A central idea in the behavioral theory of the firm is that when an organization’s performance falls below aspirations, a search is triggered. While this aspiration-based model has dominated the empirical literature, it is only one of two Carnegie School accounts of how firms use performance feedback to regulate behavior. We call the second account the belief-based model. This model focuses on the characteristics of the choice alternatives faced by firms and the challenges inherent in evaluating them. Using a computational approach, we demonstrate that the predictions of the belief-based model may explain instances where search increases, rather than decreases, as performance improves. This behavioral pattern, both above and/or below the aspiration, is prevalent in empirical research but not well accounted for by the aspiration-based model alone. We then develop the Integrated Discovery and Evaluation of Alternatives (IDEA) model of problemistic search, which integrates the two models and identifies the organizational and environmental factors that induce one or the other constituent sub-models. We highlight the implications for empirical research on performance feedback and extensions to account for additional theoretical constructs such as affect and politics.

中文翻译：

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抱负、信念和新理念：建立在 3 月的其他绩效反馈模型之上

公司行为理论的一个中心思想是，当组织的绩效低于预期时，就会触发搜索。虽然这种基于愿望的模型在实证文献中占主导地位，但它只是卡内基学派关于公司如何使用绩效反馈来规范行为的两个说明之一。我们称第二个帐户为基于信念的模型。该模型侧重于公司面临的选择方案的特征以及评估它们所固有的挑战。使用计算方法，我们证明了基于信念的模型的预测可以解释随着性能的提高，搜索增加而不是减少的实例。这种高于和/或低于愿望的行为模式在实证研究中很普遍，但仅由基于愿望的模型不能很好地解释。然后，我们开发了问题搜索的集成发现和评估 (IDEA) 模型，该模型整合了这两个模型，并确定了导致一个或其他组成子模型的组织和环境因素。我们强调对绩效反馈和扩展的实证研究的影响，以解释额外的理论结构，如情感和政治。