Determinants of Executive Beliefs: Comparing Functional Conditioning and Social Influence

Abstract

Executive beliefs influence strategic decision making in organizations, and thus they ultimately influence organization performance. The factors that might determine upper-echelon executive beliefs, however, have received scant empirical attention; certainly, little is known about their relative influence. In contrast to the oft-asserted influence of functional experiences, our results indicate that beliefs held by upper-echelon executives are better explained with an alternate theoretical model based on social influence. Our pattern of results indicates support for the argument that beliefs are socially reproduced through interaction among executives.

Keywords: executive beliefs, functional background, social information processing, upper-echelon team