Innovative processes and procedural rationality. Innovations as outcomes of a sequence of strategic actions

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mistri, Maurizio^{; *}

Affiliations: Department of Economic Sciences, Padova University, Padova, Italy

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Maurizio Mistri, Department of Economic Sciences, Padova University, via del Santo 33, 35123 Padova, Italy. E-mail: maurizio.mistri@unipd.it.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to frame the process and/or product innovation phenomenon in the perspective of the relationship between economic decisions and cognition. The author believes that the best way to interpret this relationship is to make use of Herbert Simon's procedural rationality approach. In fact, this approach is framed within the more general approach of bounded rationality that is here used to emphasize how innovations have the task of responding to issues of environmental uncertainty and computational complexity that businesses have to face.

Keywords: Innovation, bounded rationality, heuristics

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-2008-0690

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 295-304, 2008