The Effect of Dispersion of Power on the Interpretation of Complex Strategic Issues

Exploring how the dispersion of power affects the interpretation of complex strategic issues, this study elaborates on the dependencies created by complex strategic issues and suggests the cross-functional dispersion of power on strategic activities as central mechanism enabling a firm to develop a comprehensive and unified interpretation of the strategic issue. Using a large-scale survey, the study develops and will test hypotheses on the positive effect of dispersion of power on issue interpretation outcomes. Further, we expect a stronger effect of slowly evolving and contextual strategic issues. The study contributes to the sensemaking literature by challenging the implicit assumption that "meanings survive as a result of voting" and to the strategic issue literature by studying the dependencies created by specific issue characteristics.