Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the cognitive styles of leaders on knowledge management practices in a public sector organisation in India.

The data were gathered from 210 middle and senior managers who were employed in different projects across the country. Self‐reported questionnaires were administered to collect the data on the cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices.

The results of exploratory factor analysis showed three significant factors of cognitive styles – i.e. radical, innovative‐collaborator, and adaptor. The knowledge management questionnaire had five dimensions – i.e. KM process, KM leadership, KM culture, KM technology, and KM measurement. The results of regression analysis showed a negative impact of the radical and innovative‐collaborator styles, while the adaptor style had a positive impact on knowledge management practices.

This study was conducted in a large thermal power generation organisation in India. Hence, its generalisability is limited to other similar contexts. Public sector work norms and organisational size may influence the interpretation of the results.

The results show the relevance of the adaptor style of thinking in promoting knowledge management practices, which is consistent with the prevailing public sector work norms in India, which do not support any radical changes in their ways of working and solving problems.

This is an empirical study about the relationship between cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices in the Indian work context, and no such study exists in the literature.

This paper aims to introduce a new phenomenon related to creative motivation called creative resolve response (CRR). CRR predicts how creative motivation will vary during problem solving.

In total, 66 MBA students were asked to respond at random intervals during different class problem‐solving activities. Participants were asked to rate on two preset scales their perceived certainty of solving the problem successfully and creativity level required. Mean creativity required responses were calculated for subgroups with different cognitive style ranges at each outcome certainty level. T‐tests were used to determine significant differences between various means.

The results suggest that creative motivation will vary systematically as a problem solver's perception of problem solving progress increases in a wax‐wane‐wax pattern.

Post hoc analysis suggested that potentially confounding effects related to problem heterogeneity, learning effects, environment, group interaction and interviewer response bias were not significant. However the relatively small sample size and limited scope of the problem activities suggests that further research is required to establish the extent to which the findings can be generalised.

CRR promises a new form of extrinsic control for managers to enhance creativity via extrinsic motivation. The author makes suggestions on how managers may enhance creativity by influencing employees to reconsider their perceived level of problem‐solving progress.

This paper links expectancy theory, cognitive style and creative motivation, and provides an alternative approach to trying directly to motivate employees to be more creative.

In this study we confirm the often assumed but largely untested belief that entrepreneurs think and behave differently than others. We examine a group of more than 700 nascent entrepreneurs and 400 nonentrepreneurs. We determine the entrepreneurs’ cognitive style propensity for problem solving (Innovator versus Adaptor); we compare their expectations; and, we examine the outcomes (performance and start-up) of their ventures. We find that nascent entrepreneurs are more likely to be overly optimistic Innovators, most people are Adaptors, and oneʼs cognitive style can indeed play a role in the initial development and outcome for the venture, but not always as expected.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between adaptive behaviour and innovative behaviour of individuals according to Kirton adaptation-innovation (KAI) model and determine how these differences impact entrepreneurial potential dimensions. Research sample consisted of student population from three countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (EU candidate countries) and Belgium (EU country). Research results will be valuable for the development of entrepreneurship in EU candidate countries. Data were collected from a sample of 1,008 university students from these three countries. KAI inventory, questionnaire on entrepreneurial traits (QET) and the scale of entrepreneurial potential (SEP) were used to obtain data. The canonical discriminant analysis determined differences and structure of differences between the adaptive and innovative persons, described by KAI model and their scores on the dimensions of the entrepreneurial traits model, as well as on entrepreneurial potential model.

In this study, the first research question concentrates on the existence of differences among students from Bosnia, Serbia and Belgium with regard to the dominant style of problem-solving according to KAI model to determine whether students from EU countries and non-EU countries differ in regard to problem-solving style. Second research question is the existence of differences in the development of entrepreneurial potential by EQT and SEP among student adaptors and student innovators according to KAI model to investigate to what extent the dominant style of solving problem contributes to differences in the development of entrepreneurial potential among students.

The research has confirmed the existence of significant differences between the adaptors and innovators described by the KAI model in terms of developed characteristics of entrepreneurial potential in the student population. Results of the research prove that young innovators possess to a greater extent developed key characteristics important for entrepreneurship, as well as intellectual and organizational skills, motivational factors and social capacity, self-confidence and constitutional factors. This research also revealed key differences among students with regard to the country of origin.

