Ways managers interpret and act on common workplace events: implications for the entrepreneurial executive.
Entrepreneurial Executive › Nbr. 14, January 2009
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Ways managers interpret and act on common workplace events: implications for the entrepreneurial executive.
INTRODUCTION
Performing the role of manager involves indentifying issues that require the attention of the manager, seeking guidance when necessary on how best to resolve the issues, making a decision as to what alternative course of action to take and implementing that decision. Some situations that are interpreted by a manager as routine, or of minor consequence, are resolved by decisions that are made quickly and often intuitively with little information search or analytic activity. Other situations are interpreted as more complex, novel or important and, therefore, require significant information search and analysis before action can be taken by the manager (Smith, Peterson, & Schwartz, 2002). An individual's need for closure (Webster & Kruglanski, 1994) may influence the interpretive and decision-making process by affecting the amount and type of guidance that is sought. A manager that has a higher need to reach a state of cognitive closure would be less likely to tolerate a longer period of ambiguity in resolving situations. As a result, the expectation would be an individual that has a high need for cognitive closure would be significantly less likely to seek guidance from a number of sources in analyzing situations than an individual with a lower need for closure. Individuals that utilize fewer sources of guidance are more likely to be intuitive decision-makers and, as a result, be more likely to make an incorrect decision than an individual who has followed a logic-based process involving appropriate information search and analysis. Achieving a greater understanding of how individual differences affect decision-making processes potentially helps improve th...See the full content of this document
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