IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v15y2025i6p227-d1678156.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cognitive Biases in Strategic Decision-Making

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Midtgård

    (Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, 5045 Bergen, Norway)

  • Marcus Selart

    (Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics, Helleveien 30, 5045 Bergen, Norway)

Abstract

This article examines to what degree organizations use strategies that focus on maximizing shareholder value (Theory E) as opposed to strategies emphasizing the development of organizational capability (Theory O). Our main goal is to investigate the extent to which cognitive biases influenced strategic decision-making pertaining to organizational change. Strategic decision-making and organizational change both have a great impact on collaborative behavior. A survey was developed that measured different aspects of the cognitive perspective in strategic decision-making. It was distributed to managers of several medium-sized organizations in Scandinavia ( n = 119). The results indicate that managers used mixed strategies (Theory E and O). The results also reveal that illusions of control together with beliefs about change processes skewed the application of strategies towards Theory E. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were finally discussed, expanding the cognitive perspective in strategic decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Midtgård & Marcus Selart, 2025. "Cognitive Biases in Strategic Decision-Making," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-29, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:15:y:2025:i:6:p:227-:d:1678156
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/15/6/227/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/15/6/227/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael J. Leiblein & Jeffrey J. Reuer & Todd Zenger, 2018. "What Makes a Decision Strategic?," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(4), pages 558-573, December.
    2. Kets De Vries, Manfred & Balazs, Katharina, 1996. "The human side of downsizing," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 111-120, April.
    3. Benjamin E. Hermalin and Alice M. Isen., 1999. "The Effect of Affect on Economic and Strategic Decision Making," Economics Working Papers E99-270, University of California at Berkeley.
    4. Helfat, C.E. & Raubitschek, R.S., 2000. "Product Sequencing: Co-Evolution of Knowledge, Capabilities and Products," Papers 00-1, U.S. Department of Justice - Antitrust Division.
    5. Robin Fincham, 1999. "The Consultant–Client Relationship: Critical Perspectives on the Management of Organizational Change," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 335-351, May.
    6. Charles R. Schwenk, 1984. "Cognitive simplification processes in strategic decision‐making," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 111-128, April.
    7. Constance E. Helfat & Ruth S. Raubitschek, 2000. "Product sequencing: co‐evolution of knowledge, capabilities and products," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 961-979, October.
    8. O'Reilly, Charles A., III & Tushman, Michael L., 2013. "Organizational Ambidexterity: Past, Present and Future," Research Papers 2130, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    9. Hean Tat Keh & Maw Der Foo & Boon Chong Lim, 2002. "Opportunity Evaluation under Risky Conditions: The Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(2), pages 125-148, April.
    10. Busenitz, Lowell W. & Barney, Jay B., 1997. "Differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations: Biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 9-30, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Mingfeng Tang & Hao Huang & Grace Walsh & Maribel Guerrero, 2023. "The impact of entrepreneurial overconfidence on incubator effectiveness," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 416-440, February.
    2. Cucchiarini, Veronica & Scicchitano, Sergio & Viale, Riccardo, 2024. "The Entrepreneur's Cognitive and Behavioral Journey: Understanding Heuristics and Bias under Risk and Uncertainty," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1390, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Arno Nuijten & Nick Benschop & Antoinette Rijsenbilt & Kristinka Wilmink, 2020. "Cognitive Biases in Critical Decisions Facing SME Entrepreneurs: An External Accountants’ Perspective," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, November.
    4. Das, Willy & Das, Satyasiba, 2018. "Role of Heuristic Principles On Crowd-Funder's Investment Decision Making," 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disruptive Change (Dubrovnik, 2018), in: 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disrupt, pages 443-452, Governance Research and Development Centre (CIRU), Zagreb.
    5. Reid, Gavin C. & Smith, Julia A., 2009. "A coevolutionary analysis of organisational systems and processes: Quantitative applications to information system dynamics in small entrepreneurial firms," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 762-781.
    6. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    7. Miikka Blomster & Timo Koivumäki, 2022. "Exploring the resources, competencies, and capabilities needed for successful machine learning projects in digital marketing," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 123-169, March.
    8. Hean Tat Keh & Maw Der Foo & Boon Chong Lim, 2002. "Opportunity Evaluation under Risky Conditions: The Cognitive Processes of Entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 27(2), pages 125-148, April.
    9. Ibtissem Baklouti, 2014. "A Psychological Approach To Microfinance Credit Scoring Via A Classification And Regression Tree," Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 193-208, October.
    10. Song, Sangcheol, 2021. "When do multinational corporations adjust production volume flexibly among in-network subsidiaries?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 532-542.
    11. Jing Xia & Wei Liu & Sang-Bing Tsai & Guodong Li & Chien-Chi Chu & Kai Wang, 2018. "A System Dynamics Framework for Academic Entrepreneurship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-25, July.
    12. Rogier van de Wetering & Tom Hendrickx & Sjaak Brinkkemper & Sherah Kurnia, 2021. "The Impact of EA-Driven Dynamic Capabilities, Innovativeness, and Structure on Organizational Benefits: A Variance and fsQCA Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Soheil Hooshangi & George Loewenstein, 2018. "The Impact of Idea Generation and Potential Appropriation on Entrepreneurship: An Experimental Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 64-82, January.
    14. Freixanet, Joan & Renart, Gemma, 2020. "A capabilities perspective on the joint effects of internationalization time, speed, geographic scope and managers’ competencies on SME survival," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    15. Najoua Dali & Sana Harbi, 2016. "The Effect of Risk Perception and Cognitive Biases on the Evaluation of Opportunity in Family and Non-Family Entrepreneurs: The Case of Tunisian Entrepreneurs," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 281-312, September.
    16. Lee, Hyunmin, 2023. "Strategic similarity in the co-evolution of technological and business diversification for firm growth: Evidence from smart-manufacturing related firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. Frederiks, Arjan J. & Englis, Basil G. & Ehrenhard, Michel L. & Groen, Aard J., 2019. "Entrepreneurial cognition and the quality of new venture ideas: An experimental approach to comparing future-oriented cognitive processes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 327-347.
    18. Emre Şahin Dölarslan & Akin Koçak & Alper Özer, 2017. "“Bats Are Blind?” Cognitive Biases In Risk Perception Of Entrepreneurs," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-13, September.
    19. Simon, Mark & Shrader, Rodney C., 2012. "Entrepreneurial actions and optimistic overconfidence: The role of motivated reasoning in new product introductions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 291-309.
    20. Sapsed, Jonathan & Grantham, Andrew & DeFillippi, Robert, 2007. "A bridge over troubled waters: Bridging organisations and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging sectors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1314-1334, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jadmsc:v:15:y:2025:i:6:p:227-:d:1678156. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.