Eva Cools

Vlerick Business School · Research Dean's Office

Upon graduation, students make the decision to either become an entrepreneur or an employee. Numerous studies have thus investigated personal and environmental factors that impact this decision. As cognitive styles have become more and more important in determining individual and organisational behaviour, and as they are presumed to provide new val...

Given the lack of insights into the micro-determinants of strategic planning in public organizations, this study uses information-processing theory and self-efficacy theory to investigate individual-level predictors of commitment to strategic plans among planning team members (PTMs). Specifically, we investigate whether plan commitment is contingen...

This study aims to clarify whether and how various configurations of three cognitive style dimensions (creating, knowing, and planning) emerge among graduate business students, with differential impacts on their learning approaches. With a person-centered, latent transition analysis of cognitive styles, the authors identify several distinct cogniti...

Although academic entrepreneurship has taken place in some U.S. universities for many decades, it is only over the past few decades that there has been an increased interest by universities worldwide to engage in their third mission related to entrepreneurship and economic development. Recently, researchers studying academic entrepreneurship have i...

Following the increased use of multisource feedback systems, this study addresses the role of employee’s cognitive style in ratings of transactional and transformational leadership. Using random coefficient modelling, we found that individuals holding a creating cognitive style gave significant higher ratings to their leader than employees holding...

The articles in this special issue of Reflecting Education: Building Learning Capacity for Life emanated from the eighteenth international Education, Learning, Styles, Individual differences Network (ELSIN) conference held in Billund, Denmark in 2013. ELSIN is the only multidisciplinary international research organisation specifically promoting the...

This study provides insights and recommendations concerning methodological practices of cognitive style research applied to the field of business and psychology. Based on a carefully designed selection process, 139 style-related articles published between 1986 and 2010 were content-analysed. In terms of research design, we found the field to be dom...

To bring order in concepts related to individual learner differences, Curry (1983) designed the three-layered onion model. As this model provides an interesting way to distinguish related concepts – such as cognitive styles and approaches to studying – on the basis of their stability in learning situations, ample studies build further on this model...

The successful implementation of change initiatives remains challenging, as a high number of change processes still fail due to ‘human factor problems’. Following this challenge, our research aimed to investigate how individuals are differently affected by organizational change by looking at how gender has an impact on how employees perceive change...

The early years of Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) were turbulent. The company crawled from one financial crisis to the other. At the beginning they repeatedly had to go to friends, acquaintances, distant acquaintances, local businessmen (butchers and bakers) and farmers. A prime minister, a provincial governor and various mayors, even the heir to the thro...

This study examines the cross-cultural validity of the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI). Measurement equivalence tests were performed on data collected from a Belgian (n = 300) and a South African (n = 246) sample of students and employees. Confirmatory factor analyses within each sample showed the best fit to the data for a three-factor model unde...

In line with increased attention on the application of cognitive approaches to industrial, work and organizational psychology, the last 40 years have witnessed a growing interest in application of the cognitive style construct to the field of business and management. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, we wish to advance understanding of...

Highlights ► Using cognitive and learning styles in educational practice. ► Conceptual, methodological, and practical evolutions within the styles field. ► The role of styles in developing metacognition and self-regulation in learners. ► Styles relationships to individual learning differences.

Using cognitive and learning styles in educational practice. ► Conceptual, methodological, and practical evolutions within the styles field. ► The role of styles in developing metacognition and self-regulation in learners. ► Styles relationships to individual learning differences.

The early years of Lernout & Hauspie (L&H) were turbulent. The company crawled from one financial crisis to the other. At the beginning they repeatedly had to go to friends, acquaintances, distant acquaintances, local businessmen (butchers and bakers) and farmers. A prime minister, a provincial governor and various mayors, even the heir to the thro...

The aim of the present study is to provide further insights about the impact of students’ cognitive styles, learning styles, and motivation on learning outcomes in higher education. We studied management and MBA student three business schools in Belgium (n = 244), the US (n = 95), and Canada (n = 78). As hypothesised, the effect of cognitive styles...

The cognitive and learning styles research domain is a highly complex one which has recently been the focus of rigour–relevance debates (Coffield et al. 2004; Evans and Sadler-Smith 2006; Rayner 2006). There is considerable support for the existence and value of style as a construct (Sternberg 1996) even though further work is needed to evidence gr...

This paper aims at providing a summary of empirical insights about the impact of cognitive styles on organizational behavior and management. A two-part discussion on the applications of cognitive styles in the workplace is presented. The first part focuses on the implications of cognitive styles for organizations in general by looking at strategic...

This study provides insights into the methodological practices of the field of cognitive styles research over the past two decades and aims to shed light on possible gaps and avenues for future research. Based on a carefully designed selection process, 102 style-related articles within the field of business and management were included in our metho...

The question whether diversity is advantageous or disadvantageous for teams has yet to be resolved. The present research investigates the effect of cognitive diversity on team processes and outcomes through two successive studies with experimental team tasks involving 57 teams of management students (N = 288). Team composition in each of the studie...

There is currently considerable interest in the key elements of person–environment fit to understand vocational behaviour and to develop strategic human resource management practices. In the light of this interest, we wanted to investigate (1) whether people within similar functions have similar cognitive styles, and (2) what the consequences of co...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce this special issue, which contains selected papers from the 13th Annual European Learning Styles Information Network (ELSIN) conference held in Ghent, Belgium in June 2008. One of the key aims of ELSIN is to promote understanding of individual learning and cognitive differences through the dissemi...

