Managerial cognitive structures, strategy frames, collective strategy frame and their implications for the firms

Abstract

The overall aim of this doctoral dissertation is to increase the understanding of the interconnection between the top managers, the firms, and the industry by investigating the managerial cognitive structures and their organisational implications in different levels of analysis. The roots of this research can be found in the schema theory and the cognitive construction view of the industry. In its studies, this dissertation uses both quantitative and qualitative methods, following the mixed methods research design along the lines of the reality-based assumptions about critical realism. First, the study operationalises the concept of dominant logic with quantitative data by revealing the combined effect of dominant logic and the firm’s strategic activities on the firm performance. By analysing dominant logic as a cognitive structure, the study uses cognitive maps collected from the top and middle managers, showing differences in cognitive diversity between these two management levels. Next, the study investigates the firms’ decision-makers’ cognitive structures, showing the relationships between cognitive diversity and firm-level interpretations as well as cognitive diversity and demographic backgrounds. For this purpose, the cognitive mapping method with quantitative measures, distance ratio and eigenvalue of centrality were used. Finally, the study investigates the development of the collective strategy frames within the cleantech industry. Through the analysis of the cleantech firms’ annual reports over eight years, the study reveals common cognitive patterns among the firms, demonstrating the development of the collective strategy frame.

An important contribution of the dissertation relates to the research methodology. This dissertation advances the managerial cognition research methodology, using direct cognitive measures for the elicitation and analysis of cognitive maps for different levels of analysis. The doctoral dissertation also provides insights into the emergence of the cleantech industry as a collective social phenomenon and brings forth studies on industry and market boundaries. In summary, the doctoral dissertation contributes to the strategic management literature in the field of managerial cognition, especially strategy frame research.