The practical implications of the research are reflected in the creation of the initial guidelines and structural support for the promotion of entrepreneurial potential in young people, where it can be concluded that it is particularly important to encourage innovation and creative approach to problem-solving, but also awareness of young individuals and development of their knowledge of entrepreneurship.

The main objective of this research was the examination of differences between students who belong to the category of adaptors and students innovators according to the KAI model (Kirton, 1976, 1998, 2003), with regard to the researched dimensions of entrepreneurial potential, to explicitly as possible identify differences in personal characteristics of young people who are predisposed for entrepreneurship and those who are not. Young innovators and adaptors significantly differ according to the researched dimensions of the EQT and SEP models of entrepreneurial potential and young innovators possess more developed entrepreneurial potential than adaptors.

Investigates the effect of adaptors’ race and cultural adaptation on attraction when American salespersons adapt to Thai buyers. Suggests that the results support the hypohtesis that the race of foreigners, despite the fact that they were born and raised in the same country moderates the effect of adaptation on attraction. Highlights that when Americans do adapt their behaviour, adaptation by those who are more racially different from the Thai perceivers is more effective than those who are less racially different. Provides some managerial implications.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how an individual's cognitive style influences the type of knowledge they prefer to work with, and to identify how this relationship influences knowledge management strategies and their outcomes.

The paper integrates adaption‐innovation theory and aspects of knowledge management theories.

Adaptors are likely to prefer to work with knowledge that is relatively more explicit and innovators are likely to prefer to work with knowledge that is relatively more tacit. Understanding these preferences, and making the appropriate type of knowledge available to the right mix of adaptor and innovator types of individuals may influence organizational performance.

Conceptual and empirical research should consider how individuals' cognitive style influences their ability to utilize organizational knowledge resources.

Organizations should consider evaluating the cognitive style of their members in order to be able to better assign them to knowledge tasks. Group tasks should be planned with the mix of individuals' cognitive style in mind. These efforts should help to avoid underutilization of appropriate knowledge as well as overuse of inappropriate knowledge.

The paper proposes that cognitive style influences the degree to which an individual prefers to work with tacit or explicit knowledge. This preference can influence the type and degree of knowledge use when performing organizational tasks.

Kirton’s adaption‐innovation inventory has been used to examine the significance of cognitive styles (personality traits) as mediating variables between message sources and their likely impacts on attitude change processes. The framework created as a result of this, incorporated adaptive and innovative stylistic differences in responding to messages delivered by negative and positive sources. A quota sample of 120 respondents has highlighted a number of key issues which are of both conceptual and practical significance. On a conceptual level the knowledge of adaptors being more source oriented extends the existing theoretical framework to include variations in the attitude change processes and on a practical level this aids the advertiser to consider different messages and delivery modes. Also important, although statistically insignificant, is the finding that innovators have a propensity to be influenced by a negative rather than a positive source.

Adaptors and innovators exhibit distinct approaches to problem solving and derision making: a finding which has far‐reaching implications for managerial psychologists who intervene in business and other organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate CEOs as leaders in manufacturing organizations. The focus is on the roles of CEOs in organizational adaptations to changing and continuously evolving external environments.

The paper is grounded on a conceptual theory of molecular structuring inside organizations. The authors then investigate CEOs' leadership roles. For this purpose a long established Singapore perceptual database of corporate productivity practices is utilized. Two contrasting samples (N=65) of high and low adaptability manufacturing firms are obtained. Statistical technique of Pearson product correlation yields intriguing, contrasting patterns of findings. On the basis of these results, we then discuss the roles of CEOs in highly adaptive versus lowly adaptive manufacturing firms.

The results are seen through the lenses of molecular structuring of organizations suggest a sharp contrast in the nature of the roles of CEOs. In organizations that are highly adaptive, there is much closer interactions. In the lowly adaptive, CEOs seem uninvolved, staying aloof from core operations of their firms.

Since, the contrasting samples are from within the manufacturing sector, these insights are particularly relevant to China as a global manufacturing centre.

This is the first paper of its kind to empirically validate the prescriptions of Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese sage and author of the 2,500 years old Tao Te Ching.