LINKING CHANGES IN REVEALED CAUSAL MAPS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

ABSTRACT This article explores the cognitive maps of the dominant coalition of one firm over time. It begins with an overview of the cognitive mapping literature and discusses ‘revealed cognitive maps’ as one strategy for measuring managerial cognitive structures. Next, the revealed cognitive maps from one company over a 20‐year period are analysed for their fit with the company's environmental context. The data suggest that the fit between cognitive structures and the environment was less than perfect, and that decision‐makers both under‐identified and over‐identified certain environmental factors. These and other data are discussed within the context of a cognitive approach to managerial thinking.