Getting to the Root of Things: The Role of Epistemic Motivation and Construal Levels in Strategic Problem Formulation

When formulating strategic problems, managers and executives routinely overlook relevant causes. This oversight, in turn, compromises the effectiveness of solutions and strategies. To illuminate the factors determining the success of problem formulation, we develop a model of the individual-level drivers of problem formulation comprehensiveness—the number of nonredundant and relevant causes to a problem that individuals identify. Specifically, we theorize that epistemic motivation—the desire to learn and hold well-informed views of the world—is an important driver of comprehensiveness. Furthermore, we suggest that high construal levels—an abstract thinking style—enhance the benefits of epistemic motivation because they direct individual information processing away from the symptoms of a problem toward its underlying causes. We test this interaction model in two experimental studies involving Chinese top executives and university students in the United States. The results of our two studies are consistent with our theoretical model. High construal levels strengthen the effect of epistemic motivation, resulting in greater comprehensiveness of problem formulation. We discuss the implications of our work for theory and practice.