This paper considers the theory, measurement, and practical relevance of cognitive style for both management practice and organisational behaviour. We simplify matters by confining our discussions to cognitive style per se, deliberately excluding the construct of learning styles. We also confine our analysis to those constructs that have a strong c...

Given the lack of unequivocal findings on person-career fit, this investigation aims to gain insight into the role of cognitive styles in understanding students’ career preferences by two complementary studies. In study 1, we examined whether students (n = 84) with different cognitive styles differ in their entrepreneurial attitudes. Results showed...

Given the lack of unequivocal findings on person-career fit, this investigation aims to gain insight into the role of cognitive styles in understanding students’ career preferences by two complementary studies. In study 1, we examined whether students (n = 84) with different cognitive styles differ in their entrepreneurial attitudes. Results showed...

In a world where there has long since been more at play than functionality and cost price, we need creative innovation more than ever before. Organizations are trying to find ways to embed more creativity, more innovative potential, and more entrepreneurship into the everyday running of their businesses. They are constantly in search of effective w...

In a world where there has long since been more at play than functionality and cost price, we need creative innovation more than ever before. Organizations are trying to find ways to embed more creativity, more innovative potential, and more entrepreneurship into the everyday running of their businesses. They are constantly in search of effective w...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute further insights into how cognitive styles influence managerial behaviour, using a qualitative approach. Design/methodology/approach Written testimonies were gathered from people with different cognitive styles, and content analysed ( n =100). Findings Qualitative evidence was found for manageria...

Given the rise of social enterprises, the aim of this study is to get more insight into what typifies social entrepreneurs. Although entrepreneurship research has a long tradition in the study of the individual entrepreneur, there are not many studies on the profile of the social entrepreneur. Our research wants to extend the existing knowledge abo...

The authors describe the development and validation of the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI) using 3 diverse samples (N = 5,924; N = 1,580; and N = 635). Reliability, item, and factor analyses demonstrated the internal consistency and homogeneity of 3 cognitive styles: knowing, planning, and creating. The authors also found substantial support for t...

There is currently considerable interest in the key elements of person-environment fit to understand vocational behaviour and to develop strategic human resource management practices. In the light of this interest, we wanted (1) to investigate with the new Cognitive Style Indicator whether people within similar functions have similar cognitive styl...

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which people from two different sectors are ‘armed’ to deal effectively with change. Change is apparently the only constant factor in current work surroundings. A crucial issue to manage change professionally is coping with the involved uncertainty. The individual manager plays an important rol...

Our study aims to contribute to an enhanced understanding of how cognitive styles, being individual preferences for perceiving and processing information, influence managerial behaviour using a qualitative approach. Based on content analysis of written testimonies of 100 managers, we found interesting differences between managers with a knowing, pl...

Considerable attention has been devoted to cognitive styles since the beginning of the previous century. Cognitive styles are extensively studied in diverse research domains. This large interest led to a wide diversity of cognitive style theories and studies. The development of the cognitive style field shows some similarity with the story of the ‘...

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which people from two different sectors are ‘armed’ to deal effectively with change. Change is apparently the only constant factor in current work surroundings. A crucial issue to manage change professionally is coping with the involved uncertainty. The individual manager plays an important rol...

This paper describes the development and validation of a cognitive style measure, the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI). Three studies were conducted to validate the CoSI. The first study consisted of 5924 employees who took part in a large-scale research with regard to career decisions. In the second study, 1580 people completed the CoSI as part of...

The aim of this study was to get more insight into what typifies Flemish entrepreneurs. We compared entrepreneurs with non-entrepreneurs for five traits (tolerance for ambiguity, self-efficacy, proactive personality, locus of control, need for achievement) and for cognitive styles. Additionally, we used these trait and cognitive characteristics to...

Our study aims to contribute to an enhanced understanding of how cognitive styles, being individual preferences for perceiving and processing information, influence managerial behaviour using a qualitative approach. Based on content analysis of written testimonies of 100 managers, we found interesting differences between managers with a knowing, pl...

The aim of this study was to get more insight into what typifies Flemish entrepreneurs. We compared entrepreneurs with non-entrepreneurs for five traits (tolerance for ambiguity, selfefficacy, proactive personality, locus of control, need for achievement) and for cognitive styles. Additionally, we used these trait and cognitive characteristics to p...

n this article we reopen the search for those features that distinguish entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. Because the trait psychology approach failed to fulfill this promise the cognitive psychology approach was adopted. The exploration of cognitive styles among 497 entrepreneurs and 521 non-entrepreneurs in Flanders distinguishes six profiles...

This paper aims to describe the construction and validation of a new instrument for measuring cognitive styles the Cognitive Style Inventory (CoSI) é–– that is particularly useful in an organizational context. Three successive studies are conducted to validate and cross-validate the Cognitive Style Inventory. The internal consistency of the Cogniti...

Cognitive styles gained prominence in organizational behavior and management literature during the last decades. Researchers studied cognitive styles in relationship to various concepts and from various points of view. Different authors developed their own instruments of assessment to identify differences in cognitive styles. However, this theoreti...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive styles and values. Cognitive styles and values are both frequently studied domains, but the relationship between these concepts has been investigated rarely. Individuals increasingly become points of reference in the shaping of values and attitudes. Moreover, people are con...