Micro-foundations of Problem Solving: What Determines How Individuals Search?

This study contributes to the theory on problem solving as search by focusing on how individuals search and what individual antecedents determine search behaviour. So far research has mainly addressed the strategic distinction... [ view full abstract ]

This study contributes to the theory on problem solving as search by focusing on how individuals search and what individual antecedents determine search behaviour. So far research has mainly addressed the strategic distinction between exploration and exploitation at an organizational level, and has done less to disentangle the heterogeneity of individual level search behaviour processes. Combining data collected from individuals solving an experimental task with a quantitative survey we identify heterogeneous search behaviours as well as evidence that individual cognitive styles explain part of this heterogeneity. Relying on modelling and simulations, we also investigate how different search strategy preferences yield different performances for different types of problems.