IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v39y2018i2p379-402.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of strategic dissent on organizational outcomes: A meta‐analytic integration

Author

Listed:
  • Codou Samba
  • Daan Van Knippenberg
  • C. Chet Miller

Abstract

Research summary: Strategic dissent represents divergence in ideas, preferences, and beliefs related to ideal and/or future strategic emphasis. Conventional wisdom in strategic management holds that such differences in managerial cognitions lead to higher‐quality strategic decisions, and thus to enhanced firm performance. However, 4 decades of empirical research have not provided consistent findings or clear insights into the effects of strategic dissent. Hence, we analyze the relative validity of predictions about these effects from both social psychological theories of group behavior and information processing perspectives on decision‐making. Then, we conduct a meta‐analytic path analysis (MASEM) based on current empirical evidence. Synthesizing data from 78 articles, we put to rest the notion that strategic dissent leads to positive outcomes for organizations and estimate how negative its effects actually are. Managerial summary: Top management teams (TMTs) set the tone and direction for their firms in important ways. Top managers, however, often disagree over fundamental issues related to strategy. Such strategic dissent affects how important decisions are made, and thus how the firm performs. In more specific terms and contrary to popular belief, strategic dissent creates not only dysfunctional relationships among top managers, but also disrupts the process by which these managers exchange, discuss, and integrate information and ideas in making strategic decisions. In short, firms have not yet generated value through numerous perspectives, ideas, and opinions among their top managers. We discuss interventions that could prove helpful in efforts to benefit from having diverse cognitions in a TMT.

