Cognitive Diversity Research Articles

The emergence of TMT learning goal orientation: contextual effects of TMT demographic diversity on TMT cognitive processes

This study examines the contingent influence of top management team (TMT) compositional diversity on the emergence of TMT learning climate. Based on a sample of 61 TMTs in Vietnam, the results show that TMT functional diversity exerts a positive moderating effect on the mediating process between TMT cognitive diversity and TMT learning goal orientation (LGO), providing confirmatory evidence for the positive effect of functional diversity on TMT dynamics. Nonetheless, neither TMT gender diversity nor educational diversity exhibits significant moderating impact on the development of TMT learning dynamics, suggesting that while social categorizations are conducive for the evolution of team climate in Western contexts, other compositional attributes such as relationship-based representations may be more prominent in East Asian culture. We contribute to the team learning literature by offering an integrated picture on how the interplay of TMT cognitive and demographic diversities determines executive members’ divergent attitude and then team learning proclivity.

Top management Team's cognitive diversity and the Firm's ambidextrous innovation capability: The mediating role of ambivalent interpretation

The top management team (TMT) diversity has received considerable attention in literature, especially due to its influence on an organization's innovation strategy. While previous studies have considered diversity in terms of education, experience, skills, functionality, and gender, little is known about the TMT's cognitive diversity. We contribute to the literature by examining the influence of the TMT's cognitive diversity on an organization's ambidextrous innovation capability; i.e., its incremental and radical innovation capability. Results from 50 TMTs involved in the electronics industry support our hypothesized mediating role of ambivalent interpretation; that the TMT cogitative diversity positively influences ambivalent interpretation, and this, in turn, positively influences both radical and incremental innovation capability. These findings have important implications for how a firm's decision makers (i.e., the TMT) with their diverse cognitive styles support building the firm's ambidextrous capability through ambivalent interpretation.

Board diversity and corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed firms

AbstractThis study examines the association between board diversity, measured in both demographic characteristics (i.e., gender and age) and cognitive characteristics (i.e., educational background, expertise, tenure and breadth of board experience), and corporate innovation. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms and fixed‐effect models, we find that cognitive diversity, especially in attributes of educational background and expertise, is positively associated with corporate innovation. This is predominantly due to the incremental diversity added by executive directors and depends on demographic diversity. We further find that hi‐tech talent introduction and incentive are two channels through which board diversity affects corporate innovation. The results are robust to the use of alternative measures of corporate innovation, two stage‐least square models by employing two demand‐based instrumental variables for board diversity, and normalized diversity indexes.

Investigating the Effects of Cognitive Style Diversity on the Hypothesis Generation and Troubleshooting Ability of Undergraduate Students Enrolled in an Introductory Agricultural Mechanics Course at Louisianna State University

Problem solving has been regarded as one of the most important cognitive skills in everyday life. The complexity of problem solving in technical areas is a critical component to developing the problem solving abilities of agricultural education students. This study grounded in Kirton’s Adaptation- Innovation Theory (A-I Theory), sought to identify the effects of cognitive style diversity on the time to solution and hypothesis generation ability of undergraduate students enrolled in an agricultural mechanics course at Louisiana State University during the spring semester of 2018 (n = 17) and spring semester of 2019 (n = 15). Students were divided into three groups based on their Kirton’s Adaptation- Innovation Inventory (KAI) scores into three cognitive style diversity groups including (a) homogenous innovative, (b) homogenous adaptive, and (c) heterogenous. Overall, the more heterogeneous cognitive style diversity group was able to solve the problem more quickly as well as being the most successful group to hypothesize correctly, with the homogeneous innovator group being the slowest to reach conclusion. From the results of this study, it is recommended that educators consider cognitive styles when grouping students in undergraduate courses that are heavily laboratory based.

Cognitive Diversity – An Enabler for Team Performance

Cognitive Diversity – An Enabler for Team Performance

Cognitive Diversity – An Enabler for Team Performance

Cognitive Diversity – An Enabler for Team Performance

Multi-Layer Combinatorial Fusion Using Cognitive Diversity

Multiple scoring systems (including rank and score functions; MSS) have been widely used in multiple regression, intelligent biometric systems, multiple artificial neural nets, combining pattern classifiers, ensemble methods, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), data and information fusion, preference ranking, and deep learning. Combining MSS has achieved numerous successful results in a variety of domain applications. However, the reasons why this happens remains an active area of investigation. Combinatorial fusion analysis (CFA) combines MSS using the rank-score characteristic (RSC) function and cognitive diversity (CD). The RSC function was proposed to characterise the predictive behaviour of a scoring system. It was subsequently used to define the notion of “cognitive diversity”, which measures the dissimilarity in the representation of information between two scoring systems. In this article, we first examine characterizations of and diversity between scoring systems. Then, we review combinatorial fusion analysis with a variety of domain applications, including biometric systems in cognitive neuroscience, and joint decision making with visual cognitive systems. Finally, we demonstrate that multi-layer combinatorial fusion (MCF) on the Kemeny rank space is a viable machine learning and AI framework for preference ranking and reinforcement learning. This work provides a scientific foundation and technological insights for the use of Combinatorial Fusion in ensemble methods, data and information fusion, preference ranking, and deep reinforcement learning with applications to a variety of domains in data science and informatics for secure and sustainable societies.

