Hambrick, D. C. & Crossland, C. (2018) A strategy for behavioral strategy: Appraisal of small, midsize, and large tent conceptions of this embryonic community

Question 1

GOAL

Answer 1

No concrete way or framework of behavioural strategy

“Strategic choices in organizations are outgrows of utterly human factors, including imagination, judgement insights, biases and fatigue

Question 2

SMALL TENT:

Answer 2

• Small tent, interest in general human biases and heuristics in decision-making
  “deviations from rationality”
  In line with behavioural economics and behavioural finance:
  “the systematic biases that separate the beliefs that people have and the choices they make from the optimal beliefs and choices assumed in rational agent models”
  However, rationality and optimality are not meaningful in strategy e.g. Bezos

Small tent misses major concepts e.g. cognitive schema, TMT dynamics, interplay among management.
Not fit for real world complex strategy models as it expects specified situations

Question 3

MEDIUM TENT

Answer 3

• Medium tent, more general application of psychology, particularly cognitive and social psychology, to strategic management phenomena
  “Behavioral strategy is a vow to understanding the psychology of strategists”
  > understanding the minds of decision-makers and decision-influencers, including their personal priorities and preferences, their stocks of knowledge and assumptions, their attentiveness to and interpretation of new information, and even the dynamics among these individuals.
  o Differences among strategists, people are not equally irrational (Big Five Model of personality). “Firms vary because their strategists vary.”
  o Cognitive precedents, cognitive schema, attentions search and aspiration, and learning.
  o Composition of TMT’s, a team of decision makers will make another decision than individuals

Research in the style of behavioral economics/finance would fit within this tent, but an array of other psychology-related topics and styles would as well.

Question 4

BIG TENT

Answer 4

• Big tent, all forms and styles of research that consider any psychological, social, or political ingredients in strategic management
  Everything in previous + Culture, Social approval assets, and political processes.
   All human factors that affect strategic decisions and performance outcomes
  Think of how all these factors impact strategy, where else should they go.