Suggested Citation

  • Codou Samba & Daan Van Knippenberg & C. Chet Miller, 2018. "The impact of strategic dissent on organizational outcomes: A meta‐analytic integration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 379-402, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:39:y:2018:i:2:p:379-402
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.2710
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2710
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.2710?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael D. Ensley & Allison W. Pearson, 2005. "An Exploratory Comparison of the Behavioral Dynamics of Top Management Teams in Family and Nonfamily New Ventures: Cohesion, Conflict, Potency, and Consensus," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 267-284, May.
    2. Harry G. Barkema & Oleg Shvyrkov, 2007. "Does top management team diversity promote or hamper foreign expansion?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 663-680, July.
    3. Donald C. Hambrick & Albert A. Cannella, 2004. "CEOs who have COOs: contingency analysis of an unexplored structural form," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(10), pages 959-979, October.
    4. Deborah Gladstein Ancona & David F. Caldwell, 1992. "Demography and Design: Predictors of New Product Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 321-341, August.
    5. William C. Bogner & Pamela S. Barr, 2000. "Making Sense in Hypercompetitive Environments: A Cognitive Explanation for the Persistence of High Velocity Competition," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(2), pages 212-226, April.
    6. Amit Karna & Ansgar Richter & Eberhard Riesenkampff, 2016. "Revisiting the role of the environment in the capabilities–financial performance relationship: A meta-analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 1154-1173, June.
    7. van Ginkel, Wendy P. & van Knippenberg, Daan, 2008. "Group information elaboration and group decision making: The role of shared task representations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 82-97, January.
    8. Luis Martins & L. Schilpzand & C. Marieke & Bradley Kirkman & Silvester Ivanaj & Vera Ivanaj, 2013. "A Contingency View of the Effects of Cognitive Diversity on Team Performance: The Moderating Roles of Team Psychological Safety and Relationship Conflict," Post-Print hal-01514582, HAL.
    9. Mohammed, Susan & Ringseis, Erika, 2001. "Cognitive Diversity and Consensus in Group Decision Making: The Role of Inputs, Processes, and Outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 310-335, July.
    10. Kimberly D. Elsbach & Pamela S. Barr & Andrew B. Hargadon, 2005. "Identifying Situated Cognition in Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 422-433, August.
    11. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    12. Donald C. Hambrick & Stephen E. Humphrey & Abhinav Gupta, 2015. "Structural interdependence within top management teams: A key moderator of upper echelons predictions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 449-461, March.
    13. Olson, Bradley J. & Bao, Yongjian & Parayitam, Satyanarayana, 2007. "Strategic decision making within Chinese firms: The effects of cognitive diversity and trust on decision outcomes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 35-46, March.
    14. Ensley, Michael D. & Hmieleski, Keith M., 2005. "A comparative study of new venture top management team composition, dynamics and performance between university-based and independent start-ups," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1091-1105, September.
    15. Ensley, Michael D. & Pearson, Allison W. & Amason, Allen C., 2002. "Understanding the dynamics of new venture top management teams: cohesion, conflict, and new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 365-386, July.
    16. Sendil K. Ethiraj & Daniel Levinthal, 2009. "Hoping for A to Z While Rewarding Only A: Complex Organizations and Multiple Goals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 4-21, February.
    17. Martin Kilduff & Reinhard Angelmar & Ajay Mehra, 2000. "Top Management-Team Diversity and Firm Performance: Examining the Role of Cognitions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(1), pages 21-34, February.
    18. Derek Channon, 1979. "Leadership And Corporate Performance In The Service Industries," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 185-201, May.
    19. William Ocasio, 1997. "Towards An Attention‐Based View Of The Firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 187-206, July.
    20. Chowdhury, Sanjib, 2005. "Demographic diversity for building an effective entrepreneurial team: is it important?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 727-746, November.
    21. Laure Cabantous & Jean-Pascal Gond, 2011. "Rational Decision Making as Performative Praxis: Explaining Rationality's Éternel Retour," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 573-586, June.
    22. Karen A. Bantel & Susan E. Jackson, 1989. "Top management and innovations in banking: Does the composition of the top team make a difference?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(S1), pages 107-124, June.
    23. Gregory G. Dess, 1987. "Consensus on strategy formulation and organizational performance: Competitors in a fragmented industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(3), pages 259-277, May.
    24. Don Knight & Craig L. Pearce & Ken G. Smith & Judy D. Olian & Henry P. Sims & Ken A. Smith & Patrick Flood, 1999. "Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 445-465, May.
    25. Said Elbanna & John Child, 2007. "Influences on strategic decision effectiveness: Development and test of an integrative model," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 431-453, April.
    26. Oswald, Frederick L. & Ercan, Seydahmet & McAbee, Samuel T. & Ock, Jisoo & Shaw, Amy, 2015. "Imperfect Corrections or Correct Imperfections? Psychometric Corrections in Meta-Analysis," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 1-4, June.
    27. Zeki Simsek & John F. Veiga & Michael Lubatkin & Richard N. Dino, 2005. "Modeling the Multilevel Determinants of Top management Team Behavorial Integration," Post-Print hal-02311805, HAL.
    28. Oswald, Frederick L. & Ercan, Seydahmet & McAbee, Samuel T. & Ock, Jisoo & Shaw, Amy, 2015. "Imperfect Corrections or Correct Imperfections?: Psychometric Corrections in Meta-Analysis – ADDENDUM," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 305-305, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xin Cao & Taohua Ouyang & Puzant Balozian & Sixuan Zhang, 2020. "The Role of Managerial Cognitive Capability in Developing a Sustainable Innovation Ecosystem: A Case Study of Xiaomi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-27, September.
    2. Xie, Xiao-Yun & Ling, Chu-Ding & Liu, Wu & Wei, Junjie, 2022. "Inter-team coordination, information elaboration, and performance in teams: The moderating effect of knowledge integration capability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 149-160.
