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When the glass is half full and half empty: CEOs' ambivalent interpretations of strategic issues

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  • Nils Plambeck
  • Klaus Weber

Abstract

Organizational scholars have highlighted the importance of interpretive ambivalence for mindfulness, creativity, and strategic change. Ambivalence occurs when an issue is seen simultaneously as positive and negative. We examine organizational factors that influence the propensity of organizational leaders to evaluate a new strategic issue ambivalently. Data come from a survey of 220 German CEOs confronted with the enlargement of the European Union. We find that CEOs of firms with a more ambidextrous strategic orientation and a moderate sense of organizational control over their environment are most likely to be ambivalent about this issue. Our findings affirm the prevalence of interpretive ambivalence at the executive level and suggest ways for organizations to promote or prevent ambivalence in strategic sensemaking. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Nils Plambeck & Klaus Weber, 2010. "When the glass is half full and half empty: CEOs' ambivalent interpretations of strategic issues," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 689-710, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:31:y:2010:i:7:p:689-710
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.835
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    1. Plambeck, Nils, 2012. "The development of new products: The role of firm context and managerial cognition," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 607-621.
    2. Carole Bataillard, 2022. "Sensemaking factors influencing the engagement in corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1747-1756, September.
    3. Guiette, Alain & Vandenbempt, Koen, 2013. "Exploring team mental model dynamics during strategic change implementation in professional service organizations. A sensemaking perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 728-744.
    4. Conti, Claudio Ramos & Goldszmidt, Rafael & Vasconcelos, Flávio Carvalho de, 2020. "Firm characteristics and capabilities that enable superior performance in recessions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 553-561.
    5. Christoph Markmann & Alexander Spickermann & Heiko A. von der Gracht & Alexander Brem, 2021. "Improving the question formulation in Delphi‐like surveys: Analysis of the effects of abstract language and amount of information on response behavior," Futures & Foresight Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 3(1), March.
    6. Dietmar Sternad, 2012. "Adaptive Strategies in Response to the Economic Crisis: A Cross-Cultural Study in Austria and Slovenia," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 10(3 (Fall)), pages 257-282.
    7. Johannes M. Lehner & David McMillan, 2015. "Making sense in asset markets: Strategies for Implicit Organizations," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1024022-102, December.
    8. Matsuno, Ken & Kohlbacher, Florian, 2020. "Proactive marketing response to population aging: The roles of capabilities and commitment of firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 93-104.
    9. Beverly B. Tyler & Turanay Caner, 2016. "New product introductions below aspirations, slack and R&D alliances: A behavioral perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 896-910, May.
    10. 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).
    11. Olga-Velez Bernal & Iván-Darío Toro-Jaramilo, 2019. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Exploration and Exploitation," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(05), pages 1-22, August.
    12. R. Duane Ireland & Michael C. Withers & Joseph S. Harrison & David S. Boss & Richard Scoresby, 2023. "Strategic Entrepreneurship: A Review and Research Agenda," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 495-523, March.
    13. Yuan, Wenlong & Bao, Yongjian & Olson, Bradley J., 2017. "CEOs’ ambivalent interpretations, organizational market capabilities, and corporate entrepreneurship as responses to strategic issues," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 312-326.
    14. Ostmeier, Esther & Strobel, Maria, 2022. "Building skills in the context of digital transformation: How industry digital maturity drives proactive skill development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 718-730.
    15. Conti, Claudio Ramos & Goldszmidt, Rafael & Vasconcelos, Flávio Carvalho de, 2015. "Estratégias para desempenho superior em recessões: pro ou contra-cíclicas?," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 55(3), May.
    16. Patrick Spieth & Tobias Röth & Thomas Clauss & Christoph Klos, 2021. "Technological Frames in the Digital Age: Theory, Measurement Instrument, and Future Research Areas," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(7), pages 1962-1993, November.
    17. Natalia García-Carbonell & Fernando Martín-Alcázar & Gonzalo Sánchez-Gardey, 2021. "Facing crisis periods: a proposal for an integrative model of environmental scanning and strategic issue diagnosis," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(8), pages 2351-2376, November.
    18. Manuela Lucchese & Giuseppe Sannino & Paolo Tartaglia Polcini, 2020. "Il risk management approach nelle Universit? italiane: prime riflessioni su vincoli e opportunit?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(1), pages 111-136.
    19. Timo Busch & Marcel Richert & Matthew Johnson & Sven Lundie, 2020. "Climate inaction and managerial sensemaking: The case of renewable energy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2502-2514, November.
    20. Kent D. Miller & Shu-Jou Lin, 2015. "Analogical reasoning for diagnosing strategic issues in dynamic and complex environments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(13), pages 2000-2020, December.
    21. Christian Hoffmann & Peter Jaskiewicz & Torsten Wulf & James G. Combs, 2019. "The Effect of Transgenerational Control Intention on Family-Firm Performance: It Depends Who Pursues It," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 629-646, May.
    22. Jitendra Pratap Singh Chauhan & Sumeet Gupta, 2022. "Putting Sense and Mind into Your Enterprise Systems: A Qualitative Study of IS Assimilation in Large Public Organizations in India," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 11(1), pages 126-145, January.
    23. Sheen S. Levine & Michael J. Prietula & Ann Majchrzak, 2022. "Advice in Crisis: Principles of Organizational and Entrepreneurial Resilience," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(4), pages 145-168, December.
    24. Blake E. Ashforth & Kristie M. Rogers & Michael G. Pratt & Camille Pradies, 2014. "Ambivalence in Organizations: A Multilevel Approach," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1453-1478, October.

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