Cognition in Firm Environments: A Topic Modeling Approach to Organizational Adaptation

Abstract

Cognition, such as managerial attention, schemas and mindsets, are central to scholars’ understanding of organizational adaptation. Despite the extensive examination of various cognitive processes, most prior studies have tended to consider the role of cognition within the boundary of a single firm. However, organizational members often cooperate with other companies and also communicate with a broader set of audiences to facilitate their adaptation. Given this reality, thus, it is very important to understand the interplay of cognition between organizational members and external actors (e.g. shared attention or cognitive frames) and to examine how it affects firm adaptation. This symposium brings together recent work that explores the relationship between managerial cognition and environmental contexts, enriching our understanding of the mechanisms through which cognition influences organizational adaptation. In doing so, this symposium particularly highlights a text mining technique called topic modeling as a novel method to facilitate our theoretical movements towards cognition in environments and introduces three empirical papers that commonly adopt this methodology to measure their constructs related to cognition in the firm’s environment. We conclude with audience feedback and more general discussion. Attention to Problems and Technology Introductions Presenter: John Joseph; U. of California, Irvine Presenter: Ronald Klingebiel; Frankfurt School of Finance & Management Presenter: Kevin Du; Duke U. A Meeting of the Minds: Cognitive Congruence in an Alliance Portfolio and New Product Introduction Presenter: Luke Rhee; New York U. Presenter: William Ocasio; Northwestern U. Connecting Cognition and the Institutional Environment Presenter: Harsh Kumar Jha; U. of California, Irvine Presenter: Christine Beckman; Robert H. Smith School of Business