Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe field of strategic management comprises the scientific exploration of organizational heterogeneity, scope, and performance. Subsequently, the large majority of extant theory builds predictions of organization and industry level outcomes from aggregate constructs (e.g., organizational structure, resources, routines, capabilities, institutions). Emerging interest surrounding the microfoundations of strategy, however, has begun to refocus attention on important antecedent events, specifically individual psychological and cognitive processes driving firm heterogeneity, scope, and performance. Building on the problem-finding problem-solving perspective, this dissertation adopts methodologies from both psychology and neuroscience to examine cognitive processes underlying the generation of novel and valuable solutions. Three studies exploring sources of heterogeneity in solution development are presented. The first investigates how comprehensive problem formulation and time constraints interact to determine the degree of novelty and value of complex and illdefined strategic problems. The second study, leveraging NK landscape logic, develops a theoretical model of how affect operates to enhance the generation of value-creating solutions. Specifically, two separate cognitive mechanisms and their neurological correlates are identified, producing systematic differences in both how knowledge search and recombination unfold and the types of solutions developed. The third and final study develops and tests a set of organizational routines posited to enhance the neurological processes of novel and valuable solution generation by overcoming the constraining effects of mental maps and heuristics. Microfoundational research investigating the cognitive processes of value creation effectively repositions the strategist at the center of strategic management. While early research within the field directly acknowledged and explored the psychological and cognitive foundations of firm performance and competitive advantage, continued focus on aggregate constructs and phenomena has obscured important sources of heterogeneity arising from lower levels of analysis. Building on the problem-finding problem-solving framework, this dissertation increases understanding of the cognitive processes underlying novel and valuable solution generation and lays the foundation for future research investigating models of cognition within the field of strategy