effects of different leadership styles and management policy on proactivity through team-learning processes might shed light on how leadership promotes proactivity, as results support the effects of team participative decision-making – reflecting management policy – on proactivity. Practical implications – Lean production stresses continuous improvements for enhancing efficiency, and such processes rely on individuals and teams that are proactive. Participation in forming the standardization of work is linked to managerial style, which can be changed and developed also within a lean concept. Based on our experiences of implementing the results in the production plant, we discuss what it takes to create and manage participative processes and close collaboration between teams on the shop floor, and other stakeholders such as production support, based on a shared understanding of the work and work processes. Social implications – Learning at the workplace is essential for long-term employability, and for job satisfaction and health. The lean concept is widely spread to both public bodies and enterprises, and it has been shown that it can be linked to increased stress and an increase in workload. Finding the potential for learning within lean production is essential for balancing the need of efficient production and employees’ health and well-being at work. Originality/value – Very few studies have investigated the paradox between lean and teamwork, yet many lean-inspired productions systems have teamwork as a pillar for enhancing effectiveness. A clear distinction between autonomy and participation contributes to the understanding of the links between job design, learning processes and team proactivity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Bettiga ◽  
Lucio Lamberti

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of positive and negative anticipated emotions on adoption and continued usage of consumer products. The components of value eliciting anticipated emotions are investigated as well. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model proposed is tested in two empirical studies, one focussing on functional and hedonic products and one on incremental and radical product innovations. Data are collected through online surveys on consumers and are analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings Results confirm the ability of anticipated emotions to influence product decision-making process. Moreover, anticipated emotions mediate the influence of value perceptions on product attitude. Findings show that these relationships vary greatly between initial adoption and further usage of the product. Practical implications Findings from this study may help marketers in the development of the right brand strategies and communication campaigns, aimed at building emotional connections with the consumer which prompt product adoption and usage. Originality/value Anticipated emotions, the predictions about the emotional consequences of a behaviour, have been acknowledged as strong drivers of consumer choices. Despite that, the role of anticipated emotions in product decision-making has not been explored yet. The present research, by means of a novel conceptual model, uncovers the role of anticipated emotions in both product adoption and continued usage decisions and depicts the components of value arousing such anticipated emotions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitra Dritsa ◽  
Nimish Biloria

PurposeThis paper presents a critical review of studies which map the urban environment using continuous physiological data collection. A conceptual model is consequently presented for mitigating urban stress at the city and the user level.Design/methodology/approachThe study reviews relevant publications, examining the tools used for data collection and the methods used for data analysis and data fusion. The relationship between urban features and physiological responses is also examined.FindingsThe review showed that the continuous monitoring of physiological data in the urban environment can be used for location-aware stress detection and urban emotion mapping. The combination of physiological and contextual data helps researchers understand how the urban environment affects the human body. The review indicated a relationship between some urban features (green, land use, traffic, isovist parameters) and physiological responses, though more research is needed to solidify the existence of the identified links. The review also identified many theoretical, methodological and practical issues which hinder further research in this area.Originality/valueWhile there is large potential in this field, there has been no review of studies which map continuously physiological data in the urban environment. This study covers this gap and introduces a novel conceptual model for mitigating urban stress.


2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (8) ◽  
pp. 1671-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Weber

Focusing on millennials, individuals born between 1980 and 2000 and representing the largest generational population in our history, this research seeks to understand their ethical decision-making processes by exploring the distinctive, yet interconnected, theories of personal values and cognitive moral reasoning. Utilizing a decision-making framework introduced in the 1990s, we discover that there is a statistically supported relationship between a millennial’s personal value orientation and stage of cognitive moral reasoning. Moreover, we discover a strong relationship between three of the four value orientations and a corresponding stage of cognitive moral reasoning. The theoretical and practical research implications of our discovery about millennials’ decision making are discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olumide Olasimbo Jaiyeoba ◽  
Frederick Odongo Opeda

