Strategy and Cognition: Exploring the Behavioural Foundations of Strategic Management
Tuesday 19 June 2012, 13:00
LUMS, LT9
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Dr Mark P. Healey, Lecturer in Business Economics and Strategy at Manchester Business School, will be giving this seminar on behalf of the Centre for Strategic Management.
Recent events have reawakened interest in the behavioural foundations of strategic management. Inspired by the ability of behavioural economics to shed light on the human causes of phenomena such as the recent financial crisis, scholars in behavioural strategy are increasingly using psychological theory to supplement orthodox economic accounts of the behaviour of firms and managers. In this talk, I will discuss my work with colleagues on the cognitive and emotional bases of strategic adaptation, which seeks to extend current behavioural strategy research. First, I present a recent theoretical analysis of the psychological foundations of the dynamic capabilities that underpin the evolutionary and economic fitness of business enterprises. The analysis draws on contemporary advances in social cognitive neuroscience and neuroeconomics to develop a series of countervailing insights on the cognitive and emotional capabilities of individuals and groups that enable adaptation and change. Second, I share new findings from an experimental study of strategic persistence. Using a complex business simulation, we demonstrate how strategic intervention techniques that engage cognitive and emotional (i.e. self-regulatory) mechanisms can alleviate the effects of persistence by stimulating strategic reorientation – shifts in patterns of strategic decision behaviour. I discuss the implications of the findings for understanding the microfoundations of strategic adaptation and for behavioural strategy more generally.
All staff and doctoral students welcome. Tea and coffee will be provided
Please confirm attendance for catering purposes to v.young@lancaster.ac.uk
Biography: Mark P. Healey is Lecturer in Strategic Management at Manchester Business School. He received his Ph.D. in Management Sciences from UMIST. He was previously based at Leeds University Business School, where he held positions as Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour and Strategic Management, Senior Research Fellow in Organizational Psychology, and ESRC/EPSRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Advanced Institute of Management (AIM). His expertise lies in cognition in organizations, particularly applied to strategic decision making and the wider strategic management process. His research has appeared in Annual Review of Psychology, Organization Studies, and Strategic Management Journal.
