Unbounding the Managerial Mind: It’s Time to Abandon the Image of Managers As “Small Brains”

Unbounding the Managerial Mind It’s Time to Abandon the Image of Managers As “Small Brains”

Management theory has been heavily influenced by Simon’s concept of bounded rationality, so much so that bounded rationality has become a first principle in many modern theories of management and organization. But this influence has come at a price. It has devolved into a view of managers as “small...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of management inquiry Vol. 22; no. 2; pp. 250 - 254
Main Authors: Porac, Joe, Tschang, F. Ted
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-04-2013
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects:
Cognition & reasoning
Management theory
Managers
Studies
Work environment
cognition
bounded rationality
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Management theory has been heavily influenced by Simon’s concept of bounded rationality, so much so that bounded rationality has become a first principle in many modern theories of management and organization. But this influence has come at a price. It has devolved into a view of managers as “small brains” myopically trapped in local environments. We take issue with small-brained management theory, and argue that the time is ripe to refashion the microfoundations of managerial cognition into a “big-brained” alternative.
ISSN:1056-4926
1552-6542
DOI:10.1177/1056492613476223