| Learning objectives |
The learning objectives of this course are the
following ones: Students who follow the class will
- learn a number of important and useful basic theories,
insights, and concepts, rooted in psychology, behavioral economics
and strategic management
- learn to structure their argumentation using behavioral
strategy so as to, for example, prepare them for their later master
thesis work
- acquire tools that can support decision-making at various
levels of the company, for example, by understanding how decision
making is shaped by, e.g., or by understanding the psychological
(e.g., motivational basis) of key company resources
- add important tools to their toolbox, for example, if they
decide to pursue a strategy consultant or investment banking
career
- get in a position where they can relate behavioral strategy
theories and insights to each other, in principle, allowing them to
create new insights in behavioral strategy
|
| Examination |
|
Behavioral
Strategy:
|
| Exam
ECTS |
7,5 |
| Examination form |
Written sit-in exam on CBS'
computers |
| Individual or group exam |
Individual exam |
| Assignment type |
Written assignment |
| Duration |
4 hours |
| Grading scale |
7-point grading scale |
| Examiner(s) |
One internal examiner |
| Exam period |
Spring |
| Aids |
Closed book: no aids
However, at all
written sit-in exams the student has access to the basic IT
application package (Microsoft Office (minus Excel), digital pen
and paper, 7-zip file manager, Adobe Acrobat, Texlive, VLC player,
Windows Media Player), and the student is allowed to bring simple
writing and drawing utensils (non-digital). PLEASE NOTE: Students
are not allowed to communicate with others during the
exam. |
| Make-up exam/re-exam |
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up
examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most
appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office
will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take
examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
The number of registered candidates
for the re-take exam warrants if the exam, most appropriately, is
to be held as an oral examination. The students will be informed if
the re-take examination will be held as an oral examination
instead.
|
|
| Course content, structure and pedagogical
approach |
|
Behavioral strategy seeks to put psychology and behavioral
economics into strategy! In one definition of the field,
“Behavioral strategy merges cognitive and social psychology with
strategic management theory and practice. Behavioral strategy aims
to bring realistic assumptions about human cognition, emotions, and
social behavior to the strategic management of organizations and,
thereby, to enrich strategy theory, empirical research, and
real-world practice” (Powell, Lovallo & Fox, 2011: 1371
Behavioral strategy considers the classical issues in strategic
management, e.g., CEO and top management team behaviors, entry
decisions, competitive interaction, firm heterogeneity. But it does
so based on the idea that insights from psychology and behavioral
economics that are based on evidence should informs the
understanding of how strategists and firms behave, and what is the
role of work motivation in driving value creation. To a very large
extent, the class confronts students with the CBS Nordic Nine
principles, as a rigorous understanding of the limits and
potentials of self-managing organization very much involve notions
of notions of collaboration, critical thinking, organizational and
personal learning, and, in particular, the ability to contextualize
business knowledge.
|
| Description of the teaching methods |
| Face-to-face, on-site, highly interactive
teaching, based on short lecture modules, exercises, orchestrated
class discussion. The class will also involve visits by reflective
practitioners (e.g., Mathilde Fogh Kirkegaard, Head of Customer
Behavioral Insights, Nordea). The course is based on a high level
of student involvement. Students are expected to be thoroughly
prepared and to take an active part in the presentation and
discussion of the material |
| Feedback during the teaching period |
Every session will feature exercises and quizzes,
which both, in different ways, provide students with feedback. The
exercises are designed to focus and deepen the in-class learning
process and form the basis for class discussion. Each class ends
with a quiz, the purpose of which is to sum up the learning of the
relevant session
|
| Student workload |
| Lectures |
33 hours |
| Preparation |
100 hours |
| Exam |
73 hours |
|
| Expected literature |
- Foss, N.J. 2020. Behavioral Strategy and the Covid-19
Disruption. Journal of Management, 46: 1322-1329.
- Powell, T. C., Lovallo, D., & Fox, C. R. 2011. Behavioral
strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 32(13):
1369-1386.
- Levinthal, D. A. 2011. A Behavioral Approach to Strategy-What’s
the Alternative? Strategic Management Journal, 32(13):
1517-1523.
- Simon, H.A. 1955. A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice.
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69: 99-118.
- Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. 1974. Judgment under
Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, 185:
1124-1131.
- Chapters 2 and 7 Cyert, R. M., and March, J. G. 1963. A
Summary of Basic Concepts in the Behavioral Theory of the
Firm: 1–18. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
-
Hart
E. Posen,
Thomas
Keil,
Sangyun
Kim,
and
Felix D. Meissner. 2018.
Renewing Research on Problemistic Search—A Review and Research
Agenda. Academy of Management Annals 12 (1),
208-251.
- Greve, H. 1998. Performance, Aspirations, and Risky
Organizational Change. Administrative Science Quarterly,
43: 58-86.
- Gaba V, Greve H (2019) Safe or profitable? Pursuing conflicting
goals. Organization Science. 30(4):647-867.
- Porac, J. F. & Thomas, H. 1990. Taxonomic Mental Models in
Competitor Definition. Academy of Management Review
15: 224-240.
- Chen, M. J. & Miller, D. 2012.
Competitive Dynamics: Themes, Trends, and a Prospective Research
Platform. Academy of Management Annals, 6:
135-210.
-
·Eggers, J.P. & Kaplan, S. 2013. Cognition and Capabilities:
A Multi-level Perspective. Academy of Management Annals,
7: 295-340.
- Tripsas, M., & G. Gavetti. 2000. Capabilities, Cognition,
and Inertia: Evidence from Digital Imaging. Strategic
Management Journal 21: 1147-1161
- Lindenberg, S. & Foss, N.J. 2011. Managing Motivation for
Joint Production: The Role of Goal Framing and Governance
Mechanisms. Academy of Management Review 36: 500-525
(2011).
- Larkin, I., Pierce, L., & Gino, F. 2012. The psychological
costs of pay‐for‐performance: Implications for the strategic
compensation of employees. Strategic Management Journal,
33(10): 1194-1214.
- Weber, L. & Mayer, K. 2014.
Transaction
Cost Economics and the Cognitive Perspective: Investigating the
Sources and Governance of Interpretive Uncertainty. Academy
of Management Review, 39: 344-363.
- Foss, N.J & Weber, L. 2016. Putting Opportunism in the Back
Seat: Bounded Rationality, Costly Conflict and Hierarchical Forms.”
Academy of Management Review, 41: 41-79 (2016).
- Laureiro‐Martínez, D., & Brusoni, S. 2018. Cognitive
flexibility and adaptive decision‐making: Evidence from a
laboratory study of expert decision makers. Strategic
Management Journal, 39(4), 1031-1058.
- Luger, J., Krakowski, S, & Raisch, S. 2022. Artificial
intelligence and the changing sources of competitive advantage. An
investigation of chess tournaments. Strategic Management
Journal.
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