Framing the future : cognitive frames, strategic choice and firm response to the fiber-optic revolution

Much research has sought to understand why technological discontinuities are difficult for firms to manage. While the literature devotes little attention to the role played by managerial cognition, in such equivocal situations as those created by rapid technical change, executives' cognitive frames of the environment, not the "objective" characteristics of the situation, should be essential for shaping outcomes. Despite an increasing emphasis on managerial cognition in the strategy field, there have been limited attempts to link cognitive frames to strategic choice and action in the face of dynamic events. Thus, my research seeks to shed light on the following question: to what extent and through which mechanisms do managerial frames about the technology and environment affect firm strategic response to technical change? My dissertation is a multi-method examination of this question in the specific context of communications technology firms' responses to the fiber-optic revolution. First, I examine the macro patterns and consequences of frames for strategic action. An analysis of a panel dataset of 72 communication technology firms (over the period 1982-2001) testing the effect of top managers' frames about the importance of optical technologies on strategic action (in the form of patenting in the optical arena) shows that, even when controlling for a number of plausible alternative explanations, there is a strongly positive and significant association between frames and subsequent strategic actions across a wide range of firms. Second, I unpack the micro mechanisms connecting cognitive frames and strategic choice. A qualitative exploration of one firm, employing ethnographic techniques to examine cognition "in the wild" of strategy

Department dc:contributor.department

Sloan School of Management.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Kaplan, Sarah, 1964-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Rebecca M. Henderson.

• Sloan School of Management.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/17799

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/17799