Expertise and problem categorization: the role of expert processing in organizational sense-making

Article Abstract:

Our purpose is to understand more fully the role of managerial cognition in organizations. As such, we adopted an experimental approach in studying the use of expert processing in the categorization of organizational problems. We compared the problem categories of 38 chief executive officers (CEOs) in the machine tool industry (experts) with those of 30 MBA students (novices). The results of a problem sorting task indicated that experts tended to categorize the ill-structured problems significantly faster than novices. Experts also had greater variance in the number of categories used and they incorporated more problem information. Follow-up analyses revealed that the number of categories was negatively related to experts' age and positively related to the number of processes and services offered by their respective organizations. These findings are consistent with the contention that experts rely on well-developed, context-dependent heuristics in the early stages of their decision-making. It is argued that such heuristics allow organizational experts to make sense of strategic issues quickly, and respond in an efficient and effective manner. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Decision-making, Decision making, Chief executive officers

---

Classifying managerial problems: an empirical study of definitional content

Article Abstract:

Problem categories play an important role in the thinking activities of many professionals. Organizational researchers have proposed that managers employ such categories as 'threat,' 'opportunity' and 'marketing problem' in their thinking. This paper reports the results of a study of managerial problem categories, based on an analysis of managers' verbal definitions of a variety of organizational problems. Problem categories previously proposed in the literature were rarely evidenced in these data. However, an iterative, inductive analysis led to the identification of a rich set of managerial problem categories satisfying appropriate criteria. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Analysis, Management research, Organizational research

---

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Management in context: an essay on the relevance of culture to the understanding of organizational change. The ethics of shifting ties: management theory and the breakdown of culture in modernity
• Abstracts: Effect of relative decision monitoring on chief executive compensation
• Abstracts: Developing classification structure of organizational problems: an empirical investigation. Solution diversity and the quality of group decisions
• Abstracts: Expatriate policies in British multinationals. Successful growth by acquisition. Strategic restructuring through international acquisitions and divestments
• Abstracts: An analytic process model of two-party negotiations. Calculating the reserve for a time and usage indexed warranty

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.