Communication and attention dynamics: An attention‐based view of strategic change

Abstract

Research Summary: The attention-based view (ABV) has highlighted the role of organizational attention in strategic decision making and adaptation. The tendency to view communication channels as "pipes and prisms" for information processing has, however, limited its ability to address strategic change. We propose a broader role for communication as a process by which actors can attend to and engage with organizational and environmental issues and initiatives and argue that such a view can significantly advance understanding of strategic change. On this basis, we offer suggestions for future research on communication practices, vocabularies, rhetorical tactics, and talk and text in shaping organizational attention in strategic change. We also maintain that this enhanced view of the ABV can help advance research on dynamic capabilities, strategy processes, strategy-as-practice, and behavioral strategy. Managerial Summary: To further enhance our capabilities to manage strategic change and renewal processes in organizations, we need a better understanding of how to manage organizational attention. In this article, we highlight the importance of understanding the role of communication and discuss the use of different communication practices, vocabularies, rhetorical tactics, and talk and text as possible levers that can be used to dynamically shape organizational attention. We call for further research to advance the understanding of how these levers can be used to influence the ways in which different sets of strategic issues, initiatives, and action alternatives are handled. We believe that such an enhanced view of organizational attention can enable the development of new, improved strategy practices to manage strategic change and renewal processes.

Strategy processes and practices: Dialogues and intersections

“…For instance, Kaplan's () work has shown how cognition developed over time with the use of PowerPoint and related practices. Also, the attention‐based view has recently been extended to include communication practices as a driver of organizationally distributed attention dynamics (Ocasio et al, 2018).…”

“…For example, the work on framing contests (e.g., Kaplan, ; Kaplan & Henderson, ) has deepened our understanding of how strategy content can be contested within organizations. Similarly, the attention‐based view has made an important contribution to our understanding of the role that attention plays in strategy processes (Ocasio, ; Ocasio & Joseph, , ) and how the attention focus of the organization can be influenced through different types of discourses (Ocasio, Laamanen, & Vaara, 2018). While already the early research on the interplay of action and cognition in the internal corporate venturing process (Burgelman, , ) showed that strategy‐making can be understood as a multilevel social learning process, research on behavioral strategy has deepened the understanding of how biases and managerial cognition relate to learning processes (e.g., Gavetti, ; Laureiro‐Martinez, ; Reitzig & Sorenson, ).…”

How Do Small and Medium-Sized Game Companies Use Analytics? An Attention-Based View of Game Analytics

“…Our study contributes to the development of ABV (Ocasio 2011;Ocasio et al 2018;Vuori and Huy 2016) by providing a contextualized account of attentional engagement. Ocasio (2011) viewed attentional engagement as the process of intentional, sustained allocation of cognitive resources to guide problem solving, planning, sensemaking, and decision making and further highlighted the role of communication channels in allocating organizational attention.…”

“…Interpreted through the ABV lens, seeing game analytics as a hygiene factor demonstrates that the primary focus of attentional engagement lies outside reaping the business benefits but rather in engaging in communicative practices aimed at signaling professionalism and organizational maturity (Ocasio 2011;Ocasio et al 2018). Perceiving game analytics as a necessity and/or a means to signal maturity might also reflect that analytics is becoming an institutionalized component of the games business.…”

A magyar gazdasági felsőoktatás egy nyugati doktori fokozattal rendelkező itthon oktató nézőpontjából – kitörési pontok beazonosítása és egy lehetséges cselekvési terv

“…A rossz beidegződések, az útfüggőség, az elavult szervezeti kultúra mind-mind a szervezeti képességek megújításának gátját képezik (Eisenhardt & Martin, 2000;Teece et al, 1997). További jellemzők a berögzült elavult mentális modellek (Yu et al, 2005), új szóhasználatok elutasítása (Ocasio et al, 2018), a mindent átható megismerési korlátok (Oliver et al, 2017) és a valódi problémákra reflektálás hiánya (Verdes, 2019;Weick & Sutcliffe, 2006). Vélelmezhető, ha egy GTK-t piaci vállalatként értelmeznénk, akkor a többsége már kiszorult volna a piacról vagy egyenesen csődbe ment volna.…”