Exploring the brain with fMRI and EEG techniques in neurostrategic management: A study on export decision makers

In the dynamic structure of the business world, strategy stands as a key element that determines the raison d'être of enterprises, addresses complex issues, and enables them to gain a competitive advantage. Exploring the cognitive variables in the minds of decision-makers during the process of strategy formulation, and understanding the dynamics of this process, represent a revolutionary development business management. In line with this perspective, this thesis, adopting the Cognitive School perspective in the strategy formulation process, focuses on an in-depth examination of the strategy formulation process by investigating the brain activities of decision-makers. In this context, neurostrategic management processes of four participants, two male and two female, engaged in export activities in the pulses and fresh fruit and vegetable sectors, were examined using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques. In the first stage, through EEG, the export risks causing the highest level of anxiety and stress for the participants were identified and after that specific case studies were prepared for each participant. In the second stage, the strategies formulated by the participants for the case studies were determined via fMRI. According to the EEG results, it was observed that the male participant engaged in exporting pulses exhibited the highest level of anxiety and stress related to logistics and distribution risks, as well as financial risks. On the other hand, the male participant exporting fresh fruit and vegetables displayed the highest level of anxiety and stress specifically related to logistics and distribution risks. Female participants engaged in exporting pulses and fresh fruit and vegetables both demonstrated the highest level of anxiety and stress associated with government restrictions/export restrictions. Regarding the fMRI findings, it was recorded that all four participants exhibited activation and congruent signals in bilateral occipital regions, optic nerves, and extraconal muscle traces. These findings reveal that decision-makers engaged in exportation evaluate their past experiences, market analyses, and trade strategies using visual memory in the neurostrategic management process.