COGNITIVE CONFLICT IN STRATEGIC DECISION OF MANAGEMENT TEAMS IN SMALL ENTERPRISES

ABSTRACT Purpose: The objective of this article is to explain how cognitive conflict happens and what are its contributions to the decision-making processes of management teams in small enterprises (SE). Originality/value: Although SEs are important and numerous, the cognitive conflict in their management team and the strategic decision making of this team are understudied. This article helps to feel this gap with contributions and implications which are helpful for research and practice related to those themes. Design/methodology/approach: The descriptive methodological approach was adopted based on qualitative methods and multicase study (Eisenhardt, 1989). Data were collected with interviews and analyzed within and cross-case procedures, according to Miles and Huberman’s (1994) recommendations. Four cases of SE were studied. Findings: The strategic decision processes were considerably determined by cognitive conflicts. Such conflicts questioned decision possibilities and highlighted aspects related to intuition and improvisation, both normally useful and present in the strategic decision processes of SE. Cognitive conflict inhibits improvisation because its occurrence creates useful questionings in decision making preparation. Those questionings generated deepness in discussion and analysis for decision making in the studied SEs.