Dynamic Group Formation With Intelligent Tutor Collaborative Learning: A Novel Approach for Next Generation Collaboration

Group Formation (GF) strongly influences the collaborative learning process in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Various factors affect GF that include personal characteristics, social, cultural, psychological, and cognitive diversity. Although different group formation methods aim to solve the group compatibility problem, an optimal solution for dynamic group formation is still not addressed. In addition, the research lacks to supplement collaborative group formation with a collaborative platform. In this study, the next level of collaboration in CSCL and Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) platforms is achieved. First, initial groups are formed based on students learning styles, and knowledge level, i.e. for knowledge level, an activity-based dynamic group formation technique is proposed. In this activity, swapping of students takes place on each permutation based on their knowledge level. Second, the formed heterogeneous balanced groups are used to augment the collaborative learning system. For this purpose, a hybrid framework of Intelligent Tutor Collaborative Learning (ITSCL) is used that provides a unique and real-time collaborative learning platform. Third, an experiment is conducted to evaluate the significance of the proposed study. Inferential and descriptive statistics of Paired T-Tests are applied for comprehensive analysis of recorded observations. The statistical results show that the proposed ITSCL framework positively impacts student learning and results in higher learning gains.

Preschooling in India: Readying Children for a Race?

Drawing on field-based research in selected government-run and private preschool centres in three selected districts of the Indian state of West Bengal, this article makes four basic arguments. First, there is a need to both defend public provisioning of early childhood education for equity goals and demand its major improvement on quality grounds. Second, an early start to education often turns out to be an unfitting start, as it already mimics a full school with its excessive focus on formal instruction and readiness for competition. Third, to assess early-years learning, therefore, we need to focus on children’s cognitive diversity rather than taking a restrictive and test-centric view of cognition. Fourth, we need a democratic framework of thought to collectively address some of these vexed issues and re-examine our current imagination of education, even preschool education, as a race.

Observations from the Eichmann Trial: The Democratic Necessity of Deliberation and Cognitive Diversity

Observations from the Eichmann Trial: The Democratic Necessity of Deliberation and Cognitive Diversity

Empathizing and Systemizing: Benefits of Cognitive Diversity and Support Mechanisms for ASC Individuals

Empathizing and Systemizing: Benefits of Cognitive Diversity and Support Mechanisms for ASC Individuals

A genealogical approach to academic success.

We analyse academic success using a genealogical approach to the careers of over 95,000 scientists in mathematics and associated fields in physics and chemistry. We look at the effect of Ph.D. supervisors (one’s mentors) on the number of Ph.D. students that one supervises later on (one’s mentees) as a measure of academic success. Supervisors generally provide important inputs in Ph.D. projects, which can have long-lasting effects on academic careers. Moreover, having multiple supervisors exposes one to a diversity of inputs. We show that Ph.D. students benefit from having multiple supervisors instead of a single one. The cognitive diversity of mentors has a subtler effect in that it increases both the likelihood of success (having many mentees later on) and failure (having no mentees at all later on). We understand the effect of diverse mentorship as a high-risk, high-gain strategy: the recombination of unrelated expertise often fails, but sometimes leads to true novelty.

Reflecting on Hospitality Students’ Cognitive Diversity Impact on Service Quality and Organizational Performance Standards: A Case-Study in Cy Seasonal Hotels

This study examines the impact of hospitality students’ cognitive diversity style on service quality and performance standards in seasonal hotels. A survey research method approach was implemented through a quantitative examination of a purposeful sample, collected from three-, four-, and five-star seasonal hotels in Cyprus. The survey was administered face-to-face to 316 students and 93 managers. For hypotheses testing, the Cognitive Style Inventory was adapted. Study results reveal students’ educational preparedness, professional reliability, and the positive impact of their cognitive diversity style on service quality and organizational performance standards in seasonal hotels. While students offer a diversified pool of potential candidates to successfully fulfil qualified and skilful required vacancies, a twofold requirement emerges. First is the introversion requirement related to the curriculum design of hospitality educational institutions. Second is the extroversion requirement, which sees the responsibility of seasonal hotel managers, as future employers, to be linked and guided on students’ cognitive style development via an intuitive collaboration with local hospitality educational institutions.