    3. Kwon, Shin Hyoung & Kim, Joongseo & Yim, Hyunsoon (Sean), 2023. "Looking far or close: The explanatory role of myopic management in the relationship between CEO-TMT power disparity and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    4. Johnson, Jeff S., 2023. "How business-to-business salespeople deal with buying center dissenters," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 590-608.
    5. Tu LYU & Xiangfeng JI, 2020. "A Meta-Analysis on the Impact of Social Capital on Firm Performance in China’s Transition Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Chen, Qi & Feng, Yuqiang & Liu, Luning & Tian, Xianyun, 2019. "Understanding consumers’ reactance of online personalized advertising: A new scheme of rational choice from a perspective of negative effects," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 53-64.
    7. Stewart, Alex, 2020. "Family control, ambivalence, and preferential benefits," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 11(4).
    8. de Mol, Eva & Cardon, Melissa S. & de Jong, Bart & Khapova, Svetlana N. & Elfring, Tom, 2020. "Entrepreneurial passion diversity in new venture teams: An empirical examination of short- and long-term performance implications," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(4).
    9. Rajnish Rai, 2019. "The production of precariousness for the dissenting subject at the intersections of neoliberal and cultural nationalist practice," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 46(2), pages 111-126, June.
    10. Seemantini Pathak & Codou Samba & Mengge Li, 2021. "Audit committee diversity and financial restatements," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 899-931, September.
    11. Clauss, Thomas & Ritala, Paavo, 2023. "Network governance institutionalization: Creating mutual value by harnessing and avoiding conflicts in interorganizational networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    12. Fahid Ben Hamed Al Thani & Abdallah Mishael Obeidat, 2020. "The Impact of Strategic Leadership on Crisis Management," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(6), pages 307-326, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan Pablo Diánez-González & Carmen Camelo-Ordaz, 2016. "How management team composition affects academic spin-offs’ entrepreneurial orientation: the mediating role of conflict," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 530-557, June.
    2. Kanchanabha, Bhawini & Badir, Yuosre F., 2021. "Top management Team's cognitive diversity and the Firm's ambidextrous innovation capability: The mediating role of ambivalent interpretation," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Petra Moog & Christian Soost, 2022. "Does team diversity really matter? The connection between networks, access to financial resources, and performance in the context of university spin-offs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 323-351, January.
    4. Salvatore Sciascia & Pietro Mazzola & Francesco Chirico, 2013. "Generational Involvement in the Top Management Team of Family Firms: Exploring Nonlinear Effects on Entrepreneurial Orientation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(1), pages 69-85, January.
    5. Olson, Bradley J. & Bao, Yongjian & Parayitam, Satyanarayana, 2007. "Strategic decision making within Chinese firms: The effects of cognitive diversity and trust on decision outcomes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 35-46, March.
    6. Mahamadou Biga-Diambeidou & Maria Giuseppina Bruna & Rey Dang & L’Hocine Houanti, 2021. "Does gender diversity among new venture team matter for R&D intensity in technology-based new ventures? Evidence from a field experiment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1205-1220, February.
    7. Somendra Narayan & Jatinder S. Sidhu & Henk W. Volberda, 2021. "From Attention to Action: The Influence of Cognitive and Ideological Diversity in Top Management Teams on Business Model Innovation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2082-2110, December.
    8. van Knippenberg, Daan & van Ginkel, Wendy P. & Homan, Astrid C., 2013. "Diversity mindsets and the performance of diverse teams," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 183-193.
    9. Carmen Camelo & Mariluz Fernández‐Alles & Ana B. Hernández, 2010. "Strategic consensus, top management teams, and innovation performance," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(6), pages 678-695, September.
    10. van den Oever, Koen, 2017. "Uncharted waters : A behavioral approach to when, why and which organizational changes are adopted," Other publications TiSEM 0136c8c2-ecdd-4f82-8ca7-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Deniz Ucbasaran & Andy Lockett & Mike Wright & Paul Westhead, 2003. "Entrepreneurial Founder Teams: Factors Associated with Member Entry and Exit," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(2), pages 107-128, March.
    12. Kaiser, Ulrich & Müller, Bettina, 2013. "Team Heterogeneity in Startups and its Development over Time," IZA Discussion Papers 7284, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Alex Coad & Bram Timmermans, 2012. "Two's Company: Human Capital Composition and Performance of Entrepreneurial Pairs," SPRU Working Paper Series 201, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    14. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Kleindienst, Ingo, 2013. "(How) Does discretion change over time? A contribution toward a dynamic view of managerial discretion," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 264-281.
    15. Kristina Reineke & Holger Steinmetz & Rodrigo Isidor, 2020. "Diversity, Team Mechanisms, and Performance: A Meta-Analytical Test of an Opposing Path Model," Working Papers Dissertations 61, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    16. Michele N. Medina & Indu Ramachandran & Joshua J. Daspit, 2019. "Collaboration Or Clash? Mapping The Effects Of Top Management Team Conflict On Firm Absorptive Capacity," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(03), pages 1-29, April.
    17. Li Cai & Qing Liu & Xiaoyu Yu, 2013. "Effects of Top Management Team Heterogeneous Background and Behavioural Attributes on the Performance of New Ventures," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 354-366, May.
    18. Elli Diakanastasi & Angeliki Karagiannaki & Katerina Pramatari, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Team Dynamics and New Venture Creation Process: An Exploratory Study Within a Start-Up Incubator," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, June.
    19. Mammassis, Constantinos S. & Kostopoulos, Konstantinos C., 2019. "CEO goal orientations, environmental dynamism and organizational ambidexterity: An investigation in SMEs," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 577-588.
    20. Mohammadi, Ali & Broström, Anders & Franzoni, Chiara, 2015. "Work Force Composition and Innovation: How Diversity in Employees’ Ethnical and Disciplinary Backgrounds Facilitates Knowledge Re-combination," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 413, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:39:y:2018:i:2:p:379-402. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.