Emotions in Strategic Management

Abstract The concept and phenomenon of emotion is approached from a variety of perspectives within various fields of inquiry. Psychologists, physiologists, and neuroscientists emphasize that emotions are reactions to stimuli and events in the environment that serve the adaptive functions of individuals. Sociologists, anthropologists, and other related disciplines generally approach emotion as part of the construction of social reality, for example as part of social and political influence tactics. This diversity in conceptualization has provided a rich source of inspiration for research on emotions in the field of strategic management since the end of 1990s, with a significant increase in the number of studies during the 2010s and 2020s. A group of studies has adopted a “process perspective,” examining the sequences of activities in organizations to unravel the role of emotions in strategy formulation and strategic change. In such contexts, emotions exert a positive or negative influence on strategic choices, and shape over time the interactional dynamics between stakeholders (e.g., senior and middle managers, lower-level teams, board members, competitors, partners). The ability of organizations to identify and regulate collective emotions helps to increase their capability to address external challenges. Other studies adopt a “practice perspective” (in accordance with the Strategy-As-Practice tradition of research) to examine micro-interactions, focusing on how emotions are leveraged as a means for mutual influence by strategists and their stakeholders. As emotions are embedded in text, talk, gesture, and other bodily, verbal, or non-verbal media, they shape the communication between actors when they perform activities such as strategy workshops and narratives. Finally, another group of studies uses the “behavioral perspective” to show that affective traits and states, and other emotional patterns exhibited by strategic actors (e.g., chief executive officers, senior managers, research and development [R&D] teams) are correlated with various aspects of the organizations’ strategic behaviors and outcomes such as R&D and innovation, financial performance, and corporate social responsibility. In sum, these diverse perspectives provide the basis for a range of thematic and methodological approaches for future strategy research on emotions, as well as for advancing the practice of strategic management.

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