One-reason decision-making: Modeling violations of expected utility theory

People violate expected utility theory and this has been traditionally modeled by augmenting its weight-and-add framework by nonlinear transformations of values and probabilities. Yet individuals often use one-reason decision-making when making court decisions or choosing cellular phones, and institutions do the same when creating rules for traffic safety or fair play in sports. We analyze a model of one-reason decision-making, the priority heuristic, and show that it simultaneously implies common consequence effects, common ratio effects, reflection effects, and the fourfold pattern of risk attitude. The preferences represented by the priority heuristic satisfy some standard axioms. This work may provide the basis for a new look at bounded rationality.

Corporate social advocacy or social issues management? Examining state flagship universities’ responses to the killing of George Floyd

Colleges and universities are social institutions often called on to speak about socio-political issues (e.g., racism). Critics have suggested that when responding to instances of racism on their campuses, institutional leaders often ignore the racist acts and harm caused and focus their discourse on diversity and inclusion. Considering this critique, this study examined how state flagship universities in the United States (U.S.) responded to the killing of George Floyd through the lenses of social issues management and corporate social advocacy (CSA). Through my critical thematic analysis of all 50 U.S. state flagship universities’ initial public statements, I forward three key findings: (1) institutions constructed Floyd’s killing as an example of racism; (2) through their statements institutions localized the issue by focusing on their values or centering marginalized community members’ experiences; and (3) the majority of institutional responses functioned to reinforce the individualistic logics of whiteness. Based on these findings, I argue that to advance research on organizational communication about social issues, CSA should be considered beyond overt statements for or against issues and suggest that as organizations discuss socio-political issues their communication may reinforce hegemonic ideologies and create paradoxes for their marginalized publics. I conclude by proposing an approach to social issues management that could be used by organizations seeking to promote social justice.     

国家本质两难与宪法经济权利——基于宪政经济学的视角

国家的“本质两难”实际上指出了国家存在的悖论,即国家的存在是经济增长的关键,然而国家又是人为经济衰退的根源。国家本质两难发生的原因主要有二：其一是政治过程的参与者也具有逐利的动机与动力;其二是议会民主制对国家权力的约束失灵。因此需要通过宪政这种对约束条件本身进行选择的方式来克服国家的“本质两难”。同时,要把整个社会尽可能地建立市场选择的基础上,保障宪法经济权利,以实现对国家权力的有效制约。     

Paradoxes of Online Investing: Testing the Influence of Technology on User Expectancies*

At an increasing rate, individual investors are taking personal control over their financial destinies by investing their money online. Compared to offline do‐it‐yourself approaches, evidence suggests that investors exhibit lofty expectations and perform significantly worse after going online. However, little is understood about the mechanisms fueling expectancies, the role technologies play in their formation, or how technologies shape investment decisions. Therefore, this article explores the paradoxical nature of online investing technologies, which can give rise to a heightened state of conviction in one's capability to invest successfully. Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory, the concepts of encapsulation and combination are introduced to develop a research model describing how functional and technical self‐efficacy judgments independently and collectively shape and influence outcome expectancies. The results suggest that perceptions about what one can accomplish through online investing technologies can lead investors to exaggerate their capabilities, which, in turn, produces elevated expectancies of financial payoffs and nonmonetary rewards. These findings carry important implications. In tasks requiring both computing and functional skills, the principals of encapsulation and combination highlight the importance of comprehensively capturing self‐efficacy beliefs across skill domain boundaries. Moreover, online investing represents a paradoxical case that challenges the traditional assumption that fostering a robust sense of efficacy represents a purely noble enterprise. In fact, strong self‐efficacy beliefs can prove counterproductive, leading to severe, irreversible, and unintended consequences. Going forward, these discoveries provide a solid foundation to enhance systems designs and facilitate a deeper understanding of user psychology.     

"夹在中间悖论"研究

波特在<竞争战略>中提出,低成本和差异化两种优势不可兼容的"夹在中间"理论,其后一些西方战略学家针对性地提出可以兼顾低成本与差异化两种优势的整合竞争战略理论,这两种理论自相矛盾但又同时成立,本文称之为"夹在中间悖论".本文分别研究了"夹在中间"理论和整合竞争战略理论的隐含假设及其实证依据,界定了"夹在中间悖论"的内涵,剖析了"夹在中间悖论"的成因,提出了"夹在中间悖论"的管理策略,初步解决了竞争战略研究中存在的这个理论困境.     

Dynamic stability: Unfolding dynamics of vicious cycles in a design firm

Paradoxes generate tensions and contradictions in organizations. In this paper, we contribute to the paradox literature by developing a complex systems approach to how organizational members experience tensions generated by the strategic intent paradox. Specifically, we focus on the unfolding dynamics of vicious cycles experienced by organizations dealing with paradox. Drawing on a case study of a design firm, we demonstrate how a vicious cycle forms through feedback loops and develops dynamic stability over time. On the basis of our findings, we develop a micro-level understanding of vicious cycles, which incorporates defence mechanisms at staff and senior management levels. Our main contribution is a theoretical model of unfolding dynamics of vicious cycles. Our model shows the importance of (1) feedback loops that underpin a vicious cycle and (2) importance of circular causality, reinforcing cycles, and micro-mechanisms in theorizing vicious cycles.     

On the emergence and management of paradoxical tensions: The case of architectural firms

Paradoxical tensions are pervasive and unavoidable in the everyday practice of creativity-based contexts, such as architectural firms. Whilst the existing literature has extensively explored both coping strategies and multiple ways of approaching paradoxical tensions, we still have a limited understanding of how individuals engage with paradoxical tensions and how organizations support their members' efforts to sustain such tensions. Accordingly, my purpose here is to explore paradoxical tensions in the context of architectural firms and explain how firms and their members make sense of these tensions. I use a multiple case study to investigate empirically the salient paradoxical tensions central to architectural firms and to develop an understanding of what makes them salient. I explain how triggers evoke latent tensions and make them salient and also outline salient paradoxical tensions prevalent within this context. In exploring how architectural firms and their members make sense of these tensions, I outline and explain the importance of a paradoxical mindset, a paradoxical practice, and supporting organizational arrangements. I conclude by discussing the interplay among mindsets, practices, and arrangements as an organizing platform—a conceptual framework that future studies could explore further.     

COVID-19 and business failures: The paradoxes of experience,scale, and scope for theory and practice

In light of growing scholarly works on business failure, across the social science domains, it is surprising that past studies have largely overlooked how extreme environmental shocks and ‘black swan’ events such as those caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other global crises, can precipitate business failures. Drawing insights from the current literature on business failure and the unfolding event of COVID-19, we highlight the paradoxes posed by novel exogenous shocks (that is, shocks that transcend past experiences) and the implications for SMEs. The pandemic has accelerated the reconfiguration of the relationship between states and markets, increasing the divide between those with political connections and those without, and it may pose new legitimacy challenges for some players even as others seem less concerned by such matters, whilst experiential knowledge resources may be both an advantage and a burden.