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MANAGING RATIONAL DIVERGENCE: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF A COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) TECHNIQUE ON COLLABORATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE BEHAVIORS IN A GAME THEORETIC SETTING

Khambete, Surendra S
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1523-2854
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1606306856751918

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Management.
Collaboration is necessary in business because it can give companies a competitive advantage. Very few firms have been able to implement long-term initiatives that have led to creating a collaborative environment of sustainable competitive advantage. This study draws from my work in the Doctor of Management program, also at Case Western Reserve University, where I looked at why some companies were consistently better at collaboration than others. A key construct emerged—that of rational divergence. Rational divergence emphasizes that individuals in their local context of making decisions and taking action are aware of the macro-level premises and policies that are promulgated by top management and try to make decisions which take them into account. But they often diverge from those abstract rules and policies in their day to day decisions because of the daily contingencies, conflicting priorities, changing relationships, and surprises in the flow of daily life. Rational divergence is one explanation as to why incentive packages and human resource management plans for collaboration cannot be easily adopted. Managing Rational Divergence requires understanding and influencing the complex dynamics of individual decision making in a collaborative setting. While collaborating, new individual and organizational capabilities often come from knowledge gained outside of the existing competencies of an organization. One source of this knowledge is in collaboration between customers and suppliers or between diverse teams or units within the same company. Traditional economic theories and theories related to psychopathology and cognition have independently contributed to solving problems related to decisions, decision making, and collaboration. Among the vast array of derivative theories and multiple schools of thought surrounding conventional economic and behavioral theories, the importance of combining these approaches (i.e., integrating behavioral approaches with economic theory), is what I intend to pursue. To influence individual decision making in a collaborative setting, I drew upon game theory to develop an interactive web-based game that could capture the complexities associated with such a study. Specifically, it was essential to incorporate the situation/context and time into the research method to study individual decision making in a dynamic environment and then the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a technique designed to improve individual mindfulness and rational decisions. My work shows that there is, in fact, a benefit of a formal CBT technique to influence individual decision making and thus positively influence collaboration. This technique can be taught to individuals and organizations. This is a strong motivation to continue to study techniques from cognitive science and traditional economics to foster collaboration. This study is one attempt to advance knowledge by focusing on existing theory and literature and introducing a formal technique to help individual decision making that can positively influence collaboration. I anticipate that my future research will continue to develop and test Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques in search of improved theory and practice in creating and recreating humanly satisfying and economically vibrant organizations.
Richard Boland (Committee Chair)
Nicholas Berente (Committee Member)
David Cooper (Committee Member)
Kalle Lyytinen (Committee Member)
Roman Sheremeta (Committee Member)
225 p.
Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Business Administration; Cognitive Psychology; Cognitive Therapy; Economics; Experiments; Management
collaboration; decision making; game theory; experiments; games; CBT

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Khambete, S. S. (2020). MANAGING RATIONAL DIVERGENCE: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF A COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) TECHNIQUE ON COLLABORATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE BEHAVIORS IN A GAME THEORETIC SETTING [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1606306856751918

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Khambete, Surendra. MANAGING RATIONAL DIVERGENCE: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF A COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) TECHNIQUE ON COLLABORATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE BEHAVIORS IN A GAME THEORETIC SETTING . 2020. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1606306856751918.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Khambete, Surendra. "MANAGING RATIONAL DIVERGENCE: TESTING THE EFFECTS OF A COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) TECHNIQUE ON COLLABORATIVE VERSUS COMPETITIVE BEHAVIORS IN A GAME THEORETIC SETTING ." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1606306856751918

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1606306856751918
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This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.