Benjamin Gilad

Characteristics of opportunities search of entrepreneurs versus executives: Sources, interests, general alertness☆

Explores the information seeking behavior of the entrepreneur. Three hypotheses based on Kirzners theory of entrepreneurship -- which focuses on the entrepreneurs alertness to opportunities and resources -- are tested. The hypotheses concern differences in the ways that entrepreneurs expose themselves to information, the sources of information they use, and the way they evaluate information cues. A questionnaire was used to gather data, with a sample consisting of 51 founders of companies in New Jersey and 36 executives of a large financial conglomerate. According to the results, when compared with executives, entrepreneurs spend more time searching for information in off hours, engage in more non-verbal search for information, pay more attention to cues about new opportunities, and use more nontraditional sources of information. Executives are more likely to use immediates sources and respond to economic cues. Unlike executives, the more successful and experienced they are, the less entrepreneurs tend to seek out opportunities and information. Overall, entrepreneurs are avid information gatherers and opportunistic leaders. Their information goals are often accomplished more through reading and extensive introspection than through social networking. However, as the study was not random, the sample sizes were small, and no analysis was attempted for non-respondents, the results do not stand alone as a basis for understanding information seeking in entrepreneurs; rather, this study is meant to draw attention to the area for future research. (CJC)

Cognitive dissonance and utility maximization: A general framework☆

Abstract Neoclassical theory of utility maximization assumes irrational behavior to be unsystematic and therefore impossible to model. Recent advances in behavioral decision theory suggests irrationality may be systematic. In line with these and earlier findings from the theory of cognitive dissonance, a simple descriptive model of utility maximization is developed with the added feature of an information filter. The model is then used to explain a few ‘irrational’ micro and macro behaviors.

The case of the ‘partnership approach’ to public regulation

Abstract This paper suggests that public regulation of the private sector involves a psychological-economic externality which is largely overlooked by economists. By affecting a particular belief, termed locus of control. current regulatory practices in the United States are likely to reduce the ability of decision makers to notice profitable opportunities for their firms and therefore involve an additional social cost. Specific research approaches are suggested for testing this hypothesis.

9/11, Intelligence, and the Senior Executive

In a series filled with numerous and significant effects of the events of 9/11 on business, government, and society at large, this piece will stand out as an anomaly. Reading a piece about how 9/11 did not have any effect on business leadership and the use of intelligence in business decision making is not what one expects in a book like this one.

Competitive intelligence and strategic group decisions: A new diagnostic tool

The use of competitive intelligence (information on competitors, technology, market developments, etc.) in strategic group decision making is of great interest to practitioners and strategy researchers alike, yet relatively little is known about the availability of competitive intelligence and the actual need for intelligence by decision makers. This article develops a decision-dependent input/participants matrix which is the basis for the derivation of seven intelligence availability and demand indices. The indices are diagnostic tools to help companies design and monitor strategic competitive intelligence gathering and distribution. They constitute part of an organizational intelligence support system designed to strengthen group decisions such as launching a new product. Practitioners can use the indices to diagnose problems countered by groups of decision makers in the intelligence gathering and distribution activities of organizations, and researchers can use them in the systematic study of this new field. An application of the tool to a pharmaceutical company is described.