Knowledge that Transforms

Real options reasoning assumes timely and effective managerial decision making yet does not address managers' ability to provide it. An attention-based view describes managerial behavior under varying structural conditions. I examine real options reasoning from an attention-based view. I develop several testable propositions regarding the effects of a firm's particular concrete and contextual attention structures on the ways in which its managers notice, champion, acquire, maintain, exercise, and abandon the various real options within its portfolio. I conclude with implications for future empirical research on real options reasoning.

I postulate that “legal astuteness” is a valuable managerial capability that may provide a competitive advantage under the resource-based view of the firm. Law and the tools it offers are an enabling force legally astute management teams can use to manage the firm more effectively. In particular, I propose that legally astute management teams can use formal contracts as complements to relational governance to define and strengthen relationships and reduce transaction costs, protect and enhance the realizable value of resources, use legal tools to create options, and convert regulatory constraints into opportunities.

In this paper I propose goal setting as a mechanism for linking brainstorming research to organizational creativity. Using the large body of literature on brainstorming as a prototype, I develop a goal-based view of intervention in idea generation. A goal-based view provides new insight into the conduct and evaluation of brainstorming research that improves its relevance to management, and it suggests a broader agenda for defining expectations for creative ideas and tailoring interventions to match these definitions.