IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/econom/v13y2025i3p559-577n1027.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic Ignorance: The Paradigm of Unveiling the Hidden Motives Behind Managerial Blind Spots

Author

Listed:
  • Abedin Bahareh

    (University of Mazandaran, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Executive Management, Iran)

  • Veres Cristina

    (George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, IOSUD – Doctoral School, Romania)

  • Gabor Manuela Rozalia

    (George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, IOSUD – Doctoral School, Romania)

Abstract

The prevailing idea is that decision makers tend to have access to information as much as possible and consider all information related to a subject for their decisions. However, the evidence shows that sometimes managers deliberately ignore some information. It is a kind of conscious ignorance that empowers managers to decide and act in the way they think is right. This behavioural strategy is called “strategic ignorance”. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons why strategic ignorance is used by managers in SMEs across various industries. To achieve this goal, we conducted in-depth interviews with 12 managers. The results turn our attention to a hidden reality behind the logical behaviours of managers, and that is the human desire to use “conscious ignorance”. This study confirms that “strategic ignorance” is a deliberate attempt to prevent the organizations flow of knowledge or information. This phenomenon is influenced by the systematic, environmental, and cognitive stimuli of ignorance and the indicators of the information itself. Our research could help organizations develop more effective strategies for preventing and mitigating strategic ignorance. By understanding the underlying motivations and mechanisms of “Strategic ignorance”, organizations could implement interventions to promote more informed decision-making practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Abedin Bahareh & Veres Cristina & Gabor Manuela Rozalia, 2025. "Strategic Ignorance: The Paradigm of Unveiling the Hidden Motives Behind Managerial Blind Spots," Economics, Sciendo, vol. 13(3), pages 559-577.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:econom:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:559-577:n:1027
    DOI: 10.2478/eoik-2025-0080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/eoik-2025-0080
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/eoik-2025-0080?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • L29 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Other
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:vrs:econom:v:13:y:2025:i:3:p:559-577:n:1027. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.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.