Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Notes from a Trip Down Memory Lane
Organization Science, 6 (3):
280-321 (May 1995)Abstract
The study of cognition in organizations has burgeoned in
recent years. Top-down information proce.ssing theoiy suggests
that individuals create knowledge structures to help
them process information and make decisions, While the
benefits of employing such knowledge structures are widely
noted, there is a growing concern thai they can limit decision
makers' abilities to understand their information environments
and thus, compromise their decision making. This
issue has eaptured the imagination of managerial and organizational
cognition researchers. To date, their inquiry has
been eclectic in focus and method. To order and advance this
work, the author reviews extant research on the developmental
origins and decision consequences of both the content
and structure of knowledge structures at multiple levels of
analysis. A host of research challenges arc identified to help
develop a better understanding of knowledge structure representation,
development, and use in organizations.