ABSTRACT
A shared understanding of strategic priorities within decision-making teams is important for strategy implementation. However, although upper echelons theory argues that group diversity has a negative impact on shared strategic cognition, research on the impact of group diversity measures based on political characteristics is lacking. Consequently, this study uses data from 1,740 city councillors to assess the impact of political group diversity on shared strategic cognition within Flemish city councils. The study results underline the importance of tailoring research to the contingencies of public organizations: political diversity measures are stronger related to shared strategic cognition than ‘traditional’ demographic diversity measures.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sebastian Desmidt
Sebastian Desmidt is an associate professor in strategic management at Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. His research focuses on the effectiveness of strategic management instruments and strategic planning processes, the determinants of strategic consensus and the motivational power of mission valence, and mission engagement in public and non-profit organizations.
Kenn Meyfroodt
Kenn Meyfroodt is a PhD student in strategic management in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium. His research focuses on the determinants of strategic consensus in public strategic decision-making teams.
Bert George
Bert George is an assistant professor in public management at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research focuses on the decision-making impact of strategic planning and performance measurement in public organizations, both from an observational and experimental perspective.