Effects of cognitive styles and decision setting on performance

Personality types and managerial styles: a phenomenological approach

Purpose

The paper aims not only to provide evidence of the Jungian personality theory in the context of management through managers' lived experience but also to ask a deeper question of what this theory–practice coherence entails.

Design/methodology/approach

Situated as preliminary, this study used a phenomenological approach to detail managerial accounts across four managers in an Indonesian higher education institution. A survey of personality types using an online Jungian-based personality assessment tool was conducted, followed by an in-depth interview with selected managers.

Findings

The study provides the following evidence: the coherence between the perceived managerial practices and the theorized cognitive processes of each personality type and between the way the instrument measures personality types and the theorized cognitive processes.

Research limitations/implications

While the study faces an issue of data saturation, given the sample size, the study has conducted the process of triangulation by sampling managers with resembling cognitive processes as theorized (INTJ, with ENTJ; ISFJ with ESFJ). A broader implication is around the use of qualitative, phenomenological approach to the study of personality types and cognitive processes.

Practical implications

Promoting diverse ways of managing based on personality types, this paper includes implications specifically for developing managers in charge of core business processes in terms of flexibility when managing and leading a team.

Originality/value

This paper presents an account of how personality types (through their dominant cognitive functions) resonate with real-life managerial practices, connecting the descriptive nature of personality types and the normative nature of management.

The Strategic Planning Process and its Context: The Role of Psychological Type

This article reviews the literature concerning contextual factors affecting configuration of the strategic planning process. The potential role of managers' psychological type (MBTI) as a determinant of preferences towards design of the planning process is examined. From a study based upon 187 managers it is concluded that managers' planning preferences primarily reflect the imperatives presented by specific strategic situations rather than psychological type. Managers appear to vary their planning response to strategic situations according to the characteristics each situation presents. Conclusions are provided for managers engaged in strategic planning, recruitment, management training and for academic strategy research.

The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator and its Usefulness for Problem Solving by Mining Industry Personnel

This article describes the results of a survey study in the mining industry in northeastern Ontario, Canada, to determine if the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Project Planning Situation exercise could be used to assess mining personnel's information-processing types and their problem-solving capabilities. Over a 2-year period, 610 males from a metal-mining firm and a uranium-mining firm completed these two inventories. The results of this study showed that the four-letter MBTI typings of ISTJ (introverted, sensing, thinking, and judging) and ESTJ (extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging) were the most prevalent in the study sample. Implications of the findings for group and individual problem solving in these industries were discussed.

Changing Attitudes toward Quality

Each year firms spend millions of dollars on training efforts to improve employees' attitudes toward quality. Yet a review of the literature reveals very little rigorous research has been conducted to evaluate how successful these programs have been. Therefore, to test the effectiveness of one training program, a Solomon Four Group field quasi-experiment was conducted. Specifically, this study examined whether or not there was a relationship between participants' learning style, perceived program structure, prior experience with quality programs, age, and years of service with subsequent changes in attitudes toward quality. The results indicated that in this program the group receiving a pretest and training had significantly higher posttest attitudes toward quality scores. Implications for implementing a quality improvement program are discussed.

Exploring the linkages of cognitive style and individual innovativeness

Purpose

This study aims to explore a crucial but less-understood antecedent of individual innovativeness – cognitive style.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study were collected using a survey questionnaire administered to 201 individuals with industry work experience. Kolb’s learning style inventory was utilized to classify individuals into different cognitive styles. One-way ANOVA and multiple linear regression were utilized to test the hypotheses.

Findings

This study reveals that individual differences in grasping and transforming experiences significantly influence their innovativeness. Individuals whose cognitive learning styles are characterized by abstract conceptualization and active experimentation are more likely to exhibit innovativeness as compared to individuals with cognitive learning styles characterized by concrete experiences and reflective observation. Consequently, convergers who combine both the favorable modes of experience grasping and transformation are most likely to be innovative.

Practical implications

Promoting individual innovativeness is crucial for successful organizational innovation. This study reveals that an understanding of the cognitive style of the employees can help managers allocate appropriate individuals to various tasks.

Originality/value

While it has been conceptually argued that cognition is an important antecedent of individual innovativeness, emphasis in this stream of research is predominantly on cognitive abilities. This study extends previous research by empirically testing the impact of cognitive style on individual innovativeness.

External validity of individual differences in multiple cue probability learning: The case of pilot training

Individuals differ in their ability to deal with unpredictable environments. Could impaired performances on learning an unpredictable cue-criteria relationship in a laboratory task be associated with impaired learning of complex skills in a natural setting? We focused on a multiple-cue probability learning (MCPL) laboratory task and on the natural setting of pilot training. We used data from three selection sessions and from the three corresponding selected pilot student classes of a national airline pilot selection and training system. First, applicants took an MCPL task at the selection stage (N = 556; N = 701; N = 412). Then, pilot trainees selected from the applicant pools (N = 44; N = 60; N = 28) followed the training for 2.5 to 3 yrs. Differences in final MCPL performance were associated with pilot training difficulties. Indeed, poor MCPL performers experienced almost twice as many pilot training difficulties as better MCPL performers (44.0% and 25.0%, respectively).