Cognitive Structure, Managers' Shared Social Understanding: From Psychological and Sociological Concepts to Managerial Strategic Choices

In this paper, the cognitions of industry participants are explored, by analyzing the shared social understanding of the industry ('mental models', 'industry recipes') as a factor limiting the pursuit of innovative strategies. It is hypothesized that the managers' interpreta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zagreb international review of economics & business 2014-11, Vol.17 (2), p.83
Main Authors: Alfirevic, Niksa, Pavicic, Jurica, Gnjidic, Vladimir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beverage industry
Chief executive officers
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive models
Competition
Competitive advantage
Discriminant analysis
Food processing industry
Hypotheses
Industry analysis
Influence
Management styles
Perceptions
Recipes
Strategic management
Studies
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Summary:In this paper, the cognitions of industry participants are explored, by analyzing the shared social understanding of the industry ('mental models', 'industry recipes') as a factor limiting the pursuit of innovative strategies. It is hypothesized that the managers' interpretation of Porter's five industry forces, within a given industry, represent the 'cognitive' proxy for performance, since shared cognitions represent the (self) imposed performance limitations. The empirical research has been conducted in the Croatian food & beverage industry, where CEOs of mid-sized and large enterprises have been surveyed. Initial support for this hypothesis is provided, since the perceived industry impact (measured by the INDUSTRUCT construct) has been empirically linked to the managers' strategic behavior pattern. In addition, the discriminant analysis demonstrated that it is possible to forecast the specific strategic behavior archetype by analyzing the cognition of the industry's structure. Implications for both theory and managerial practice are discussed.
ISSN:1331-5609
1849-1162