The unprecedented abundance of choice and retail outlets creates a massive array of choice for consumers most especially students. Innovative consumers are an important market segment. This paper seeks to investigate whether consumers’ innate innovativeness is associated with their shopping styles. Specifically, it aims to explore the relationship between two types of innovativeness (sensory innovativeness and cognitive innovativeness and consumer shopping styles). Indeed, the unprecedented abundance of choice and retail outlets creates a massive array of choice for consumers. Despite these significant changes in the commercial environment, very little is known about the decision making processes of consumers in developing countries, most especially in Botswana. Ostensibly, the paucity of research in this area hinders our understanding of consumer decision making processes. The paper integrates the consumer innovativeness and consumer shopping styles literature. A structural equation model was used to test the relationship between cognitive and sensory innovativeness and various shopping styles. Cognitive innovators are inclined to show shopping styles such as quality consciousness, price consciousness, and confusion by overchoice, while sensory innovators are inclined to have shopping styles such as brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, recreational orientation, impulsive shopping, and brand loyalty/habitual shopping. The research is based on a convenience sample of young consumers in Botswana. The findings of this research would hopefully help managers to develop a deeper insight into product development and marketing. Furthermore, since the youth market in Botswana represents an enormous opportunity for marketers, the paper provides valuable insights into this key market segment. It thus provides new insights into the shopping patterns of consumers who belong to different innovativeness types. It also makes a new contribution to the shopping styles literature by explicating potential antecedents to the various shopping styles among the largest private tertiary institution students in Botswana.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 3225-3237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surendra Kumar Sia ◽  
Pravakar Duari

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of agentic work behaviour and decision-making authority (DMA) to thriving at work and, more importantly, the moderating role of DMA in the relationship between agentic behaviour and thriving.Design/methodology/approachThe study has been carried out upon a random sample of 330 employees below supervisory level from manufacturing companies located at Odisha (a state located at the eastern part of India). After verifying the significance of correlation among the study variables through Pearson’s product moment correlation, moderated regression analyses were carried out to examine the independent contribution of agentic work behaviour and DMA to thriving as well as the moderating contribution of DMA towards thriving.FindingsResults reveal that the three dimensions of agentic work behaviour, namely, task focus, exploration and heedful relation, have a direct positive contribution towards thriving at workplace. As far as the moderation is concerned, it is observed that the thriving level is higher for the employees having high DMA irrespective of the level of agentic work behaviour at each dimension.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings imply for designing interventions to enhance task focus, super-ordinate relationship and interest for learning. In addition, the organisations should provide autonomy to employees for decision making.Originality/valueThe study is first of its kind in the Indian context upon employee thriving. In this study, the authors have not only investigated the separate independent contribution of agentic behaviour and DMA, but also their interacting contribution to employee thriving.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Hakala

Purpose Listening to the customers has long been a key phrase and success element in product branding. This paper aims to highlight the importance of listening to residents during the branding of a place. The study explores ways of listening to residents to ensure they are heard and also discusses the challenges and benefits related to place branding flowing from having residents participate in decision-making processes. Design/methodology/approach Listening to residents and offering opportunities to participate requires place branders to fully attend to, comprehend and respond to residents’ comments, requests, ideas and feedback. This study reports on how two Nordic cities – Turku and Helsinki – listen to their residents. The data used comprise face-to-face interviews, telephone and e-mail conversations and documentary material. Findings Residents should not be considered as one homogeneous target; participation options and channels should be adapted to the demographics and geographic issues of the different regions and resident groups. Research limitations/implications The role of residents and the importance of listening are crucial features in the emerging concept of inclusive place branding (Kavaratzis et al., 2017); its future conceptual development could benefit from the case examples at hand. Practical implications City authorities should listen to residents and provide them with opportunities to actively contribute to decision-making. Other cities could learn from the examples introduced in the paper. Originality/value This paper documents two Nordic examples of cities putting into practice a policy of listening to the residents, a previously neglected research area.


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