Discovering Alternative Strategies: Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Frameworks (Revision 1 )

How can decision-makers discover strategic alternatives? The authors propose that frameworks help by supporting two key cognitive functions: making the relevant choice dimensions visible (seeing) and organizing them into mutually exclusive alternatives (combining). Across four randomized experiments with 1,033 MBA students and executives as well as 1,000 managers, the authors test how frameworks shape the alternatives decision-makers generate and select. They find that frameworks broaden the strategic alternatives decisionmakers consider and improve how these alternatives are structured, with seeing and combining playing distinct roles. However, these benefits also come at a cost: frameworks also narrow variation in alternatives across decision-makers, and their benefits weaken when attention is divided across multiple frameworks.