Information, Communication and Organizational Behavior

Information is a key ingredient for decision making in organizations. Gathering, interpreting and sharing information requires an interdependent network of individuals, each one influencing and being influenced by the information. The thesis consists of three articles that study production, interpretation and transmission of information in various types of organizations and in different contexts. The first paper focuses on communication and decision making in heterogeneous partnerships. The paper explores the efficiency and viability of partnerships where partners are different in terms of their outside options and expertise. It analyses why heterogeneous partnerships exist only in certain types of industries. The second paper studies managerial overconfidence and its implication for the followers and organizational performance. The paper shows why overconfident managers are able to elicit a higher commitment from their followers and peers, compared to managers who are not overconfident. In addition, the paper shows how a manager’s reputational concern leads to escalation of commitment, i.e., continuing a failed course of action. The third paper studies inter-temporal transmission of information via documentation in a principal-agent setting. This paper provides an explanation for the extensive use of documents in organizations and its effects on decision making and performance of organizations.

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