Interdisciplinary Team-Based Learning: An Integrated Opportunity Recognition and Evaluation Model for Teaching Business, Engineering and Design Students

This paper describes a pedagogical framework and a set of team-based learning (TBL) activities which can be applied to an interdisciplinary course comprised of a mix of engineering, design, and business students. The goal of the team-based learning (TBL) activities is to help students to appreciate both the benefits and the challenges of working in interdisciplinary teams. To enhance their interdisciplinary collaboration skills, students engage in a series of knowledge sharing and knowledge integration activities, based on the Jigsaw technique, a team-based learning methodology. These activities enable the students to recognize and reconcile their disciplinary differences and biases, which arise because of the cognitive diversity of the team. Students are assigned to interdisciplinary teams to identify and prototype an entrepreneurial opportunity. By the end of these activities, students are able to incorporate the perspectives of all three disciplines to develop an integrated team mental model (TMM) of the opportunity recognition and opportunity evaluation process.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A strategic priority for the American Pediatric Surgical Association

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A strategic priority for the American Pediatric Surgical Association

From Attention to Action: The Influence of Cognitive and Ideological Diversity in Top Management Teams on Business Model Innovation

AbstractAs top management teams (TMTs) become progressively more diverse, an important question arises: how does greater TMT diversity affect a company’s ability to innovate its business model? To examine this, we draw on the upper‐echelons literature and on research on business models as activity systems to theorize that cognitive and ideological diversity in TMTs will affect teams’ attention to business model innovation (BMI) and companies’ BMI intensity. Analysis of longitudinal data from firms in the US printing and publishing industry provides support for the theory that, over time, TMT cognitive and ideological diversity have a positive influence on BMI. Whereas cognitive diversity expands TMT’s BMI attention‐scope, both cognitive and ideological diversity increase BMI intensity. However, too much ideological diversity has a negative effect. We furthermore find that TMT longevity moderates the effects of TMT diversity positively, suggesting that the benefit of diversity grows as team members work together longer as a team. We discuss the study’s contributions to the literature on diversity, BMI, and the upper echelons.

The Mediation Disruption

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to expose obsolete business practices and nudges companies into a new status quo, a disruption worth (re)considering is for companies to replace their over-reliance on litigation with mediation. In order for mediators to make this transition more appetizing for businesses, we must: 1) promote our mediators to be trained more holistically through an interdisciplinary education, and 2) foster cognitive diversity amongst the mediators.

Managerial multi-tasking, Team diversity, and mutual fund performance

This study examines the impact of multi-tasking teams on fund performance. We find that while managerial multi-tasking has a negative impact on fund performance, teamwork can mitigate the adverse effect associated with managerial multi-tasking, which is indicative of superior performance of funds managed by multi-tasking teams. More importantly, it is the characteristics of the multitasking team that contribute to these superior results, which can be attributed to network cognitive diversity, suggesting that extended networks, facilitated by indirectly-connected managers via local teammates, can largely enhance the scale of cognitive diversity, thus generating significant gains through information pooling and integration. In assessing possible mechanisms for the observed superior performance, we find evidence of improved decision-making induced by network cognitive diversity through both transmission and sharing of value-relevant information, and speedy information diffusion.

BOARD COGNITIVE DIVERSITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE NEXUS: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Purpose of the study: This study examined the influence of board cognitive diversity on firm performance in Nigeria. The researchers investigated consumer goods firms listed in the Nigeria Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2018.
 Methodology: This research is hinged on the positivist research philosophy; and the deductive research approach. The study adopted the multi-method quantitative research design. Data was hand-collected from the annual financial statements and firms’ websites of consumer goods firms. The researchers measured board cognitive diversity by educational level diversity, education background diversity, and professional member diversity; while performance was measured via financial performance (ROA) and market performance (Tobin's Q). Panel least squares were used to estimate the model of the study.
 Main Findings: Results from the panel least squares regression revealed mixed findings on the nexus between the proxies of board cognitive diversity and firm performance in Nigeria. Specifically, we found that education level diversity and professional member diversity of board members positively and significantly affects market performance. In contrast, the educational background diversity of the board negatively and significantly affects the market performance of consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Furthermore, we found no evidence on the nexus between educational level diversity; educational background diversity; professional membership diversity of board members, and financial performance of firms investigated.
 Implications/Applications: The researchers concluded that board cognitive diversity partially influences firm performance in Nigeria. The study recommended that firms in Nigeria, specifically consumer goods firms, should encourage more representation of board directors with a postgraduate degree. This is because they have advanced knowledge and expertise to improve the firm's performance.
 Novelty/Originality of this study: This is pioneer research to investigate the influence of board cognitive diversity on firm performance in Nigeria.

Diversity, climate and innovative work behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend current discussion on the drivers of innovative work behavior (IWB) by exploring how individual perceived diversities (visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity) and climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) impact IWB.Design/methodology/approachData had been collected from a cross-national study of working professionals (n = 584) from five different cultural contexts.FindingsFindings of this study indicated that cognitive group diversity mediated the negative relationship between visible dissimilarity and IWB. Further, both innovative/entrepreneurial and team/clan climates moderated the relationship between visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity. Such a moderation effect reduced the negative effect that visible dissimilarity had on IWB.Research limitations/implicationsA cross-sectional single-source data set.Practical implicationsFrom a managerial perspective, climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) are central for IWB in the diverse (visible and cognitive) working environment. Thus, organizations should pay attention to create a climate (team/clan or/and innovative/entrepreneurial) that reduces the negative impact of perceived diversity in the working environment while supporting IWB.Originality/valueThis study is the first of its kind that is based on social categorization theory, empirically examining how different types of diversity (visible dissimilarity and cognitive group diversity) simultaneously reduce individuals’ IWB. Furthermore, this paper provides insights that climates (team/clan and innovative/entrepreneurial) are crucial for IWB in the diverse working environment.